For Immediate Release
September 8, 2020
Contact: Doug Gibson
802-595-0934
Vermont State Employees’ Association (VSEA) Elections, Rules and Nominating (ERN) Committee members have tabulated the votes from a recent election to determine retiring VSEA President Dave Bellini’s successor, and the membership has elected Aimee Towne to the post*. A 20-year state employee, Towne currently works as a Contracts and Grants Administrator in the Department for Children and Families’ Economic Services Division. She’s also worked earlier in her career at the Department of Liquor Control.
“I am very pleased to have been elected to this very important position–and at this very important time,” says Towne. “My family and I were so excited to see the election results.” She continues, “My main goal entering into this is to try to unite the VSEA membership around the fights that we’re all facing right now, like a state budget crisis, ongoing COVID-19 health and safety concerns, the continued privatization of state services, funding for state colleges, and a lot of other issues. I want to educate every single VSEA member about the very difficult challenges we are facing and about the threats to our services, stressing to them how vital it for us to come together as one powerful force to meet what comes at us head on.”
Towne is no stranger to VSEA’s internal and external workings, having served VSEA in just about every role there is in her 20 years of state service. Most recently, she was VSEA’s elected First Vice President, where she headed the union’s largest governing body for five years. The VSEA Board of Trustees will be appointing a successor to the now vacant First Vice President post.
Towne thanked her two opponents in the race, saying they were “formidable” with “powerful platforms” and adding that she now looks forward to working with them to move VSEA forward.
*VSEA’s ERN Committee is unable to officially certify the vote results, pending a review of some election-related issues. The review is expected shortly.
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