Vermonters around the state stood with candles and signs Monday evening, protesting Gov. James Douglas' proposed budget cuts.

About two dozen turned out for the event in Rutland, joining protestors in Bennington, Brattleboro, Burlington, Hardwick, Middlebury, Montpelier, Morrisville, Randolph, St. Albans and St. Johnsbury. An Associated Press report put the crowd in Montpelier at about 100.

Back in Rutland, organizer Carol Tashie argued that with more people laid off and more people struggling with food and heating bills, it is a poor time to cut government support programs such as Catamount Health, Dr. Dynasaur and VPharm, among others.

"We feel, in these really tough economic times, more and more Vermonters will need the safety nets we are prepared to provide," Tashie said. "These are real cuts to real people."

Tashie said the state has several options for raising revenue, including increasing the gas and cigarette taxes. She also pointed out that the first 40 percent of capital gains are not taxed and that Vermonters making more than $1 million a year pay less in taxes than they did not long ago.

"These are potential sources of revenue and we'd ask, like Governor Snelling did in the '90s, that Douglas look at those sources," she said.

Sen. William Carris, D-Rutland County, who attended the vigil, said balancing the budget would be a difficult juggling act and he and his fellow legislators need to listen carefully to people.

"I hear people are willing to look at the gas tax," he said. "Social services, people care about a lot. VPharm is a very big one with people and I'm hearing … it's going to hurt them a lot if it gets cut."

Rep. Peg Andrews, D-Rutland, also at the vigil, made a point echoed by several others there, arguing that if, as the governor has said, everything needs to be on the table, then "everything" needs to include "appropriate taxes."

"I'm not prepared to endorse any specific tax at this time," she said. "I think cutting essential supports to the most needy people in the state should not be the first place to look."

Joan Eckley, 62, of West Haven, held one sign saying that Douglas is the 10th-highest paid governor in the U.S. and another calling on him to give up his $14,000 food allowance. A retired Department of Corrections employee, Eckley said Douglas is looking at cutting the wrong jobs.

"If we eliminated a lot of middle management jobs, there'd be enough to pay for services," she said. "Every department is overloaded with middle management."

Contacted earlier in the day about the vigils, Dennise Casey, Douglas's deputy chief of staff, reiterated the administration's message that the state was facing tough times.

"We have to recognize we cannot afford all of the services and programs we've come to enjoy," she said.

Asked what sort of public outcry might make the governor back away from such cuts, Casey indicated that the administration believes the outcry points in the other direction.

"Governor Douglas speaks with more Vermonters than anyone else on any given day in any given week," she said. "He's hearing they're struggling across every walk of life. They need a government that doesn't look to quick fixes and tax hikes to fix the budget."

Tashie said the vigils are the beginning of a larger organizing effort that included distributing postcards for people to send to Douglas or their legislators.

Contact Gordon Dritschilo at gordon.dritschilo@rutlandherald.com.