Ailing Brattleboro senator back in capital
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By DANIEL BARLOW Southern Vermont Bureau - Published: January 3, 2006
BRATTLEBORO — Rod Gander returned Monday to Montpelier for what may be his final year as a senator after resurgence of his lung cancer forced him to miss most of the last session.
Gander, a Democrat from Brattleboro, said he feels well enough to complete his second term in the Vermont Senate, but the uncertainty over his health means he will likely not seek reelection this year.
"A run for reelection is probably not in the cards," he said shortly before making the two-hour drive from Brattleboro to Montpelier. "The cancer treatment can keep the disease down, but there still is no cure."
The sudden return of the disease in December 2004, one month after Gander was reelected to a second term, kept him out of the Statehouse for much of 2005. He has undergone chemotherapy and radiation treatment at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, located about 120 miles from his home in Brattleboro.
The Windham County liberal, now in his mid-70s, returned for a single day in June to vote against allowing Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant to store its radioactive fuel on site. Gander was on the losing end of that vote. The bill passed the Senate 18-6.
A new clinical treatment involving more pill taking and no trips to the hospital for chemotherapy has Gander "feeling OK" and hopeful he can finish his second term. He said his doctors should know by next month if this new treatment will be effective.
"So far, so good," he said. "We have our fingers crossed."
The future of Vermont's health care system will likely be the dominant issue in this election year, Gander said, as the Democrats who control the Legislature and Republican Gov. James Douglas search for a compromise.
But the state's energy needs may percolate into a large issue this year, Gander said, following Rockingham's rejected bid to purchase its hydroelectric dam and Vermont Yankee's, the nuclear power plant in Vernon, another of the towns the senator represents, move toward relicensing in 2012.
Gander said the state needs to begin looking at a combination of new energy sources soon or it will continue to rely on nuclear power.
"We can't just be talking about wind power because that alone can't form our energy policy," he said.
A former president of Marlboro College and a former reporter and editor for Newsweek for many years, Gander and fellow Windham County Sen. Jeanette White were elected in 2002, replacing Nancy Chard and Peter Shumlin.
Gander said his close relationship with White and Senate President Pro Tem Peter Welch, D-Windsor, allowed him to remain informed on proceedings during the last session. White, who spent the last session as the sole representative of Windham County in the Senate, said she is eager to have him back.
"I'm thrilled that Rod is coming back," White said. "We missed his intellect and insight."
Contact Daniel Barlow at daniel.barlow@rutlandherald.com.
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