(Another 1st person candidate piece. – promoted by JulieWaters)

Throughout the campaign, we’ve been working to change the culture in Montpelier by engaging Vermonters in the Vermont tradition of public service and inspiring them to get involved in their communities and their state government. By engaging directly with community organizations, those of us in the political sphere can learn first hand the needs of Vermonters, provide authenticity to our civic leaders and give a voice to people who have often been absent from the democratic process.

Nowhere did I see this effort in action more than during a service politics event we held in Montpelier last month. At the event, a group of volunteers from the campaign joined members of the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board and members of the Parks Department to prepare a new and improved trail from the Cummings Street low income housing project to the town recreational fields and pool. 

The goal of the project was to make it easier and more fun for the kids and families from the Cummings Street housing project to walk or bike to the recreation area.

We were delighted to help with a project that benefited both the Parks Department and the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board. My father was one of the founders of the Vermont Land Trust and VHCB has been a critical part of supporting Vermont's housing needs and conserving our land and resource. We also joined people working in national service, a commitment that can not help but inspire. 

But the most powerful part of the afternoon came from an unexpected place. As we started getting to work on the project a six year old boy who lived in the housing project approached us (we’ll call him JJ).  He asked us to leave, saying he would break the bridge we were building and even threatening us personally. He assumed we’d yell back or ignore him.  Instead we took him by surprise: we asked him to join us in helping out. While he remained skeptical at first, by the end of the day he was carrying tools, stripping bark off logs and clearing paths to make our efforts easier.  Half way through the project, JJ went back home and returned with his mother and many residents of the community.  He proudly showed them where the trail, benches and “his bridge” will be. By the end of the project seven kids from the community came out to help us.

As I travel through the state, Vermonters – especially younger voters – are saying they have become disenchanted with the political system, the blame game in Montpelier, and standard campaign tactics.

Our campaign is reviving “service politics” – an effort to use campaign resources and volunteer energy to give back to the community. That is the power of the Vermont tradition of service that empowers all Vermonters in strengthening our community and moving this state forward. While other candidates talk about the children who are struggling, we are different – we engage with them and hopefully impact their lives in a profound and positive way.

More importantly, JJ’s response is not that much more different that that of other Vermonters.  The cynicism and anger that has grown over the last 8 years can been heard across the state.  But as we reach out to Vermonters, our campaign has found that, like JJ, that cynicism and anger can vanish when people are not told what they should think, but are asked to be a part of the solution.

We’ll be participating in two service politics projects this week in Montpelier and Springfield, that we hope you can join us for.

Today, we’ll be delivering food to Montpelier’s seniors with Meals on Wheels. If you have volunteered with Meals on Wheels before, then come out today, Wednesday, July 21 at 11:15am. We’ll be meeting at the National Life Building at 1 National Life Drive, Montpelier.

On Friday, we’ll be joining volunteers and members of the Springfield community to help build a new playground for the Union Street School. Join us on Friday, July 23, at 1:00pm at the Union Street School, 43 Union Street, Springfield.
 
We’re excited to continue participating in projects like these and the one in Montpelier, to come up with new ways to engage, interact and debate with Vermonters across the state. If you know of other upcoming service projects or planning one of your own, please let us know. If not, let us know what type of projects you’d like to see, and hopefully we can bring a service event to your community soon.

(As usual, GMD’s policy is to promote 1st person pieces by major candidates for statewide office in Vermont.  Please note: I moved some of the content below the fold, since the piece is fairly long.   – promoted by JulieWaters)

It’s always inspiring to attend a high school or college graduation and watch the future leaders of our nation enter the next phase of their lives. These new grads will enter the workforce and may strive to become the next great agricultural innovator or to start the next Facebook. However, here in Vermont, graduations are bittersweet moments — because we know that a large number of these students will leave our state for jobs elsewhere in the country and may not ever return.

Vermont hasn’t been competing effectively with other states in some key areas. Small company start-ups have been steadily declining. And with Vermont ranked dead last in broadband connectivity, we lack the high tech infrastructure like widespread broadband Internet service and cell phone reception that are necessary for new, innovative companies.

