Tristan Roberts hopes to collaborate with community and stay pragmatic

See article by Mike Eldred in the Deerfield Valley News, July 29, 2022

Tristan Roberts hopes to bring his experience in business and in local government to Montpelier as Windham-6 representative.

Roberts lives in Halifax with his partner Alison Crossley, their son Felix [correction: Tristan’s son], and their puppy Oliver. Originally from the Hudson Valley, Roberts has lived in Halifax since 2005 and in Windham County since 1998. He graduated from nearby Marlboro College, and has worked in the green building industry, most recently as the chief technologist for the Health Product Declaration Collaborative. Roberts describes HPDC as a voluntary initiative with more than 350 members, most of which are building products manufacturers. “The goal is making our buildings healthier and safer by reducing toxic chemicals in building products,” Roberts says. “We tend to vilify big corporations, sometimes for good reason, but manufacturers don’t want to poison their customers. Through this initiative we have increased transparency through various methods.”

Roberts hopes to bring his pragmatic, incentive-based approach to Montpelier. “No person wants to be told to do or forced to do what they would willingly do,” he says. “Yet, government tends to enforce mandates or regulations as one of its main tools. Government regulations are necessary and save lives every single day, but they tend to set a ceiling for good behavior rather than the floor they’re intended to provide.”

Roberts is in his second term as a selectboard member in Halifax, and has served on the town’s broadband committee. He says his experience serving the town of Halifax has fueled his interest in serving the district. “It really has been immensely rewarding,” Roberts said. “I’ve tended to be a consumer of the news throughout my life. If we just consume the news, we can imagine we’re living in a cable news version of democracy. But we have a living democracy here in our small Vermont towns. People are very collaborative. People want to show up with hard work and ingenuity. Each one of us recognizes our community is essential to our way of life.”