The senator from Lamoille County is telling it straight, but is anybody listening?

Finally Susan

The senator from Lamoille County is telling it straight, but is anybody listening?
By Andy Bromage - Seven Days [06.16.10]

Senator Susan Bartlett has a reputation for toughness, so no one expected her to get weepy during her final budget presentation. The Lamoille County Democrat was briefing her colleagues on the Senate floor, on a cloudy day in April, when she was overcome with emotion.

After 18 years in the legislature, including 10 as chair of the budget-writing Senate Appropriations Committee, Bartlett was retiring to run for governor. This was the last budget she would shepherd through.

“I knew I’d feel sad,” said Bartlett, half crying, half laughing. “I’m crying because — whew — I don’t have to do it again.” By turning a potential “Muskie moment” into a joke, she skillfully avoided embarrassment.

For years, 63-year-old Bartlett has been the legislature’s go-to person on all things fiscal. Fellow senators say her understanding of state government is unmatched; her institutional memory, indispensable.

“She has an incredible ability to process numbers,” says Sen. Diane Snelling, a Chittenden County Republican who calls Bartlett a “mentor” and has served for nine years on her committee.

One of five Democrats seeking their party’s nomination for governor, Bartlett is trying to parlay her deep knowledge of state government into a victory at the polls on August 24. That, combined with her politically moderate views, are what set her apart from her competitors.

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