Even existing companies cannot retain our best and brightest. One business leader I spoke with made this point crystal clear. He explained that he tries to hire UVM students to work at his company, but when they realize that the home they could afford doesn’t have high-speed Internet or cell phone reception, they decide to take jobs out in Colorado instead.

But Vermonters have a unique passion for their hometowns. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been out of the state – Vermonters always feel like Vermonters. And though young people are leaving the state to take jobs elsewhere in the country, they are all saying the same thing: “we want to come home.”

Interestingly, we’ve found that our campaign’s message of innovation, entrepreneurship and 21st century thinking has resonated not only with those Vermonters who live in the state but also with those who live across the country. With the help of Facebook, Twitter and other online tools these Vermonters in the diaspora have reached out to the campaign and offered their support. They have been volunteering from their homes to help with writing projects, raising money, and contributing donations during fundraising drives.

A group of these supporters recently worked to capture this movement of Vermonters around the country who want to come home. The minute-long video created by campaign supporters features a montage of interviews with eight former Vermonters who currently live around the country. From Washington DC to San Francisco, these campaign supporters explain why they are supporting Matt and describe the vision of the future of Vermont that they share. You can view the video here:

While many people would shy away from featuring people from out of state in their campaigns, we’re proud to be sharing the stories of Vermonters who live across the country and want to come home.

We have the opportunity here to build the environment that allows our young people to stay in our state and to help allow Vermont expats to come back home. By bringing high-speed broadband Internet to the last mile of every town, we can foster the innovative, entrepreneurial infrastructure Vermont needs to create the next generation of jobs. By revitalizing our downtowns we can develop exciting, authentic communities that are centers of commerce, entertainment and recreation along with affordable housing where new graduates will be able to live and work. And by reinvesting in our institutes of higher education we will help keep students attending school in state rather than heading across the borders to attend college.

I’d like to thank the grassroots supporters who helped film this video around the country and edit it together. If you have a story to share about someone who wants to come home to Vermont, I encourage you to leave it in the comments below. I look forward to hearing your story and continuing to help Vermonters come home.

(Here is the latest from candidate for governor, Matt Dunne: – promoted by GMD)

Anyone who says the economy is doing fine in Vermont isn’t talking to the same Vermonters I am.

Since 2003, the number of new businesses in Vermont has dropped every single year. Jobs are being lost in all sectors and in all parts of the state and there has been no leadership shown in Montpelier to turn our economy around.

Nobody knows the challenges of operating a company in Vermont better than today’s business leaders. They are on the front-lines trying to convince Vermont students graduating from our state colleges and universities to stay and work in Vermont. They are working to attract new investments to grow their companies and have dealt with the unresponsive and non-transparent bureaucracy in Montpelier. It is these entrepreneurs and executives who know what kind of leadership is necessary in Vermont and what types of changes need to be enacted to make business more successful here.

Earlier this week, we entered an exciting new phase of our campaign by releasing the names of 26 business leaders who are endorsing the campaign. As the only candidate to have worked in multiple companies in Vermont, I was honored to have support from so many of my peers.

Will Raap, Chairman of The Earth Partners and Founder of Gardener's Supply and Mike Lane, Chief Operating Officer of Dealer.com joined me at an event in Winooski to announce these endorsements. As business leaders, they recognize that this next election will determine where we go as a state, not just for the next year or two, but for the next several decades. The next Governor must not only understand our challenges, but actually have the experience to deliver on the promise of a better economy.

Will and Mike joined 24 others in endorsing the campaign, including:

