Sep. 6--BRATTLEBORO -- Among more than a dozen supporters holding signs and playing drums during Friday night's Gallery Walk, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gaye Symington cut the ribbon at the new Democratic headquarters downtown.

Symington, the outgoing House speaker from Jericho, was on hand to help open the headquarters at the site of the former Capers Restaurant, the second of three such bases in Windham County.

Supporters marched down Main Street and into Pliny Park, where Symington stopped to greet residents and pass out stickers with organizers.

"I love listening to what's on people's mind, even if it's sometimes difficult listening," she said. "Vermonters are very generous with their thoughts."

Symington's campaign visit also comes two days after independent candidate Anthony Pollina stopped in Brattleboro and Republican incumbent Gov. James Douglas was in Minnesota for the GOP convention.

But the former House speaker strayed away from talk about Pollina, instead focusing on the governor's record.

Symington said she is running against six Republican years where the state has seen the slowest economic growth in the northeast, the highest unemployment in 14 years and the largest gap between income in the country outside Connecticut.

Of the 10 fastest growing jobs in Vermont, nine of them do not pay a livable wage, she said. Vermont needs to grow an economy that builds on the

strengths of the state and attracts creative new investments that target industries that match those strengths.

Symington also challenged the Douglas administration's handling of cuts at the state level and internal e-mails, calling the incident "appalling."

It is a simple matter of deception, the administration was creating a way to sell misleading information to the Legislature and to the citizens of Vermont, she said. "That is not how Vermonters expect to be treated."

Allegations from Vermont State Employees' Association and Democratic lawmakers emerged earlier in the week that the Douglas administration attempted to hide the reasoning behind the job cuts, a claim the executive branch denies.

There has to be a change in conducting affairs at the Statehouse, said Symington to the crowd. "You all can make that change happen."

While the state worker's union and Symington spoke of deception, representatives from the governor's office were quick to respond to the internal e-mails.

Jason Gibbs, spokesman for Douglas administration, said opponents have taken a few excerpts out of context from thousands of pages and politicized them, before knowing the meaning behind the information.

Gibbs pointed to the claim of changing the title of social worker positions, which he notes is labeled a poor idea within the e-mails. "What they don't tell you is that a response to that e-mail was a rejection of that idea."

The reality of the situation, according to Gibbs, is that the idea was not only rejected, but five new positions were added.

"But the union and Gaye Symington don't tell anyone that because it doesn't fit into their deceptive story."

Meanwhile, Democratic candidate for Lt. Governor Tom Costello, told the Democratic stronghold they have to translate the enthusiasm and energy of presidential nominee Barack Obama into votes. Symington took a less direct approach, saying Vermonters know there needs to be a change at the national level.

"Similarly, we need change in Vermont," she said.

In early August, Democrats opened a headquarters in downtown Bellows Falls, and are planning to open a third in Wilmington today at 1 p.m.

Chris Garofolo can be reached at cgarofolo@reformer.com or 802-254-2311 ext. 275.

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