St. Albans Messenger - Go With Gibbs

St. Albans Messenger: Go with Gibbs

Jason Gibbs best choice for Sec. of State
Monday, August 23, 2010

The Secretary of State's position is normally viewed as one best filled by the person best able to pay attention to the details, someone who excels at customer service, and someone pledged to keep government efficient and transparent.

In tomorrow's Republican primary voters will have the option to choose between Chris Roy and Jason Gibbs. In our view, Mr. Gibbs is the preferred choice.

Not only does Mr. Gibbs have the necessary talent, he's shown an uncommon level of energy and innovation. When he's given a job, he works tirelessly to do it well and to bring to the task new ideas.

When he was appointed Commissioner of Forest and Parks he could have soldiered on as most would have, bemoaning the sad state of the economy, complaining about dramatically lower appropriations, and tossing his hands up in the air. He didn't. He brought some excitement to our parks, and his promotions resulted in a 10 percent increase in visitors. [Not bad in the midst of a recession.]

He figured out how to increase timber sales, which jumped by almost 30 percent, which also provided local jobs. He was aggressive in pushing for a sizable investment in our park system and he saw the need to figure out ways to make our park system self-funding, which would rely less on taxpayer dollars.

Prior to his appointment, Mr. Gibbs served the governor for six years as his communications director. He had the same sort of reputation: eager, hard-working, and knowledgeable.

That level of engagement can be off-putting to some. He is not a status-quo sort of administrator. He does not shy from the need to break inertia. He likes to see if there is a better way to get the job done. That's precisely the sort of thinking we need in Montpelier.

In tomorrow's primary, Jason Gibbs is the best choice in the Republican primary for Secretary of State.

by Emerson Lynn