Vermont Standard
5/4/2017
By Curt Peterson
Standard Correspondent
Vermont Governor Phil Scott recently appointed Republican Jim Harrison to replace Representative Job Tate, who recently resigned his post.
Tate, who has been in the Naval Construction Brigade Reserves for some years, was called up for overseas deployment and had to resign his seat in the Legislature. He had one more year to serve, and then, he said, he planned to selfimpose a two-term limit on himself and let someone else run to take his place in 2018.
As recently as the killington Town Meeting in March, Tate was planning to finish his term.
When he announced his resignation, three candidates indicated they were interested in Scott’s appointment as Tate’s replacement: David Soucy, who is general manager of killington’s Green Mountain International Golf Course, Whit Montgomery, killington’s chief of police, and Jim Harrison of Chittenden, the former president of and former lobbyist for the Vermont Retail and Grocers Association.
Within a short number of days, Scott announced Harrison’s appointment, and he was sworn in last week as the representative for Bridgewater, killington, Chittenden and Mendon.
Harrison says he is a “moderate Republican,” whereas Tate was referred to as one of the most conservative legislators in the House.
Harrison says he plans to run for reelection when Tate’s term expires in 2018.
Harrison and his wife have lived in Chittenden since 2006, coming from Rutland Town. He earned a bachelor’s degree at Cornell, then a master’s degree in business administration at Southern New Hampshire University, and worked for almost 30 years for VRGA. He retired in late 2016 at age 63.
His previous organization opposed several controversial legislation proposals. Three examples are the tax on added-sugar soft drinks, paid family leave policy, and the Vermont Genetically Modified Organism labeling law, all popular with many Vermonters, and all directly affecting retailers and grocers in the state. Harrison had a reputation among legislators as a tenacious advocate for his organization.
But Harrison says all that is behind him. He plans to focus on economic and population growth in the state, both of which he feels are the best goals for Vermont and his constituents.
Jim Harrison
No comments:
Post a Comment