Clay Adams – Resource Systems Group, Inc., Windsor
Bob Allen – VT Country Store/Direct Marketing Assoc., Bennington
Kevin Bowie – Shearer Honda, Rutland
Jay Canning – Courtyard by Marriott Burlington Harbor, Chittenden
Laura Carlsmith – EatingWell Media Group, Chittenden
Alan Cummings – Seldon Tech, Windsor
Ty Danco – Stromatech, Inc., Chittenden
Robert Davis – Stromatec, Inc., Chittenden
Rob Downey – American Flatbread, Chittenden
Brian Dunkiel – Shems Dunkiel Raubvogul & Saunders, Chittenden
Paul Growald – Growald & Company, Chittenden
Jim Hand – Bennington
John Illick – ReArch, Inc. and VT Technology Park, Chittenden
Charlie Kireker – Twin Birches, Ltd., Addison
Mike Lane – Dealer.com, Chittenden
Krista Lincoln – KCL, Inc., Addison
Michael McKenna – James Farm Creative, Addison
Hinda Miller – Vermont State Senator/Jogbra, Chittenden
Matt Mole – Mole Consulting, Addison
Lawrence Mott  – New Generation Partners, Addison
Leslie Nulty – Focal Point Advisory Services, Chittenden
Will Patten – Formerly of Ben and Jerry's, Chittenden
Will Raap – The Earth Partners and Founder Gardener's Supply, Chittenden
Miranda and Charlie Shackleton – ShackletonThomas, Windsor
Meg Smith – Meg Smith & Co., Chittenden
Miro Weinberger – The Hartland Group, Chittenden

To read more about these endorsements please visit my website atwww.MattDunne.com.

(Promoted as part of our policy of promoting commentary and thoughts from major candidates for statewide political office in Vermont. – promoted by JulieWaters)

While not of my political party, Coolidge’s most famous speech about Vermont still rings true today, perhaps now more than ever.  

“Vermont is a state I love.

I could not look upon the peaks of Ascutney,

Killington, Mansfield and Equinox

Without being moved in a way that no other scene could move me.

It was here that I first saw the light of day;

Here I receive my bride;

Here my dead lie,

pillowed on the loving breast of our everlasting hills.

I love Vermont because of her hills and valleys,

Her scenery and invigorating climate,

but most of all because of her indomitable people.

They are a race of pioneers who have almost beggared themselves

to serve others.

If the spirit of liberty should vanish in other parts of the union

and support of our institutions should languish,

It could all be replenished from the generous store held by the people

Of this brave little state of Vermont.”

(Here is the latest from candidate for Governor, Matt Dunne – promoted by GMD)

( – promoted by JulieWaters)

While I’m taking a few days off this week to be with my family, it has been truly inspiring to see supporters and volunteers continuing to move the campaign forward in my absence.

This is the benefit of running a grassroots campaign built on a movement rather than an individual. Vermonters across the state have been demanding change in Montpelier and a new approach to politics in the state. That groundswell of support has pushed issues like jobs, the environment and education to the forefront of this campaign and has helped encourage me to run for Governor to help make these changes a reality.

Even while I’m not on the campaign trail, this support surges on. Today, a group from the campaign turned out in our state’s capital to submit my Candidate Petitions of Nomination. Submitting these forms is one of the final steps in running for Governor and ensures that a candidate’s name appears on the ballot in August.

More important than this formality, though, are the names of Vermonters who have signed the petition. This form contains hundreds of signatures, which we gathered from across the state through personal, face-to-face, grassroots engagement. Supporters of our campaign have been canvassing neighborhoods, attending local community events, participating in service politics projects, and meeting Vermonters at candidate forums to have real, authentic conversations about what we need to do to bring the state back on track.

We’re excited to keep the momentum of the campaign going forward and to continue engaging with Vermonters. I encourage you to check out my public calendar to see where I’ll be next and I hope to meet you at the next community event to have an honest conversation about the future of our state.

(Continuing GMD site policy of promoting candidate diaries. – promoted by GMD)

My passion for Vermont comes from our unique sense of community.

It was my home community that helped raise me when my father passed away and then elected me to the state House at age 22. All of my opportunities in life came from mentors and friends in this part of Vermont, and they are the ones that have given me the support to run for Governor.

Since it is the people of the community that know me best, we've asked them to share their stories about why they are supporting me as I run for Governor of Vermont.

Today we released a video, made by some volunteers, that shares my experience and history growing up in Hartland, through the words and stories of members of our community: local business people, former competitors, and life-long friends.

