Grace, grit, generosity & a deep commitment to doing the right thing. Thank you, Rep. Redmond, for all you’ve done for Essex, and for Vermont!

Press Release: For Immediate Release
Date: December 16th, 2021
Contact: Brian Shelden, brian@shelden4vt.org, 802-879-7665

Like all of us, I am saddened by the news that Marybeth Redmond has to step down as our Vermont State Representative. I admire her tenacity, her strong sense of integrity, and her grace under fire. Marybeth’s resignation is a blow to Essex.

I know everyone will join me in wishing her the best. I am hopeful she will remain involved in our community and its path into the future.

I wanted to tell a quick story about Rep. Marybeth from the early days of the pandemic. When the pandemic first hit Vermont, many people lost their jobs. So many, that the Vermont Department of Labor could not keep up with claims.

Rep. Marybeth, being a journalist by trade, was great in communicating to Essex the status of the unemployment processing. Which was especially complicated because some of the laws and policies were only days old!

But the main problem was the Labor Department didn’t have enough staff. Marybeth was one of the State Representatives who rolled up her sleeves and took phone calls on behalf of of the department. When I met people as a member of the Essex Economic Development Commission who struggling to get their benefits, she was happy to look at their issues directly. And fix them.

Communication. Follow through. And getting things done. That’s exactly the kind of Representative I want to be for Essex.

Why do I want to represent Essex in Montpelier?

First and foremost, I am committed to extending Marybeth’s legacy of compassionate, empathetic leadership. I will bring my love for Essex and Vermont to the Statehouse to help create smart and realistic solutions for our entire community. And my software consulting experience listening to different stakeholders – coders, testing, sales, customer support – is perfect training for listening to all sides of an issue to come up with balanced solutions.

If you choose me, I would ask to replace Marybeth on the House Climate Caucus.

I would work with the legislature and the governor to create science and data-driven Covid-19 recovery & mitigation strategies.

And I would work to protect Democracy where ever I saw it in peril. In fact, it was those attacks on Democracy in 2016 and earlier that convinced me it was time to stand up in and get involved in the first place.

As 2021 comes to a close, we all feel a bit battered and our nerves are worn, but we need to keep moving forward with our eyes and hearts set on better days.

I hope to play a role in that forward movement.

I ask you tonight to please vote for me to replace Marybeth. If you choose me tonight, and I am appointed: I am prepared, and I will be ready on day one.

But that work is going to take all of us. Whether to enshrine the right to choose in the Vermont constitution, to keep an 8 – 1 pro-equity majority on the School Board. Or to send the first Vermont woman to Congress. It’s going to take all of us.

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