Recently in the Forum, the elected officials of Canaan were painted as a small group bent on destruction (“Schools Under Attack,” Jan. 18). There was a large piece of the story missing. In the last five years, the town of Canaan has seen a great increase in the number of people living in poverty. Incomes have gone backward and the tax rate has increased significantly.
The town of Enfield has seen a level poverty rate, an increase in income and a modest tax rate increase. There has been a distinct lack of compassion from the Mascoma Valley Regional School District or from school activists for the plight of the residents of Canaan. There is a never-ending push for more spending, regardless of the ability of all parties to pay these bills. In short, the elected officials of Canaan are doing exactly what we elected them to: look out for the residents of Canaan.
Michael Q. Harris Canaan
Second Forum Needed
The Valley News needs a second Forum page. One for upbeat and informative local subject matter, as it once was. The second for bashing our president-elect. And after reading Wednesday’s paper, I think you might include some of Jim Kenyon’s articles here also.
Peter Waterman East Thetford
The Real Story in Plainfield
I am disappointed in the Valley News coverage regarding the Plainfield libraries and hope to give a more balanced perspective of what has been happening and what our hard-working trustees have accomplished in spite of a small, divisive group of citizens.
In six years our combined board has: 1) Overseen efforts to create a 20th century library by getting the catalogs of both libraries online and integrated. 2) Instituted reviews at both libraries and set the same base pay rate at both libraries so pay scales are now equal. 3) Overseen a town-wide survey in November 2016. 4) Increased staffing at equal levels at both libraries in response to public requests. 5) Led an effort to weed the collection at the Philip Read Memorial Library. 6) Held a listening session for the town before hiring a single director. 7) Held numerous public hearings to accept donations and approve contracts. 8) Recognized Nancy Norwalk’s contributions by unanimously voting to name the special collections room in her honor.
The library board accomplished all this while facing a referendum in 2015 to break up the board, which the town voted down by a margin of two to one. The Philip Read Memorial Library Friends also entered a $20,000 contract without board permission and in 2016 the friends did construction work on library property without approval.
Last year, the board responded to numerous public records requests, faced frequent interruptions during meetings, and will respond to a proposal to shut down the Meriden Library. We know that during this time, the board did its best to proactively resolve issues with Nancy Norwalk through mediation.
The board approved Norwalk’s first-choice mediator and spent two days in mediation (with the expense paid by the town) to reach an agreement.
A Jan. 18 Valley News article stated that 70 people came out to support Nancy Norwalk at a hearing. I would challenge that at least half of the attendees were there to support our trustees. The trustees are elected by the town and work countless hours for the town without any remuneration. The problems the board has been facing are not Plainfield vs. Meriden issues. They are boundary issues over who gets to run the library between the board and the Philip Read Memorial Library Friends.
Andrea Bueno Keen Meriden
Jim Kenyon’s “Voting with Their Boots” (Jan. 18) column was unkind, unjust and unnecessary.
Sally Page West Lebanon
I have chosen to continue my subscription to the Valley News despite the fact that you support Jim Kenyon. We live in a vibrant democratic society that allows this. I also enjoy shopping at L.L. Bean.
Kenneth Olsen Hanover
I think part of the problems in our society stem from the fact that many of us state things that are not true. (Politicians do that.) It seems to me that whether we voted for or against Donald Trump, we can all agree that Clinton clearly had the most popular votes. Trump had the most electoral college votes and since that is how we elect our presidents, he won the election.
I think it would be good practice for your newspaper to correct those of us who write in with obvious factual errors. Since you did not do that, I am willing to offer my services. Jean Liepold made a point that Trump won the election, so we should get over it (“When Will It Stop?” Jan. 17). Good point. Time to move on. But instead of stating that the silent majority elected him, I think it would have been beneficial to the Clinton/Stein supporters who were the majority to acknowledge that although Trump won the electoral vote, he came in second in actual votes. The majority spoke loud and clear and the winner of the popular vote was Clinton.
Acknowledge that it is frustrating for Clinton supporters that their candidate who had nearly 3 million more votes lost the election. I voted against Trump by voting reluctantly for Clinton. My second vote for a Democrat in 45 years!
Probably millions of people did the same thing. I am confident that Trump will make some good decisions and some bad decisions. Let’s give him a chance. The Valley News can help by correcting those of us who misstate the facts.
Paul Knox Bradford, Vt.
Donald Trump’s Misdirection
One of the more well-known symptoms of Tourette’s Syndrome is the spontaneous utterance of socially objectionable or taboo words or phrases. One of the key elements of successful magic is misdirection, a form of deception in which the attention of an audience is focused on one thing to distract its attention from another. These two concepts are central to assessing and addressing the dangers presented by the Trump presidency.
Donald Trump’s frequent, outrageous and totally unacceptable tweets are a modern day version of Tourette’s, in which his uncontrollable need to utter socially objectionable phrases is manifest in his tweets. The press and the public are mesmerized by these utterances, and each new one creates a deluge of outrage and analysis. But these tweets are really nothing more than the uncontrolled utterances of a megalomaniac, the distractions that keep us from focusing on the real danger.
It is not Trump’s tweets, even the ones that appear to upset foreign leaders, but the less well-analyzed appointees and fellow travelers, many of whom will actually have the power to do much of what we fear in the Trump tweets, that should occupy our attention. Trump cannot remove climate change control regulations, but proposed EPA administrator Scott Pruitt can. Trump cannot dismantle the enforcement of civil rights, environmental and anti-trust laws, but the proposed attorney general Jeff Sessions can. We need to stop spending so much time and attention on the hand that is sending the tweets and look at the hand that is really doing the damage.
Anthony Z. Roisman Weathersfield
A Worthy Series on Immigration
Kudos to the Valley News and writer Peter Rousmaniere for devoting extensive space and an in-depth reportorial effort to educating the rest of us on the complex subject of immigration to the United States. Parts 1 and 2 of the series expanded my awareness of the actualities immeasurably. I look forward to learning even more about the economic, political and social issues the series so effectively and humanely presents.
Jim Zien Thetford
Of Right and Wrong
It seems to me that we are all wrong about being right. This fruitless fight accomplishes nothing, only keeps us from seeking what is fair, what is possible, given our dreadful circumstances.
What, we could ask ourselves, for example, are the attributes of leadership, clarity and civilized conduct, and how do we, after such a long hiatus, teach these things to our children so that in 40 or 50 years, if we are still here, someone could become president who is actually capable?
Suzanne Lupien Vershire