Change is Coming
Change takes a long time, especially the good kind.
You lumber along as a society, a state, a city, a town. Then you wake up one day and things are different. Gay people can get married. Black people and women can vote. We solve acid rain and ozone depletion. We go to the moon, take down racist monuments, ban plastic bags, defeat AIDS and Ebola. We elect a president of color.
What we miss is the hard work that went into that change and the signs along the way. The change was coming. We just weren’t paying attention.
This past week in Vermont, we saw the warning signs of major change in our political culture. If you paid attention, you saw three speeches by three politicians - all women - that gave us a preview of things to come.
We also saw a long list of women destined for public office or leadership roles in that change. Katherine Sims, Kesha Ram, Molly Gray, Kate MacLean, Martha Allen, Rebecca Holcombe. Not to mention Taylor Small, likely to be the first transgender member of the Vermont legislature. Some of those names you don’t know. But if you are paying attention, you will soon know them.
These women are leading a surge in Vermont politics that made itself very clear this past Tuesday, when a record number of voters cast a ballot by mail or in person.
A big clue came in speeches last week at a post election press conference on the Statehouse lawn. Three women stood out. Rebecca Holcombe, who ran unsuccessfully for governor, Sen. Becca Balint of Windham County and Molly Gray, the winning Democratic candidate for Lt. Governor.
The three served notice on Vermont that we are headed in a very different direction.
Holcombe spoke of causing “good trouble,’’ the phrase from the late civil rights leader John Lewis. It is very clear that Holcombe’s long shot run was about normalizing the notion of women running for office and assuming leadership roles.
Gray talked about a new generation of leadership transforming Vermont and bringing a “new generation here and keeping a generation home.’’
“ … we are at a crossroads … There is no going back,’’ she said.
And Balint, in a fiery speech, said:
“This is no time for timidity. Or for acrimony among us. Not because we can’t have legitimate points of disagreement. Because this horrible moment in time is not just about us. It’s about our children and the generations that come after who will want to know: What did you do to fight the darkness?’’
Consider what is about to happen in the Vermont Senate.
Senator Balint is about to assume the post of Senate President Pro Tempore, the most powerful senator. In addition to running the Senate and often presiding over the chamber, she will be a member of the “Committee on Committees.’’ That body is the three member panel that decides the makeup of the committees in the Senate, including the chairs. In that tiny world, that is a big deal. It’s been run by white men for a very long time.
Now realize that Molly Gray would also serve on the “Committee on Committees.’’ The third member of that group is Grand Isle Senator Dick Mazza, who has served in the Senate since 1985.
Mazza has chaired the Senate Transportation committee forever, where he has overseen the money going to bridges and roads in the old fashioned way, emphasizing paving projects and road construction. Climate change policy is not tops on his agenda.
Senator Balint is passionate and hard-working and well-known for listening to everyone. I have to believe that she has major plans for changing the way the stuffy Vermont Senate operates. From the way sexual harassment complaints are handled to a whole host of other traditions, the Senate is ripe for change.
If Gray wins her race, she will be the presiding officer of the Senate. Gray and Balint will work together to run the place and infuse it with new energy. High on the list is a decision about whether to remove Mazza from the Committee on Committees, not to mention his chairmanship of the Transportation Committee. Whatever they do will be delicate and controversial in the short-term. Mazza would do well to offer his resignation ahead of time.
Holcombe may have lost. But she is not going anywhere. Her sharp mind and aggressive positions and energy are what we desperately need in Vermont, if we can realize it.
Gray is going to be the next Lt. Governor and play a major role in determining what Vermont becomes in the next generation.
And Balint is about to change the Vermont Senate and its agenda.
The ride might get bumpy. Change always is. But it will be smart and exciting and in the end will lead us to a better future. Pay attention.
