Parker Works
For Results

"Incoming Scuds!" CVPS administrative assistants joked as they distributed "discovery" questions for an electric rate case.

I met Scudder Parker, candidate for governor, back in 1994 or '95 when I worked at CVPS on energy efficiency programs, and Scudder directed the Vermont Department of Public Service's energy efficiency and renewable energy division. In structure, it was an adversarial arrangement; however, it didn't really work like one. Don't get me wrong. Scudder had specific, aggressive, and achievable goals. He very skillfully pushed, prodded and cajoled with all the means at his disposal and achieved those goals.

With what we know now about climate change and resource shortages, it is absolutely clear that Scudder's vision was well-focused and true.

I have come to know Scudder professionally and have immense respect for his drive, intelligence, and vision. By my direct observation and experience, Scudder takes his vision and consults with those with expertise and those with a stake in the matter (even when they are not his allies). With those stakeholders, he gathers and analyzes information, he develops strategies, and, in ways that don't stereotype into either a left or right box, he gets results through a shared process of compromise and consensus building.

We need results. Silver shovels, parades, and photo ops are not the same as governing. To make things work better in Vermont, we must change governors. Progress is now being blocked, stymied by old hide-bound ideological thinking. It's not conservatism to repeat or cling to what's not working, doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result.

Whether it is resistance to health care for all, inability to find real solutions for education funding, failure to secure good energy sources for the all-too-near future, or underhanded collaborations with anti-environmental Congressional Committee Chairs, the illusory mild-mannered Jim Douglas isn't producing solutions. By the way, how moderate can you really claim to be when you were the Chair of the Bush-Cheney Re-election Committee in Vermont?

We have so much to gain as a state if Vermonters of all stripes make a small effort to get to know Scudder Parker. I urge all, friends and neighbors, to go to his website, attend a campaign event, watch a debate, and get to know him yourself. Make an informed decision.

In my experience, Scudder Parker's grade for "works well with others" is an A+. Jim Douglas's is not even close.

Jeff Gephart

Rochester