At a gala event last Wednesday evening at the T.W. Wood Gallery and Art Center in Montpelier, 140 people applauded as Gus Seelig, Executive Director of the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board (VHCB), was presented with Smart Growth Vermont’s 2010 Arthur Gibb Award for Individual Leadership. Senators Sanders and Leahy, and Representative Welch all sent their greetings.
“Gus’ leadership in bringing together Vermont’s housing and conservation programs has become the root of VHCB’s success,” said Noelle MacKay, Smart Growth Vermont Executive Director. “This type of collaboration is at the heart of our work and of implementing smart growth principles. Having the differing views of housing and conservation together helps craft creative, unique solutions to land use issues facing Vermont.”
“You have embraced the principles of smart growth and mirrored the leadership traits of Art Gibb,” wrote Congressman Peter Welch. “Your skill and perseverance in forging a consensus on conservation and housing issues and your devotion to maintaining our sense of heritage and history will benefit Vermont for generations to come.”
Senator Bernie Sanders’ greeting cited Gus’ successful implementation, “sometimes in face of significant opposition – of a unique in the nation approach to creating affordable housing, conserving agricultural and recreational lands and promoting historic preservation. The results have been impressive. VHCB has supported tens of millions of dollars of public reinvestments in towns and village centers and downtown neighborhoods, funded almost 10,000 units of permanently affordable housing, and conserved over 370,000 acres of farmland, wildlife habitat and recreational areas.”
“Under your leadership,” wrote Senator Patrick Leahy, “the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board has led the discussion, implemented policy and carried out actions to make Vermont a better place to live. Our farms, our downtowns, our cultural assets, our forests, our communities and thousands of families owe you a long overdue thank you.”
The Arthur Gibb Award for Individual Leadership is given by Smart Growth Vermont each year in honor of Arthur Gibb’s legacy of commitment to safeguarding Vermont’s values and unique landscape. Each year, Smart Growth Vermont honors an individual whose leadership, vision and courage has brought about positive and lasting change in the way their community or our state integrates growth with conservation.
In his remarks introducing Gus, Steven Kimbell said, “Gus epitomizes Art Gibb in so many ways. His general demeanor, the way he deals with people, his willingness to listen. If you knew Art Gibb at all, you can see the parallels with Gus’ personality and the kind of leadership Art Gibb epitomized. We need more of the kind of the kind of quiet, collaborative leadership Gus provides.”
As founding executive director of the VHCB, Gus and his staff and board built a nationally recognized model to address both affordable homes and conservation of open space. During his tenure, he worked with Senator Leahy on the pilot project Farms for the Future which has become the national Farm Protection Program. Vermont now has almost 370,000 acres of conserved land, including over 500 conserved farms, 50 historic buildings preserved for community use and 9,800 units of permanently affordable homes.
Smart Growth Vermont is a statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to forging growth and conservation solutions for Vermont communities and working rural lands. We work both on-the-ground in communities and at the state level to help develop and implement land use legislation designed to foster growth that works to strengthen our downtowns and village centers while conserving our working landscape and open areas. For more information, please visit Smart Growth Vermont’s website at www.smartgrowthvermont.org.