I am writing to thank the voters of Ward 1 for the privilege of serving on the Lebanon City Council for the past nine years and to thank current and previous city councilors for the extraordinary privilege of serving as your mayor for eight of those years.
It has been an incredible opportunity to work with and learn from a deeply dedicated city staff. In that time, my eyes have been opened to Lebanon’s unique complexities and the financial burden shouldered by 5,284 property taxpayers who provide the infrastructure for 35,000 people to work, shop and visit our city daily. I have struggled to find ways to minimize this staggering financial burden for Lebanon taxpayers, particularly those on fixed incomes. I have also gained a deep appreciation for the value of the services that the city provides to me and every resident.
Despite the rewards of this work, time commitments to my medical practice and the three national health care-related boards upon which I serve have increased substantially over the past year. As a result, and after much soul-searching, I have determined that I must step down from my position as a city councilor at the end of this term, March 29.
My decision opens a one-year position on the City Council for a Ward 1 voter. Declarations of candidacy should be filed with the city clerk between Jan. 31 and 5 p.m. on Feb. 14. The election takes place March 14. I would be glad to meet with anyone considering a run for City Council to discuss the process, how our city government works and the commitment involved.
Georgia A. TuttleLebanon
I read the Jan. 6 Forum letter taking the Valley News to task for printing the full description of the actions of the church arsonist (“Details Weren’t Necessary.”) I sympathize with the author for wanting to be spared yet another description of depravity of a kind that has become all too common these days.
However, I find such stories useful, and I believe newspapers have a duty to fully inform us of such details. It reminds us that evil, twisted people do walk among us and that we need to keep up our guard personally. It also reminds us that we need to fully fund the police who protect us and the mental health professionals who treat such individuals.
The danger in not hearing the details is that we may become complacent and not take all these necessary steps to help maintain a safe and orderly society.
Peter Magoon
Enfield
Without repeating the excellent points brought up in the Jan. 4 editorial “Hartford Speaks,” one sentence, addressing the tepid response to the town survey, really stands out: “Another is that the assumptions underlying the main question about the budget path for the future struck many people as so outlandish as not to merit a response.”
The survey may have asked another question, “Do you think Hartford provides fair services in relation to the property tax burden?,” and had a greater response.
As I mentioned, I don’t want to rehash what’s already been said, but I think that the survey and its ambiguous results could act more as a diversion than a guide. At the time of the survey, and unknown to us then, we were already changing direction. The manager search committee was at work; thanks to them and the new manager, it now seems as if Hartford is headed toward a rational budget and a balance of services.
James GoedkoopWilder
I can’t resist an attempt to answer columnist Randall Balmer’s question posed in your Jan. 8 issue: “Why Have Vermonters Massacred French?” The first answer that comes to mind (and the answer that Balmer seems to imply) is that Vermonters are a bunch of uneducated, ignorant hillbillies who don’t know any better.
To obviously superior types like Balmer, that is an easy answer that allows him to maintain his sense of superiority over the multitude of local louts. We must also consider that other answers might exist. Perhaps it is because the town names that seem to trouble Balmer so greatly are not, in fact, French towns, but Vermont towns, and since French is not widely spoken in Vermont, the local pronunciation is just fine.
I wonder if Balmer ever considered that Denis Chasse has every right to pronounce his name in any way he chooses, and someone who objects ought to consider his own motives. There are many dozens, if not hundreds, of place names and family names in Vermont whose “owners” do not employ the pronunciation that might be considered “appropriate” by linguistic snobs, and that is OK!
Balmer says, “I claim no linguistic expertise myself,” and rightly so. I have virtually no formal education nor linguistic expertise whatever, but I know that “different” and “wrong” are not synonyms. For Balmer to presume to correct the pronunciation of Vermont place names, not to mention personal names, is more than pompous.
Ernie AmsdenSouth Royalton
What Progress?
In your Sunday editorial blasting the new Republican House of Representatives, you referred to “eight years of progress under President Obama.” Exactly what progress are you referring to? Is it his ham-handed handling of our foreign policy? Our lackluster economic growth? The disaster called Obamacare? The doubling of our national debt? Our worsened racial tensions? Oh, I forgot, our public bathrooms are open to any and all.
Jeff Lehmann Lyme Center