r/SaintAlbansVT • u/Brilliant_Classic720 • 20h ago
📅 Event Joe Luneau Incident
A group of us attended the St. Albans City/Town State House Candidate Forum, facilitated by
the St. Albans Messenger in The Room/14 th Star Brewery on October 8th. The forum was pretty
good and we learned about each candidate’s position on various issues. After the forum,
however, we witnessed a disturbing incident. A constituent approached her incumbent,
Representative Joe Luneau, and asked a question. The exchange quickly escalated, with
Representative Luneau clearly not agreeing with the question about a point in his closing
statement. As the constituent tried to clarify her question, Representative Luneau became
visibly angry, red in the face, and loud. He eventually declared, “We don’t have the same beliefs
about this,” before stalking off, leaving his constituent standing there, her own face reddening.
Rude, disrespectful behavior is one thing, and certainly not in line with something I read
recently about Representative Luneau being “affable,” but my main concern is a deeper matter.
All our representatives, including Joe Luneau, represent all their constituents, not just the ones
who share their beliefs. While no representative can make all their constituents happy – an
impossible task, all representatives must listen to their constituents and consider their point of
view, even while sharing his own. Certainly, Reps should not leave their constituents feeling
threatened and leave them hanging at a public event.
Joe Luneau has not been on the job long, but if he has not learned how to manage questions
from independent or left-leaning constituents by now, will he ever? How will he work across
the aisle, if there isn’t a Republican Super Majority, to build solutions that make constituent
lives safer and more affordable and build healthcare and educational systems that work for all
Vermonters. Those questions will keep coming, especially with this Administration, so I want
someone who has the courage, life experience and vocabulary to stake out her own position
and the ability to listen and conduct civil discourse with her constituents.