By LEON THOMPSON
Messenger Staff Writer
ST. ALBANS –– Todd Pritsky is the first to admit no one knows him outside of his Fletcher neighborhood and the town’s general store.
That, however, did not stop him from running as an independent in a five-way race for two Vermont House seats in Franklin-2, comprised of St. Albans Town, Fletcher and Fairfield.
“Obviously, I don’t have the last name of ‘Howrigan,’ Pritsky said this week, referring to the popular surname that blankets Fairfield and has had representation in both the Vermont Senate and House, where the current incumbent serves.
“I thought about changing my name, but it wasn’t really going to work,” he added.
That is a joke, but Pritsky is serious about the campaign he is running against Rep. Eileen “Lynn” Dickinson, R-St. Albans Town; Rep. Dick Howrigan, D-Fairfield; Republican George “Ron” Allard, also of St. Albans Town; and Dr. Bill Roberts, a Fairfield Democrat.
Articulate and thoughtful, Pritsky, 41, who works as an adjunct communications professor at Champlain College, said he placed himself on the ballot after thinking about the future of his family: his domestic partner, Ericka, and their son, Samuel, whom Pritsky cares for as a stay-at-home dad, when he’s not in class.
He considered his candidacy after he happened upon a Craigslist ad for independents to run for Vermont legislative offices. He researched their platforms and found he agreed with many of them.
“I figured why not run?” he said. “I can build a base. I can gain experience. Why wouldn’t I run now?”
Pritsky said his main goal as a legislator would be to provide an independent voice and actually look and work at the nuances of key issues hanging over the state, instead of making them simplistic, cut-and-dry instruments for fear-mongering.
This philosophy is evident on the blog Pritsky posts regularly to his Web site (www.toddforvthouse.com).
“Certainly we have to differentiate ourselves from the rest of the pack and part of that is showing the downsides of the other ideas floating around, and appealing to emotion is perfectly natural and not inherently a bad thing – you're trying to persuade people,” Pritsky wrote Thursday.
“Yet it seems there's a fine line between disagreement, differentiation, etc. and just plain cynical manipulation of our lizard brains and insults to our intelligence.”
In person, Pritsky is just as engaging. Despite his relative obscurity, he believes he can win a House seat by canvassing homes and utilizing social media to its fullest.
“I get a lot of people who say, ‘We love independents,’” he said.
His views on jobs and the economy might be one reason he feels support from the independent middle. Pritsky said too many politicians are talking about “creating jobs” and “helping businesses” without acknowledging that such approaches only help corporations, not consumers.
The real root of the economic problem is demand, he said.
“We need to have better ability to get money back into people’s hands, so that they start buying stuff again,” Pritsky said. “That is what’s really going to help businesses and help create jobs. How can people hire people to work if people aren’t buying their stuff? Does it really do anything to say you’re going to create jobs and bring business into the state if consumers can’t support them?”
Pritsky also said the state should tie investors directly to job creation and only rely on subsidized, tax-funded programs – such as the Vermont Economic Development Authority – if companies show specific numbers for job growth before they get any financial help.
Another way to put extra cash into consumers’ pockets is through tax relief, Pritsky said. He believes that in order to balance the budget, and find some bit of tax relief in the process, the legislature must be willing to tap into its rainy day fund.
“Anytime you do tax changes, someone is going to come out a loser,” he said. “And just throwing money at any problem doesn’t work, either.”
Pritsky finds it ironic that many of the same legislative candidates that say the state can’t spend more on education are willing to throw money at job growth. He is on the fence about supervisory union consolidation but also wonders how the same candidates who worry about losing 600 jobs with the decommissioning of Vermont Yankee can say it’s acceptable to cut jobs in schools.
“Unfortunately, I think there’s a lot of politicking going on in education,” Pritsky said. “I haven’t seen a lot of hard data about consolidation, and I want to see the numbers about specific outcomes before we go and decide to cut education jobs.”
Pritsky said he would back a single-payer health insurance system and claimed it would actually save the state money, despite the counterargument that it costs more.
“It’s the most fiscally responsible way to provide health care,” he said. “Damn straight I’ll be voting for the single-payer option in January.”
Turning to crime, Pritsky endorses the decriminalization of marijuana and finds it ridiculous that, in Vermont, anyone with a medical marijuana prescription cannot buy it legally within state boundaries.
Pritsky said marijuana should be legal, controlled strictly and taxed highly – and used to help support dairy farmers in crisis.
“It could be a great cash crop for them, and think of the jobs it would create on farms,” Pritsky said. “Why are we not doing this? Because of a cultural resistance to something?”
Pritsky said Democratic gubernatorial candidate Peter Shumlin is “on the right track” with his proposal to cut money from the corrections budget, release some non-violent offenders, and reinvest the money into early childhood education.
“Brian Dubie (the GOP candidate) is opposing it from a place of fear,” Pritsky said. “That’s what he’s banking on – the fear factor. Shumlin has a good message. Dubie is trying to play on my fear as a parent. I don’t appreciate that.”
If only I could've had Sam's picture in the article. I'm not overly thrilled with mine--sorry for being a vain jerk.
Regardless, I appreciate the opportunity to reach constituents through this traditional media outlet--the paper is doing a great service providing balance for all candidates, regardless of party or background. Pretty rare these days, sadly.
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