Sarah Butson was first appointed to the Commission by the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) in 2021 to fill the remainder of her predecessor's 3-year term, ending on December 31, 2022. She was then re-appointed to a 5-year term ending December 31, 2027. Sarah is an attorney with Downs Rachlin Martin LLC, where she focuses her practice on all avenues of employment and labor law. Sarah counsels employers on a myriad of employment law compliance and human resource issues including hiring, discipline, termination, reductions in force, wage and hour practices, investigations, and sexual harassment. She is an experienced litigator and has defended employers in complex class and collective actions and has represented employers in federal and state court and administrative tribunals in matters involving wrongful discharge, discrimination, and wage and hour disputes. Sarah is an active member of the Human Resources professional community and the Opera House at Enosburg Falls and previously served as the Secretary for Healing Winds Vermont.
Christopher L. Davis was first appointed to the Commission in January 2018 by the Board of Managers of the Vermont Bar Association. He is currently serving a second 5-year term ending December 31, 2028. Chris is a partner at Langrock, Sperry and Wool, LLP and is the former chair of the Vermont Judicial Conduct Board. His also a past member and vice-chair of the Vermont Professional Conduct Board, past chair of the Supreme Court Committee on the Adoption of the Model Rules of Professional Responsibility, and a current member of the Supreme Court's Committee on Revision of Vermont's Code of Judicial Conduct. Chris is a member of the Vermont and American Bar Associations, Vermont Association for Justice, and Vermont Association for Criminal Defense Lawyers. Chris presently sits on the Board of Cathedral Square Corporation, a non-profit that develops and operates communities for seniors and individuals with special needs. He previously served on the Board of Directors for the Vermont Youth Rugby Association and the Tree Farm Management Group (a local sports complex) and is a former member of the Vestry of the Cathedral Church of St. Paul’s in Burlington and a current member of its Trustees. Chris has been a nationally-ranked rugby referee and is currently a World Rugby trainer member of the U.S.A. Rugby Referee Training Committee. He is also on the Board of the New England Rugby Referee Society. He continues to travel throughout the United States and Canada to referee matches and to train and coach fellow referees. He co-founded the Burlington Rugby Football Club. When the rugby fields are covered with snow, Chris is on his skis in the mountains.
Michele A. Eid, CPA, was appointed in March 2019 to a 3-year term and was reappointed for a 5 year term ending December 31, 2026, by The Vermont Society of Certified Public Accountants. Originally from New Jersey, Michele moved to the Mad River Valley in 1979. She graduated from Trinity College in 1994 with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting degree, and came to work as a staff accountant at Hall & Holden, P.C. in 1995. Michele became a certified public accountant in 1997, and in 2003, became the third partner at Hall & Holden.
Michele served on the Board of Directors for the Vermont Society of CPAs, and is a past President of the Vermont Association of Public Accountants. She is also very active in the community, and is a past board member of the Mad River Valley Little League, Mad River Soccer Association, Women's Auxiliary for the Warren Fire Department and Treasurer of the Mad River Valley Chamber of Commerce. Michele was also a member of the Mad River Lions Club and recently worked with Bob on the VT Tax Technical Working Group until her appointed term ended. She is currently Treasurer/Secretary of the Warren Cemetery Commission and Treasurer of the Valley Arts Foundation.
Paul Erlbaum, was appointed in February 2019 to fill the remainder of his predecessor's two-year term by the Vermont League of Women Voters. In 2019, he was reappointed to a three-year term. He was reappointed again in 2022 to a five-year term ending December 31, 2027.Paul was admitted to the Vermont Bar in 1986, and to the U.S. District Court, District of Vermont in 1989. Paul’s career in law includes serving as a Vermont Assistant Attorney General, Supervising Attorney for Vermont Protection and Advocacy (now Disability Rights Vermont) and as an investigator with the Vermont Human Rights Commission. In 2015, Paul turned his focus from law to the Feldenkrais Method, a system of somatic education. Paul serves on the board of Milestone Adventures, a Vermont nonprofit, and serves as a consultant to the board of Feldenkrais Education of New England, a Massachusetts nonprofit. Paul’s volunteer efforts include visiting Vermont classrooms with Reading to End Racism and serving as staff for teen leadership retreats organized by The Growing Peace Project. Paul also serves as mentor for local high school students engaged in independent study projects. Paul and his wife Rachael live in East Montpelier where they raised their two children to adulthood, and where they now raise garlic and other alliums to maturity.
John ("Jack) J. Kennelly was appointed to the State Ethics Commission in December 2023 by the Chief Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court. He graduated from Rutgers School of Law in Newark, N.J. in June, 1981 and was admitted to practice law in New Jersey in December 1981. He was admitted to practice in Vermont in 1987 and began working in Rutland, VT with Carroll, George & Pratt, predecessor to Pratt Vreeland Kennelly Martin & White, Ltd. where he has been since. His experience in the practice has been varied and extensive. He has tried criminal and civil cases to juries and judges in state and federal courts. He has also briefed and argued appeals in state and federal courts. He has represented clients in large complex business transactions including mergers and recapitalizations, and been appointed a Chapter 11 Trustee in the Vermont Bankruptcy Court and an Administrator or Special Administrator in several Probate cases. He has acted as mediator in about 100 cases, as an arbitrator in numerous cases and as a commissioner in a Partition case.
His practice over the last 25 years has primarily been focused on commercial litigation, the representation of creditors in bankruptcy proceedings, and representing parties in Probate litigation. He has been active in Vermont Bar Association Committees, chairing both the Practice and Procedure Committee (’91- ‘96) and the Bankruptcy Committee (’00 – ‘05). Jack was a hearing panel member of the then Professional Conduct Board for 6 years (’11 ’17). He has acted as a conflicts Screening Counsel of disciplinary complaints and was appointed as an Investigative Counsel for the Judicial Conduct Board in 2018.
In 1987, Jack and his wife (Patricia M. Lancaster, a now retired lawyer) decided to relocate to Vermont and start a family. They live in Mendon, Vermont, where they raised their three children. After 42 years, Jack is starting the “process” of retirement from the practice of law as of 1/1/24. Jack has served as the Chair of the Mendon Zoning Board of Adjustment since 1996.
Will Stevens was appointed to the Commission by the Committee on Committees for a five- year term beginning January 2024, ending on December 31, 2028. He lives in Shoreham (Addison County) and has been a commercial organic vegetable grower since 1981. He has served his local, regional, and statewide communities in many ways over the years, including as a selectboard member, planning commission member and chair, and moderator for the town of Shoreham; four-term member of the Vermont House of Representatives (representing the Addison-Rutland-1 district); board member of a number of non-profit organizations; and visiting instructor at Middlebury College. Will and his wife Judy have three adult children and are currently transitioning the farm over to their eldest daughter.