Jason Gibbs is allegedly running for Secretary of State but when the bulk of his ideas in a recent press release involve correcting what he sees as problems with the legislative openness it makes for a transparent swipe at his opponent.  

To read his proposals for transparency as Secretary of State one would be forgiven for getting the impression that office dictates only rules for the legislature.

Maybe an old habit of hitting the legislature just dies hard for the Douglas protégé and former executive branch communication spokes-flack. Gibbs, an administration insider is perhaps as much or even more the heir apparent to Douglas than gubernatorial candidate Dubie.  

Also mentioned in the Labor Day press statement is a favorite principle of innovation of his, to reduce(government) reliance on taxpayers .

“…the best way to achieve these results is to make government more efficient, more productive, and a more valuable partner in the creation of economic

activity.”

But no matter how many out of the box ideas explored it still costs money to run the Secretary of States’ office.  He often highlights his brief time at Forests and Parks where he had the ability to lease and sell State Forest resources to mitigate costs. What resources are available to be leased or sold by the Secretary of State?

The federal Mineral Management Service that oversees and inspects oil rigs relied on royalties and fees from the industry it regulated and was a valuable partner in creation of economic activity. We can see how well that worked.  

Worthy of note also are six really gee-wiz-outside-the-box ideas that must have originated in the mind of the guy that was so overzealous at promoting Vermont State Parks he got kicked off Facebook for abusing the email list rules.  

Gibbs said the Secretary of State can also explore opportunities that will enhance civic participation by:  

• Publishing voting information and dates on all tax bills and correspondence sent to Vermonters.

• Partnering* with cell phone carriers to send text messages to Vermont cell phone subscribers**.

• Utilizing the Vermont Lottery to scroll voting messages at retail locations as well as print the voting dates on lottery tickets.

• Printing voting information on hunting and fishing licenses.

• Asking regulated utilities to include voting information on billing inserts.

• Deploying the Agency of Transportation solar-powered “variable message boards” along roadways to display voting information leading up to elections.  

*Partnering as in paying a fee to them?

**Given the cell phone coverage here in Vermont under Douglas’ years old e-state initiative this idea might reach only a half dozen people.