The community and the people from my past have played an enormous role in my life and have shared their stories with you through this video. Now, I'd be interested in hearing about your own stories. Who or what has played a role in shaping who you are and how has that affected the issues you care about or your involvement in Vermont? Leave your thoughts in the comments below or if you have your own story you'd like to share with the campaign, you can contact us and we can post your story on our supporters page.

I hope you enjoy learning a little bit more about my experiences and that you share this with your friends.

(Promoted, with some content shifted sub folda. We will look at these endorsements more carefully at some point, as there are some interesting ones. A NOTE TO CANDIDATES: As the campaign proceeds, we can reasonably expect an increase in the volume of press releases. Therefore, we’re announcing a tweak in site policy – simple carbons of press releases will not be promoted to the front page, but diaries that directly and personally engage the GMD community will continue to be (“borrowing” heavily from releases is fine – no need to reinvent the optimum language). – promoted by GMD)

Over the past months, Vermonters across the state have been speaking with me about the issues that are on their minds. From local service projects to community meetings, we are hearing of communities struggling and Vermonters coming forward with fresh, new ideas to move our state into a new era. Having served in the House and Senate for 11 years, I know how important it will be to work with innovative legislators from across the state.

That's why I am very excited that Tuesday, on the steps of Burlington City Hall, we announced the first round of legislative endorsements for my campaign for Governor of Vermont. Nine legislators from seven different counties expressed their support for the campaign. These nine individuals represent a broad range of constituencies and issues showing that our messages of jobs, technology, and change are resonating across the state.

For example, Senator Miller from Chittenden County, a successful business owner, discussed how she agrees that Vermont needs better innovation and more advanced technology to create strong local economies. Similarly, Representative Kesha Ram of Burlington, another one of Tuesday's supporters and part of Vermont's next generation of state leaders, emphasized that strong public service leadership is key for building Vermont's future. And Representative Dave Sharpe from Bristol praised my job creation plan and commitment to public education and a transparent government.

Additional legislators across the state – from Grand Isle County to Windsor County – and representing issues such as agriculture, education, civil rights and empowering Vermonters, also expressed support for our vision and goals.

The full list of endorsing state legislators included:

• Sen. Harold Giard – Addison County
• Sen. Hinda Miller – Chittenden County
• Rep. Alison Clarkson – Woodstock
• Rep. Mitzi Johnson – South Hero
• Rep. Kathy Pellett – Chester
• Rep. Kesha Ram – Burlington
• Rep. Dave Sharpe – Bristol
• Rep. Tom Stevens – Waterbury
• Rep. Jeff Young – St. Albans

I'm honored to have the backing of these distinguished state leaders – these are the types of people that we need to come together to move our state into the next era. Their words of support and encouragement show the continued momentum behind the campaign and the broad excitement for our new ideas for Vermont.

(In keeping with GMD’s policy of featuring first-person diaries by candidates to statewide office on our front page, here is the latest from Matt Dunne: – promoted by Sue Prent)

Transparency is not about a policy here and a disclosure there. Transforming a public enterprise into a transparent and effective management structure requires a culture change.  Successful transformational managers in the public and private sectors are those who lead by example. This is why we need to begin, even as candidates, to be more transparent.

Currently, there are no standards or guidelines for financial disclosure in Vermont. Last week I announced I would be following Congressional protocol and would submit the same form required for Congressman Welch and Senators Leahy and Sanders on the same date required for all members of Congress: May 17th.

All of the candidates for Governor have submitted and publicized some part of a financial disclosure. This was a step in the right direction, but demonstrated the inconsistency inherent in the voluntary disclosure process we now employ.  I asked the other candidates to join me in adhering to the Federal requirements and timelines in order to provide a uniform standard of disclosure.

I was surprised by the response from the campaigns who, with the exception of Doug Racine, all told the Times Argus they would not be submitting a disclosure form. Senator Bartlett posted her response here on GMD, and while I respectfully disagree with her position, I appreciate that she provided thoughtful discourse to the debate.

I wanted to take this opportunity now that my disclosure is public (you can find it at http://www.mattdunne.com/finan… and talk about, as I alluded to at the beginning of the post, why I believe this issue is bigger than just finding out how much someone makes, as some of the candidates have argued.

