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South Burlington’s Community Newspaper Since 1977
the MAY 12, 2022
otherpapersbvt.com
VOLUME 46, NO. 19
New kids in the House Reps. Pugh, Townsend, Killacky to step down; LaLonde runs again AVALON STYLES-ASHLEY STAFF WRITER
Only one sitting House representative will run to keep his seat in South Burlington. The other three, with 44 years of experience legislating between them, are passing the baton. A few hopefuls have already stepped up to fill the holes left by Reps. Ann Pugh, John Killacky and Maida Townsend, meaning most of the South Burlington state delegation will be the new kids in the House.
Last one standing Rep. Martin LaLonde, who’s been in the state legislature for eight years, serving on the House Committee on Judiciary, as chair of the committee on judicial rules, and now part of majority leadership, hopes to keep his seat to finish up some “unfinished business.” “There are some issues that I have been working on for six, eight years, that are getting pretty darn close,” he said, pointing to his work to restructure the criminal code — he thinks that will take one more biennium at least — efforts to improve gun safety, work on climate change initiatives like the clean heat standard, and to reform state pensions and Act 250. Last week, the governor vetoed the clean heat standard bill, H.715, arguing that the financial impact to Vermonters and to the state, from incentives and subsidies, are unclear. “I think it’s important for some continuity that I am coming back. That’s one of the reasons that I decided to come back when I was trying to decide if I was going to run again,” he said. “It’s fun, it’s really interesting. It will be a whole bunch of new people, which is really enlightening.” See HOUSE on page 14
PHOTO BY AVALON STYLES-ASHLEY
The community has offered its support for the union push by local Starbucks employees, said 19-year-old barista and organizer Gareth “Gaz” Romp.
Starbucks’ employees brew a union South Burlington baristas advocate for change, labor rights AVALON STYLES-ASHLEY STAFF WRITER
Gareth “Gaz” Romp never thought they could be part of the labor movement. As a 19-year-old barista, fresh out of high school faced with the daunting cost of college, Romp thought they might use their skills on the piano and bass to become a musician and write music while making coffee. But a $15 an hour paycheck and a free Spotify subscription doesn’t cut it to live and work in Chittenden County, they realized.
When they began unionizing with some coworkers at their Starbucks on Shelburne Road, Romp discovered a passion for labor rights and activism. “Growing up, we learned about economic inequality and climate change, and how powerless we feel to make any change,” Romp said, adding that when they learned about unions, it felt like “a thing of the past,” an emblem of the 19th century labor movement but something that has been on the decline for years. Now, Romp feels like organizing is a “definitive answer: organizing our work-
places, not just at Starbucks, but all over the state and country,” they said. The Starbucks on Shelburne Road in South Burlington, a little island in the shopping plaza hugging Interstate 89, became the first in the state to file for a union election when it announced on May 1, coinciding with International Workers’ Day. At least 18 other Starbucks stores have voted to unionize throughout the country and Canada in the last six months out of the company’s 8,000 locations, and anothSee UNION on page 2