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Candidate Profile:
Mark Blanchard
by Stephen Seitz
SPRINGFIELD -- Talk about public service.
Mark Blanchard currently serves as chairman of Springfield's selectmen, a
seat he first won five years ago. He is also on the board of the Springfield
Redevelopment Corporation as well as the revitalization group Springfield
on the Move, he has been a member of the elementary school building
committee for the past two years, and also serves as an alternate delegate
to the solid waste commission.
Now he wants to represent Windsor County in the state Senate.
"I've always felt that the state Senators aren't quite visible enough for
my liking," Blanchard said in a recent interview. "I'm the selectboard chair
of one of the larger towns in Windsor County, and we never seem to see
our senators. We see our governor and our federal senators, like Pat
Leahy, much more often than we see our state senators.. I have a problem
in that they can't really be representing us without being visible.."
With that in mind, Blanchard has been campaigning all over the county,
and two concerns seem to come up more than others. One is nuclear
power.
"I think that that project is on a decision path," said Blanchard. "We
have to wait to hear from the Public Service Board, which, along with the
NRC, should have the information that leads us to the re-licensing of
Vermont Yankee."
But recent mishaps at the Vernon plant have given Blanchard pause.
"I can't believe that the NRC would okay that plant and then have an
accident like the cooling tower," he said. "That just makes my eyes roll to
the back of my head, that they can't keep something like that in good
working order and in good condition. That kind of decay doesn't happen
in one year or two years, it takes a long time for something like that to get
in that condition. It makes you wonder what the rest of the plant is like."
The other is some variation of Jessica's Law, which has garnered support
in light of the tragic and shocking murder of young Brooke Bennett earlier
this year. The law calls for extreme penalties for sexual predators against
children, and has been adopted in a number of states despite considerable
doubts about its effectiveness and massive cost.
Blanchard said he'd want to consider something like this very
carefully.
"It's a recurring theme that I see," he said. "Personally, I think there
was a responsibility to the police department, the education community
and the community members for letting that go on to the extent that it did.
I'm reluctant to go for knee-jerk legislation to try to develop another law
when there were plenty of rules and regulations in place that were not
being lived up to."
Blanchard said he'd ease the burden on the state's prison system by
putting nonviolent offenders to work.
"They're taking up very expensive space and resources when they
could probably be going the work camp route," Blanchard said. "These are
people who could be doing something productive for nonprofits all over
the state -- churches, schools. and the like.."
Then, of course, there are Springfield's needs. Blanchard said he'd
look into improving truck access to the industrial park in North
Springfield.
"There's been some discussion around how we access that park for
truck traffic," he said. "That's going to take a significant amount of money
and resources. The state would definitely be a great partner in that
project. That's a good example of Windsor County's specific needs
working in conjunction with the state's."
Mark Blanchard
by Stephen Seitz
SPRINGFIELD -- Talk about public service.
Mark Blanchard currently serves as chairman of Springfield's selectmen, a
seat he first won five years ago. He is also on the board of the Springfield
Redevelopment Corporation as well as the revitalization group Springfield
on the Move, he has been a member of the elementary school building
committee for the past two years, and also serves as an alternate delegate
to the solid waste commission.
Now he wants to represent Windsor County in the state Senate.
"I've always felt that the state Senators aren't quite visible enough for
my liking," Blanchard said in a recent interview. "I'm the selectboard chair
of one of the larger towns in Windsor County, and we never seem to see
our senators. We see our governor and our federal senators, like Pat
Leahy, much more often than we see our state senators.. I have a problem
in that they can't really be representing us without being visible.."
With that in mind, Blanchard has been campaigning all over the county,
and two concerns seem to come up more than others. One is nuclear
power.
"I think that that project is on a decision path," said Blanchard. "We
have to wait to hear from the Public Service Board, which, along with the
NRC, should have the information that leads us to the re-licensing of
Vermont Yankee."
But recent mishaps at the Vernon plant have given Blanchard pause.
"I can't believe that the NRC would okay that plant and then have an
accident like the cooling tower," he said. "That just makes my eyes roll to
the back of my head, that they can't keep something like that in good
working order and in good condition. That kind of decay doesn't happen
in one year or two years, it takes a long time for something like that to get
in that condition. It makes you wonder what the rest of the plant is like."
The other is some variation of Jessica's Law, which has garnered support
in light of the tragic and shocking murder of young Brooke Bennett earlier
this year. The law calls for extreme penalties for sexual predators against
children, and has been adopted in a number of states despite considerable
doubts about its effectiveness and massive cost.
Blanchard said he'd want to consider something like this very
carefully.
"It's a recurring theme that I see," he said. "Personally, I think there
was a responsibility to the police department, the education community
and the community members for letting that go on to the extent that it did.
I'm reluctant to go for knee-jerk legislation to try to develop another law
when there were plenty of rules and regulations in place that were not
being lived up to."
Blanchard said he'd ease the burden on the state's prison system by
putting nonviolent offenders to work.
"They're taking up very expensive space and resources when they
could probably be going the work camp route," Blanchard said. "These are
people who could be doing something productive for nonprofits all over
the state -- churches, schools. and the like.."
Then, of course, there are Springfield's needs. Blanchard said he'd
look into improving truck access to the industrial park in North
Springfield.
"There's been some discussion around how we access that park for
truck traffic," he said. "That's going to take a significant amount of money
and resources. The state would definitely be a great partner in that
project. That's a good example of Windsor County's specific needs
working in conjunction with the state's."
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| Independent state Senate candidate Mark Blanchard. |