Vermont is facing difficult challenges. We are losing jobs and seeing increasing deficits. The state employees we depend on to allow our state to function effectively suddenly feel they are the enemy and under suspicion. If we want businesses to create jobs in Vermont, we need to offer them clear guidelines, benchmarks for progress, and predictability in government operations. The only way we can do that is by changing the culture in Montpelier and making our government more transparent.

While state governments across the country would benefit from greater transparency, the situation in Vermont is particularly dire. The United States Public Interest Research Group report released last month, which cites nearly 70 sources and studies, gives Vermont an “F”. It’s one of numerous sources that grade Vermont poorly in this area. http://www.uspirg.org/home/rep…

The study shows that increased transparency in government can:

• Reduce costs through increased government efficiency and lower waste, including savings in procurement, contracting, and IT management.

• Improve civic trust and democratic engagement through accountability, allowing citizens to immediately evaluate how their tax dollars are being spent and empowering voters to better decide who to vote for in the future.

• Bolster robust economic development through speed, efficiency, and convenience in government services that provide the resources for entrepreneurs and business owners to start, support, and grow businesses as they identify opportunities. Improvement in government services includes reducing the need for physical travel between governmental agencies for business licenses and permits, etc., improving accounting and record keeping through computerization, and easy access to information and forms leading to quicker and more accurate processing.

In order to ensure the trust of our citizens and, more importantly, engage them in helping to find solutions to our growing fiscal, economic and social problems, we need to be as open and transparent in our actions as possible. To keep improving state government and remove barriers between agencies, we must have transparent goals. Vermont needs leadership that sets clear measurements of success and provides an understanding across departments of what success looks like.

In addition to releasing my financial disclosure form yesterday, I released a copy of my “Transparency for the 21st Century” proposal (http://www.mattdunne.com/issues/21st-century-transparency). In it, I lay out several different initiatives I would undertake as Governor to increase transparency in state government.

The initiatives in this proposal represent “best practices” from successful governments and companies. These initiatives are aimed at establishing transparency measures that empower frontline workers, enhance trust, increase efficiency, reduce costs, and improve services. Meeting the needs of Vermonters and ensuring an open and transparent government will be a priority of my administration as we work together to transform the way state government operates and to change the culture in Montpelier.

(In keeping with our policy to promote first-hand diaries by candidates for statewide office to the front page, here is the latest from Matt Dunne: – promoted by Sue Prent)

On Mother’s day, along with celebrating Sarah’s amazing parenting, I always take some time to reflect on my mother’s contribution to my life. She blazed new trails while mentoring a generation of women.  

My mother lived during a transitional time, when barriers were broken, but traditions remained intact.  She was the first woman editor of the Michigan Daily newspaper and went on to be one of the first women to go through tenure track and get tenure at Dartmouth.  

During that time at Dartmouth, she and the education department she chaired became a resource and sanctuary for the women students who were also finding their way at the most male of the Ivy League schools.  To place in context, in late 1970s the winner of the Winter Carnival fraternity song contest was “Our Co-Hogs Will Sleep Alone.” This wouldn’t have been quite so disturbing had the judge of the contest not been the Dean of Freshmen.

As she helped transform an institution and a generation of women who have gone on to a much more accepting world, she also ensured that we had family dinner every night, engaged fully in my brother and my education, and ensured some kind of order in the face of my father’s chaotic attempts at farming and supporting a wide range of young people many of whom ended up living at our house.  More extraordinary in retrospect was that she carried on with all of these tasks – trailblazer, mentor and mother – even after my father passed away at when I was 13 and Josh was 10.

I miss my mother in deep and complex ways. She sacrificed a lot attempting to bridge the roles of women before and after her time, a tension we as a society continue to negotiate without easy answers. She never got to meet my children or see how the farm has progressed — I like to think she would approve. But there isn’t a week that goes by that I don’t meet another person, usually a woman and mother, who stops me to explain what a difference Faith Dunne made in her life and career.  

Having lost her much too early, I am consistently reminded of the contribution she made, how we must continue the progress she advanced, and how lucky I was to have her as the biggest influence in my life.