The Vermont State Employees Association asked me to fill out their questionnaire so they could determine who to endorse for State Senator. Here are the questions and my answers.
I. Should the work of State government be performed by State employees?
Ans: State Government jobs should be filled with State Employees at every opportunity. Quality also needs to be a determining factor in job selection, as it would be for any position. This being the case, I firmly believe in training employees before putting them in a position they are responsible to fulfill. Far too often untrained employees are pushed into a job. This is where the stigma of “state workers” comes from, in my humble opinion. We are the creators of our own reputations.
2. As an elected official, how would you improve the overall safety of state employees?
Ans: Again most safety issues are addressed with training first. Not only do the worker bees need to be trained on safety, the middle and upper management personal need this training. Then, we as legislatures need to make sure the budget allows for this training and the equipment needed to keep workers safe. Vermont is a business. We need to run it as one.
3. What is your plan to make the health care system more fair and equitable for working Vermonters?
Ans: It appears to me that the entire country is trying its’ best to confuse health care. We have a Federal program, the ACA, and then we have 50 spin-off versions. Personally, I’m a Bernie Sanders supporter and hope he makes it all the way to the White House. When that happens I will be fighting for Medicare for All. That is the one program that makes the most sense to me.
4. Will you support collective bargaining and vote against "Right to Work" legislation in any form?
Ans: When has “Right to Work” ever really worked to help employees? The title is inviting, however the application has been flawed from the beginning. Employees need to be able to develop or join unions. We had a period of time in this country when unions were starting to outlive their usefulness. For instance, I retired from Delta Air Lines, a non-union company. We were taken care of far and beyond our union counterparts. I’ll never be so naïve as to believe unions weren’t a determining factor in the way Delta decided to take care of us, however, Delta did it right for years. At one point things changed and Delta turned into the bad guys with its policies. New management started trying to find ways of firing employees who were nearing retirement. There was a vote to join a union that failed, most in part because of Delta’s history. Thankfully their mindset has reverted back to the Delta of old and employees are well cared for. Other airlines are not so lucky and really need their unions.
All this being said, again I support collective bargaining and the right to unionize.
5. What do you see as the role of State employees and how would you support them in their role?
Ans: The state is a company. The company needs a qualified workforce. State employees are currently that workforce. It would be my goal to see them supported with further training so that they can soar in their chosen fields.
Just the other day I went to place my name on the ballot. The state worker there was scared to death to go anywhere near the line of doing county work. She said, “I could lose my job!” All I asked for was to receive a fax from the Secretary of State and have her hand it to me. THAT is not the type of position anyone in any company should find themselves faced with. The threat of being fired for helping those you were hired to help is a stress level we do not need to be paying to support.
In my view this comes down to training of her supervisor and to holding them accountable for their actions. They too should not feel they would be fired for their actions, rather, spoken to with respect and asked to challenge themselves with answers to questions not yet asked. They should feel support from above, which equates to further training, something they would feel grateful for receiving.
When I was in management I always went by the philosophy that I wanted to find my employees doing something Right, not wrong. And, leading by example was the only option I afforded myself.
6. What mechanisms would you put in place to avoid budget shortfalls?
Ans: Budget shortfalls are the fault of poor accountability. For instance: A town garage says they need two hundred and fifty thousand dollars for their garage expenses. The town says yes. That is about as far as things go currently. The garage now feels they have to spend the entire amount or they might not be able to ask for five percent more next year.
This is how I see it happening. They ask for the two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The town officials, or State officials, receive a Complete breakdown of what they spent last year and what they expect to spend this year. I would want to know what they pay for gas and oil, for brake fluid, for headlights, for sand and salt, etc. If they didn’t use all of what they purchased the year before they won’t be able to say they need more this year. Budgets done carefully will never have shortfalls, only overages. The overages should benefit the next years’ budget and the taxpayers supporting those budgets.
7. What approach would you take to make higher education more affordable for Vermonters?
Ans: As the example above suggests, budgets are the key to controlling finances. The State Universities should become free for the first four years, as President Sanders will fight to see come to fruition. If it takes some time for that to happen then we need to freeze tuition to the State Universities. In order to continue receiving their funding they would need to roll back tuition for all residents by many years (to be determined) and freeze the tuition at that point. Student loans must be issued at rock bottom interest rates, the must be time limited and bankruptcy eligible.
