I do not know Sylvia Sands Paxton, but I was deeply moved by her recent Forum letter in which she asked for help in understanding from friends and neighbors who support our present administration (“Republicans stand mute,” Feb. 11). And I would like to express appreciation to those who have responded, as we all clearly need to talk with each other instead of avoiding this topic.
The one or two times I have been able to bridge the gap and do that, the answer has seemed to be, “I understand what you’re saying, but I put aside that behavior because he gets things done.”
I have pondered this. What I am talking about is our moral compass as a nation. How does one “put aside” one’s moral compass? I feel the problem is not one individual, but that we are in need of a spiritual re-awakening as a culture. If I had a daughter who was in an abusive marriage, would I say, “He beats her, he cheats on her and he belittles her in front of our family, but I put that aside, because he brings home a regular paycheck”? I would not.
I am deeply concerned about our country and our democracy, and that which I wish I understood (at age 89) is how to go about inspiring us together to place our national moral compass back into a place of key priority, as, I feel, it has to be if we are to have a healthy nation that is internationally respected.
BETTY EDSON
Randolph Center
Sunapee has a very low property tax rate. In fact, it is in the lowest 12% of all 231 towns and cities in New Hampshire. However, some Sunapee citizens do not want to pay their fair share for warrant Article 3, which would remedy three decades of benign neglect of our elementary school. Article 3 would also address several of the structural needs of our middle/high school, which has a boiler from the 1950s. In addition, Article 3 would provide new athletic fields, allowing soccer, baseball and softball teams to practice and play on outside fields. This past year, teams needed to practice in a gymnasium built for indoor sports. Teams were also forced to rent fields for home games.
Many of the naysayers speak publicly about their support for children and education. However, they do not want to pay their fair share of the cost. Further hypocrisy is that more than 50 of our neighbors placed a petition on the warrant, Article 8. The intent of Article 8 is to study closing Sunapee Central Elementary School and then moving the elementary students to the present middle/high school. The high school students would be tuitioned out to other, less academically coveted schools in the region. In addition, millions of dollars would be needed to convert the middle/high school to meet New Hampshire requirements for elementary education. Does this make any sense?
Sunapee’s high school is ranked by US News & World Report as the No. 3 high school in New Hampshire. Since Sunapee has again achieved such a high ranking, we should be proud to keep it and not destroy it, as some are attempting to do with Article 8. Let’s keep all Sunapee students in Sunapee to maintain our collective traditions. In the end, values and legacy matter the most.
Therefore, vote no on Article 8. Vote yes on Article 3 to invest our collective tax dollars in support of families, our children and an interdependent forward future of Sunapee.
KEVIN COONEY
Sunapee
The writer chairs the Sunapee School Budget Advisory Committee.
We may think we can live with climate change and global warming, but look at Australia going up in flames, the fires in California, the melting ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica, water levels rising in the sea, floods in Mozambique, island nations drowning.
If we don’t act today to stop this destruction of the Earth, it will just continue to worsen.
Each one of us is responsible for this calamity in one way or another. And each of us can find ways to do something to stop it before it’s too late. Use your Town Meeting to discuss this work together and find solutions. That’s what it’s for.
MEL GOERTZ
Tunbridge
Kudos to the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles branch office in White River Junction. Folks love to mock the DMV, suggesting it to be the worst of government inefficiency. I went there recently to renew my driver’s license and get the Real ID required by Oct. 1. I was in and out in less than 15 minutes, and in the process was served politely, professionally and very efficiently. In every way the service equaled or surpassed that of any private establishment.
JIM WILSON
Strafford