Montpelier City Councilor Dona Bate has announced that she is running for Montpelier Vermont House Representative “because my council experience has shown the need for more proactive and productive collaborations between the state and municipalities,” she wrote in a press release. “Montpelier has struggled with the urgent need for public housing and social services that are the state’s responsibilities. It is a pivotal time when we need to direct our resources towards long-term solutions while addressing short-term needs.”
Bate said she is running as an independent candidate because she “prefers to keep the same non-partisanship approach that I’ve had for the past nine years on the Montpelier City Council. I’m interested in rank choice voting as one way to reduce the two-party gridlock and add diversity to our legislators.
My top five priorities for the coming legislative term are to:
Support regional public safety dispatch centers for Fire and EMS;
Assure affordable health care & childcare
Pass laws to protect children on social media”
Bate has college-level certifications in finance, community advocacy, mediation, law, and business. Over the past 53 years, the press release states, she has been involved in a wide range of community service: “Montpelier schools; public transportation services; safe drinking water and clean rivers; city infrastructure; pedestrian and cyclist issues; city parks; and regional public safety. I am currently the chair of the Central Vermont Public Safety Authority Board. I’ve also served on Central Vermont Regional Planning Commission’s Transportation and Clean Water Advisory Committees.”
Bate said she enjoys walks in cities and woods, visits to art museums and parks, and travels to cities and countries to experience different cultures, architecture, and geography. She also said she is a longtime member of the Montpelier Rotary Club, Lost Nation Theater, Savvy Speakers a Toastmasters Club, Kellogg-Hubbard Library, Planned Parenthood, World Wildlife Fund, and the ACLU.
“I will work to be financially and socially responsible, while striving to make our laws and treatments of everyone more respectful, fair, and equable. I want to serve Montpelier as one of its state representatives and I ask Montpelier residents to use their voices to elect me by voting early or on November 8th at the general election. I can be reached at dona@batevthouse.org to set up living room or backyard meet-and-greets for small gatherings.”
For more information, go towww.batevthouse.org