Instead of making their profits off of the students these institutions must join with financial experts in order to create portfolios that will support their increased funding needs. And the upper level administrators must be paid in line with other professors. No more bonuses for the leaders of these universities. They have a salary and that should be determined based on what the job entails.
8. What would you do to ensure the viability of the state college system?
Ans: We have a great state for colleges. We need to make the system inviting to residents And non-residents. There needs to be a difference in tuition amounts to insure our residents get first choice. However, when we price non-residents away from our state it does nothing to help our situation. I have always said I’d rather sell a thousand widgets at ten dollars than ten widgets at a thousand dollars.
9. Do you support a livable wage for Vermonters? If so, what do you think that amount should be?
Ans: Where did this country go south on raising minimum wage? Greed took over and the entire country suffered. Without a “Living Wage” we are in a death spiral as a society. When I have spoken of starting a company I have always professed that an employee worth hiring is not worth hiring for less than twenty dollars an hour. I still feel that to be true, however, in order to get there we must eat the elephant one bite at a time. I say raise it to twelve dollars right away and then increase it a dollar a year until we get to twenty. Companies will be able to get used to that progression, especially if we go to Medicare For All which will allow companies to stop paying insurance for their employees.
I also have incentive programs for businesses, in my platform, incentives that will encourage them to hire more, settle in rural areas of Vermont and will save them taxes.
10. Briefly state why the VSEA should endorse you and describe the type of assistance that you would be seeking from a VSEA endorsement.
Ans: VSEA is part of a company called Vermont. This company has been running amok for years now from what I see. We need to have people in Montpelier who are not afraid to stand up and say, no, I don’t think we should do things as we always have done and continue to expect different results. We can do better. We must be willing to sit in committees for hours as is needed to get results. We need to listen and learn from the people of the state, the people who are our unpaid employees of this huge company. Without new leadership, or, at least, new blood within the confines of the current leadership, we will continue to go down that same old path. Eventually, doing that, we will come to the proverbial fork in the road and karma will pick that fork up, stick it in us, and say, You’re Done.
Sincerely,
Ron Horton
Candidate for Vermont State Senator
Essex/Orleans Counties
I. Should the work of State government be performed by State employees?
Ans: State Government jobs should be filled with State Employees at every opportunity. Quality also needs to be a determining factor in job selection, as it would be for any position. This being the case, I firmly believe in training employees before putting them in a position they are responsible to fulfill. Far too often untrained employees are pushed into a job. This is where the stigma of “state workers” comes from, in my humble opinion. We are the creators of our own reputations.
2. As an elected official, how would you improve the overall safety of state employees?
Ans: Again most safety issues are addressed with training first. Not only do the worker bees need to be trained on safety, the middle and upper management personal need this training. Then, we as legislatures need to make sure the budget allows for this training and the equipment needed to keep workers safe. Vermont is a business. We need to run it as one.
3. What is your plan to make the health care system more fair and equitable for working Vermonters?
Ans: It appears to me that the entire country is trying its’ best to confuse health care. We have a Federal program, the ACA, and then we have 50 spin-off versions. Personally, I’m a Bernie Sanders supporter and hope he makes it all the way to the White House. When that happens I will be fighting for Medicare for All. That is the one program that makes the most sense to me.
4. Will you support collective bargaining and vote against "Right to Work" legislation in any form?
Ans: When has “Right to Work” ever really worked to help employees? The title is inviting, however the application has been flawed from the beginning. Employees need to be able to develop or join unions. We had a period of time in this country when unions were starting to outlive their usefulness. For instance, I retired from Delta Air Lines, a non-union company. We were taken care of far and beyond our union counterparts. I’ll never be so naïve as to believe unions weren’t a determining factor in the way Delta decided to take care of us, however, Delta did it right for years. At one point things changed and Delta turned into the bad guys with its policies. New management started trying to find ways of firing employees who were nearing retirement. There was a vote to join a union that failed, most in part because of Delta’s history. Thankfully their mindset has reverted back to the Delta of old and employees are well cared for. Other airlines are not so lucky and really need their unions.
All this being said, again I support collective bargaining and the right to unionize.
