[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 93 (Monday, June 21, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5198-S5199]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO STEVE KIMBELL

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I want to honor Vermont's leading 
policymaker, Steve Kimbell, who announced his retirement on May 20 of 
this year. For over three decades, Mr. Kimbell has been a major 
presence within the political world of Vermont and is noted as the most 
respected and influential policy maker to walk the halls of our 
Statehouse.
  Mr. Kimbell started his career as a lawyer at Vermont Legal Aid after 
completing his juris doctor from the University of Michigan Law School. 
Only a few years later, he was hired as lieutenant governor candidate 
Madeleine Kunin's campaign manager and went on to be her State planning 
director after she was elected Governor. Mr. Kimbell then partnered 
with Governor Kunin's former press secretary Bob Sherman to form 
Kimbell Sherman Ellis, a government and communications company that has 
grown into the most successful firm of its kind in the State. Kimbell 
Sherman Ellis developed a nationwide clientele and has additional 
offices in Washington, DC and Massachusetts. Along with advising and 
policymaking for Vermont State government, the firm provides 
legislative and regulatory strategy in government affairs and manages 
marketing and public relations campaigns nationwide.
  Steve Kimbell has been credited with helping to shape almost every 
piece of major legislation to pass through the Vermont Statehouse. I 
offer my congratulations to Mr. Kimbell upon his retirement. I ask 
unanimous consent to have printed in the Record an article from the 
Rutland Herald that depicts the contributions that Steve Kimbell has 
made to the State of Vermont.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                [From the Rutland Herald, May 30, 2010]

                        Politician's Politician

                           [By Peter Mallary]

       Steve Kimbell can be tightly wound. But the other day 
     sitting in his office at Kimbell, Sherman & Ellis--the 
     Montpelier-based government and communications firm he 
     started with Bob Sherman back in 1987--he looked completely 
     relaxed. It is a small office, which he shares with his 
     partner's son, Nick Sherman. Kimbell's chair was kicked back. 
     His smile was broad and available.
       Steve Kimbell just quit his job.
       ``I never expected to work forever,'' he said.
       Well, you could have fooled most of us.
       And he has.
       In most cases more than once.
       Kimbell is the politician's politician, a lobbyist and 
     counselor who has built relationships unlike any other in 
     Vermont's political world.
       He started out as a Legal Aid lawyer.
       ``I spent my time suing state government,'' he said. 
     ``Mostly welfare and Medicaid cases.''
       And he remains a government skeptic.
       ``My underlying personal philosophy is that government is 
     very dangerous,'' Kimbell said. ``It's a huge operation. And 
     it breaks the law every day. This is the foundation of my 
     advocacy for every client. All citizens need to be watchdogs. 
     But we get paid to do it.''
       No shock to any who know him--Steve Kimbell's decision to 
     retire is a political one. He tied it to Jim Douglas' 
     decision not to run for a fifth term. He pointed out that a 
     political shift like the one we may see this election cycle 
     only comes along every decade or so. Whatever happens there 
     will be a new political cast. So it seemed to him like the 
     right time to give a different generation a chance.
       There was nothing sudden about his decision. The partners 
     in the firm have been planning for this for a year. But wary 
     of making Kimbell a lame duck in his final legislative 
     session they kept the story close, a remarkable 
     accomplishment in a town that does not guard political 
     secrets particularly well.
       Not at all, most of the time.
       I asked him if he could really quit.
       ``I have gotten up and gone to work for 40 years,'' he 
     said, ``either working for myself or somebody else. It will 
     be a major change but it's worth a shot.''
       He says he is going to tend the farm in Tunbridge.
       I am not 100 percent convinced.
       Kimbell's career spans the terms of every governor since 
     Tom Salmon--Salmon, Snelling, Kunin, Snelling again, Dean and 
     Douglas.
       He reflected.
       ``Governors are not noted for their sense of humor,'' 
     Kimbell said, referencing a quality he values in 
     politicians--politicians like Art Gibb, Bob Gannett and Ralph 
     Wright.
       ``Snelling made an art form of being the intimidating 
     presence in the room.''

[[Page S5199]]

       Not very funny.
       ``Howard was frantic. Not much time for levity.''
       But Salmon, Kimbell said, was funny.
       ``He would hop into his state police car and say 'Let's go 
     to Boston.' And he'd go to see a Red Sox game.''
       Kimbell first got directly involved in electoral politics 
     in almost as off-hand a manner.
       ``After the '78 session I was leaving the Statehouse with 
     Madeleine [Kunin]. She was chair of the Appropriations 
     Committee and running for lieutenant governor. 'I need a 
     campaign manager,' she said. I got paid $150 a week. She beat 
     Peter Smith by 2,500 votes.''
       And he recalled how Kunin won.
       ``Within earshot of reporters, Peter Smith said that 'all 
     the broads' were going to vote for Madeleine. That ill-
     advised comment is what swung the election.''
       When Kunin was governor Kimbell served for two years as her 
     state planning director, the person in charge of the 
     administration's legislative program.
       ``I found that I didn't really like working inside the 
     government,'' he said. ``I got out and went back to my 
     private practice.''
       Then came the partnership with Kunin's press secretary, Bob 
     Sherman.
       ``We went to Seyon Pond fishing and talked about what we 
     really ought to do. We concluded that combining law and 
     journalism in a firm to do advocacy was a good idea.''
       And to call it just that is an understatement. Kimbell 
     Sherman & Ellis has no peer in Vermont. Not only is it the 
     most successful lobbying firm in the state, it has also built 
     an out-of-state client list which now represents about half 
     of the business. It has offices in Washington and does 
     business all over the country, tracking and reporting on 
     issues and also specializing in crisis management.
       When I asked Kimbell about the most dramatic moment in his 
     political memory, he recalled the death of Richard Snelling 
     in August of 1991.
       ``How many times does a sitting governor just drop dead,'' 
     he said.
       Howard Dean was in touch almost immediately.
       ``Howard called Sherman and said 'I need a speech within an 
     hour,''' Kimbell recalled. ``And we helped the new governor 
     make the transition. He was here for a lot of meetings. And 
     we took some heat. The press said 'How can these lobbyists 
     advise the new governor.' A lot of the criticism was probably 
     warranted, but sometimes you just have to do things.''
       And Howard Dean is not the only politician to have beaten a 
     path to Steve Kimbell's door. For a couple of decades now 
     candidates and potential candidates have come to Kimbell & 
     company. They want to know--from someone who does--if they 
     should or if they shouldn't.
       ``We are in the business of politics,'' Kimbell said. ``It 
     doesn't matter where they come from. If they want to talk to 
     us, we give advice.''
       And Steve Kimbell has brought this sort of matter-of-fact 
     attitude to all his efforts. Despite his highly visible work 
     for civil unions and gay marriage, he insists that his 
     approach is always the same.
       ``I'm an advocate,'' Kimbell said. ``I take a hard-nosed 
     approach. To do this job you have got to be well prepared, 
     emotionless and tenacious. Gay marriage was a hugely 
     emotional issue. I worked very hard to be analytical and 
     strategic. It is my personal belief that that is what people 
     pay us for.''
       Hard-nosed. True enough.
       Savvy. Unparalleled.
       Matter-of-fact. Certainly.
       Passionate. Despite protestations.
       And funny.
       The politician's politician.

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