Windsor County State's Attorney Steps Down to Raise His Kids

In an ideal world, Windsor County State’s Attorney David Cahill says, the reason for his resignation wouldn’t be news.

He gets it, of course: Not too many high-ranking elected officials ditch their careers to raise their children, as Cahill recently announced he will do. The 40-year-old veteran prosecutor said he was unaware of anyone with a similar job in Vermont who made the same move.

But Cahill says he’s uncomfortable receiving plaudits for something that many women do without acclaim.

“This is something females have been doing without being asked and without being recognized,” Cahill said. “It is unfortunate that it’s so exceptional. Our society regularly imposes that price on females as a cost of having a family.”

Cahill has been a prosecutor for 15 years, including the last four as state's attorney. His wife Janet Saint Germain cares for their three-year-old and 9-month-old daughters while balancing her work as a certified financial planner.

Come January 12, however, Cahill will assume most of the childcare responsibilities in their Thetford household.

He acknowledged that his relative financial security affords him an opportunity that many working parents don’t have.

“I know that I can step back and spend time with my kids and it’s going to be okay,” he said. “Knowing that, how would I feel in 20 years, knowing I could have been there to watch my kids grow up and instead I simply said, ‘Eh, I’d rather be in the office?’”

Gov. Phil Scott will appoint someone to serve the remainder of Cahill's term, which expires in 2022. The Valley News first reported Cahill's resignation.

Cahill, a Dartmouth College graduate, has been building the kind of resume that often leads to bigger things in Vermont’s legal community. In addition to his work as prosecutor in one of the state's busiest courts, Cahill spent time in the Statehouse representing the Department of State's Attorneys and Sheriffs.

He was on a trajectory that could have landed him a judicial appointment, and his name wouldn’t be out of place on a list of future Attorney General candidates.

“I understand full well that in terms of career trajectory, I could get dinged for taking some time off to be with my kids and to feel the sunshine on a Tuesday, and I accept that price,” Cahill said. “I think it’s worth it. It can feel like an escalator. The trajectory is to ride up, up, up, but when you get to the top of escalator, you still have to look back at your life and believe you made the right decisions."

It's been hard for Cahill to step off the escalator while on the job. Family medical leave for elected officials is a “gray area," he said. He took some days off after the birth of his children, but didn't step away from his sworn duties for long.

“If there’s a murder, police still need to call me,” he said.

By leaving his job all together, Cahill is making a decision that few men make.

According to a 2016 Pew Research Center report, 7 % of fathers were stay-at-home, compared to 27 % of women.

The Dad Guild, a Burlington non-profit that seeks to connect and support fathers of young children, has about 250 members according to founder Keegan Albaugh. Roughly two dozen are stay at home dads, he said.

Albaugh cheered the news of Cahill’s decision.

“It’s unfortunately eyebrow-raising,” he said. “You don’t hear about that very often and you wonder if it was a woman in the same role, would that even make the news? But it’s something that is gaining some momentum around fathers' involvement in the family and responsibilities around household chores and prioritizing their partners' jobs. I think it’s awesome.”

Cahill said he could make an eventual return to the workforce, but has no timeline.

“My feeling is, either you’re all in, or all the way out,” he said.