5. What do you see as the role of State employees and how would you support them in their role?
Ans: The state is a company. The company needs a qualified workforce. State employees are currently that workforce. It would be my goal to see them supported with further training so that they can soar in their chosen fields.
Just the other day I went to place my name on the ballot. The state worker there was scared to death to go anywhere near the line of doing county work. She said, “I could lose my job!” All I asked for was to receive a fax from the Secretary of State and have her hand it to me. THAT is not the type of position anyone in any company should find themselves faced with. The threat of being fired for helping those you were hired to help is a stress level we do not need to be paying to support.
In my view this comes down to training of her supervisor and to holding them accountable for their actions. They too should not feel they would be fired for their actions, rather, spoken to with respect and asked to challenge themselves with answers to questions not yet asked. They should feel support from above, which equates to further training, something they would feel grateful for receiving.
When I was in management I always went by the philosophy that I wanted to find my employees doing something Right, not wrong. And, leading by example was the only option I afforded myself.
6. What mechanisms would you put in place to avoid budget shortfalls?
Ans: Budget shortfalls are the fault of poor accountability. For instance: A town garage says they need two hundred and fifty thousand dollars for their garage expenses. The town says yes. That is about as far as things go currently. The garage now feels they have to spend the entire amount or they might not be able to ask for five percent more next year.
This is how I see it happening. They ask for the two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The town officials, or State officials, receive a Complete breakdown of what they spent last year and what they expect to spend this year. I would want to know what they pay for gas and oil, for brake fluid, for headlights, for sand and salt, etc. If they didn’t use all of what they purchased the year before they won’t be able to say they need more this year. Budgets done carefully will never have shortfalls, only overages. The overages should benefit the next years’ budget and the taxpayers supporting those budgets.
7. What approach would you take to make higher education more affordable for Vermonters?
Ans: As the example above suggests, budgets are the key to controlling finances. The State Universities should become free for the first four years, as President Sanders will fight to see come to fruition. If it takes some time for that to happen then we need to freeze tuition to the State Universities. In order to continue receiving their funding they would need to roll back tuition for all residents by many years (to be determined) and freeze the tuition at that point. Student loans must be issued at rock bottom interest rates, the must be time limited and bankruptcy eligible.
Instead of making their profits off of the students these institutions must join with financial experts in order to create portfolios that will support their increased funding needs. And the upper level administrators must be paid in line with other professors. No more bonuses for the leaders of these universities. They have a salary and that should be determined based on what the job entails.
8. What would you do to ensure the viability of the state college system?
Ans: We have a great state for colleges. We need to make the system inviting to residents And non-residents. There needs to be a difference in tuition amounts to insure our residents get first choice. However, when we price non-residents away from our state it does nothing to help our situation. I have always said I’d rather sell a thousand widgets at ten dollars than ten widgets at a thousand dollars.
9. Do you support a livable wage for Vermonters? If so, what do you think that amount should be?
Ans: Where did this country go south on raising minimum wage? Greed took over and the entire country suffered. Without a “Living Wage” we are in a death spiral as a society. When I have spoken of starting a company I have always professed that an employee worth hiring is not worth hiring for less than twenty dollars an hour. I still feel that to be true, however, in order to get there we must eat the elephant one bite at a time. I say raise it to twelve dollars right away and then increase it a dollar a year until we get to twenty. Companies will be able to get used to that progression, especially if we go to Medicare For All which will allow companies to stop paying insurance for their employees.
I also have incentive programs for businesses, in my platform, incentives that will encourage them to hire more, settle in rural areas of Vermont and will save them taxes.
10. Briefly state why the VSEA should endorse you and describe the type of assistance that you would be seeking from a VSEA endorsement.
Ans: VSEA is part of a company called Vermont. This company has been running amok for years now from what I see. We need to have people in Montpelier who are not afraid to stand up and say, no, I don’t think we should do things as we always have done and continue to expect different results. We can do better. We must be willing to sit in committees for hours as is needed to get results. We need to listen and learn from the people of the state, the people who are our unpaid employees of this huge company. Without new leadership, or, at least, new blood within the confines of the current leadership, we will continue to go down that same old path. Eventually, doing that, we will come to the proverbial fork in the road and karma will pick that fork up, stick it in us, and say, You’re Done.
Sincerely,
Ron Horton
Candidate for Vermont State Senator
Essex/Orleans Counties