As a parent of a sixth and ninth grader and a Lebanon taxpayer, I write in support of Article 2, the Lebanon School District renovation plan. This plan includes many necessary improvements for schools in the district — including a kitchen at Mount Lebanon School so students can enjoy food prepared on-site, additional classrooms at Hanover Street School to reduce crowding, and a new band room at Lebanon High School to accommodate the growing music program. In addition, all schools would gain secure entrances in line with current school safety recommendations. These and other improvements will benefit every child living in Lebanon, and make the city a more attractive place for young families to settle.
A strong school system with modern facilities is one of the major drivers of property values in a given town. As a nearly lifelong New Hampshire resident, I’ve seen how towns that invest in their schools grow and prosper, and I’ve seen the problems in towns that don’t.
The demands of modern society require a highly educated workforce, and our school facilities play a critical role in the way our teachers are able to provide that education. The time to invest in the future of our children and the future of our city is now. Municipal bond rates are at a historically low rate, and construction costs are only going to increase if we wait to complete these needed renovations. To that end, I strongly urge all Lebanon voters to vote yes on Article 2 on March 10.
DANIEL MIELCARZ
Lebanon
I am a Lebanon homeowner and the parent of a middle school student and a high school student. I write in support of Article 2, the Lebanon School District’s renovation plan, which will be before voters on March 10.
This plan includes vitally important renovations, especially the development of safe, secure, modern entrances at Mount Lebanon School, Hanover Street School and Lebanon High School. The renovations also include a cooking kitchen to provide freshly prepared meals for Mount Lebanon students, more learning space at Hanover Street School, and a music room with appropriate practice space and sound-proofing at Lebanon High School.
Last year, the people of Lebanon supported this renovation with a majority vote, but fell 72 votes short of achieving the required three-fifths majority needed to pass. This year, the Lebanon School Board supported this measure with seven votes in favor and two votes opposed. I would encourage voters to vote in agreement with the School Board and vote yes on Article 2.
ANN SHARFSTEIN
Lebanon
With regard to the so-called Welcoming Hartford Ordinance, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan (which hears Vermont appeals) has stated unequivocally the financial consequences of a state or municipality refusing to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement. Wednesday’s unanimous decision of the judges, appointed by both Democrats and Republicans, might make Hartford want to slow its roll when it comes to putting potential federal money at risk, to the detriment of the taxpayers.
The U.S. Supreme Court will likely get this issue at some time in the near future. It has already telegraphed its opinion on the issue of states, cities or towns thwarting federal immigration enforcement. While acknowledging a state’s “understandable frustrations with the problems caused by illegal immigration,” it ruled in 2012, “the state may not pursue policies that undermine federal law.”
Something to keep in mind when voting on the Welcoming Hartford Ordinance on Tuesday.
SUSAN MANLEY
Wilder
German Pastor Martin Niemoller told of how the authorities first came for one group and then came for another, and he said nothing. “Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up.”
In the Upper Valley, citizens in several towns are considering “Welcoming Ordinances.” Why pass these ordinances? The most significant and compassionate answer is simply to let the undocumented among us know that those of us who can are voting to say: “You are a part of our community. We know your fears, and we stand with you.”
All the ordinances are asking is that town employees not report immigration or citizenship status to federal immigration agents. In Hartford, our good chief of police, Phil Kasten, has stated that Hartford officers do not and will not report immigration or citizenship status to federal immigration agents. The ordinance should actually strengthen their position. When applying for federal grants, which ask if all federal laws are followed, employees would answer honestly, “No.” We have not heard that federal grants are being withheld unless they pertain to ancillary activities of police departments. Note that we are not in compliance with several federal laws, including marijuana.
Undocumented residents have lived among us for many years. Some came here as children with undocumented parents, some are students who overstayed their visas, some are workers who fill an employment need and were covered by their employer. Now there is too much fear even to think of applying for citizenship.
It may be illegal, but it is not a criminal act not to have applied for citizenship when that was much easier. The federal government views lack of citizenship as a criminal activity, which it is not. It is simply unlawful. Our local and state police handle criminal activity without relevance to a person’s citizenship status. Undocumented people are not criminals. They are our neighbors.
“First they came for the undocumented,” and did I speak up? Please vote in your Town Meeting elections.
ANN RAYNOLDS
Pomfret
How much would you pay for good health for yourself? For your children? What is the real cost of an industrial-scale construction and demolition debris facility in Claremont?
Six days a week, up to 500 tons a day of C&D would be trucked through our community from all over New England. At this rate, Claremont would receive some 150,000 tons of C&D debris a year. That represents a major environmental hazard.
The lead content alone would be measured in tons. Some sources of lead in C&D are old flashing, pipes, paint, solder and caulking. Lead poisoning of a child is measured in micrograms — that’s millionths of a gram. A few grains of lead dust on the end of your finger is all it takes to harm a child. The federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry says lead damages the urinary system and kidneys. Lead is “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen.”
What does the agency say about arsenic, which is found in pressure-treated lumber and used in “industrial applications”? It is “known to be a human carcinogen.” Arsenic affects the skin, gastrointestinal tract, liver, nervous system and lungs.
Cadmium, which is found in batteries, pigments, metal coatings and plastics, affects the heart and blood, developing organs of infants and children, the gastrointestinal and nervous systems, the urinary tract and kidneys, reproductive organs and lungs. Cadmium is “known to be a human carcinogen.”
There are many other toxic items and substances in C&D debris: Adhesives and resins, laminates, thermostats, light bulbs, fluorescent lights and ballasts, smoke detectors, polyvinyl chloride, drywall (gypsum), asbestos shingles, mercury from external switches, carpeting, stains, varnishes and asbestos siding. Who is checking mixed loads of C&D to guarantee that it is safe?
Also, trucking C&D debris through Claremont and surrounding communities, including Newport, Charlestown, Newbury, Sunapee, Weathersfield and others, will likely lead to expensive road repairs.
Please come to the Zoning Board meeting on Monday, at 7 p.m., in Claremont City Hall, and object to the cost of this facility to your health and your pocketbook.
REBECCA MacKENZIE
Claremont
As a producer of new work for theater, I search for that rare feeling of capturing lightning in a bottle: when the alchemy of the words on the page, the creative collaborators and the performers create an experience so much greater than the sum of their parts.
That was my experience watching the New Works Now reading of Citrus at Northern Stage in January 2019. Along with the rest of the audience, I was blown away by the wisdom, emotion and poetry of Celeste Jennings’ new “choreopoem,” the first triumph of someone who is going to be a force in the American theater.
Before Citrus, I had only a passing familiarity with the genre of choreopoem: a performance piece combining spoken-word poetry, movement and music. The word was coined in 1975 by American writer Ntozake Shange in a description of her work, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf. Jennings’ use of this genre to weave so many eras of American history through her own costume designs and poetry gives Citrus a form and focus all its own. I was so proud and excited when Carol Dunne, our artistic director, decided shortly after that reading to program the play.
Citrus, which runs through March 15, features an incredible ensemble of nine black women and one of the only fully black female creative teams to be featured at a major regional theater. Jennings’ words are an invitation to empathy and engagement with the incredible spectrum of black womanhood found in our country. It is a piece that challenges and uplifts, and it is an unmissable event here in the Upper Valley. We hope that you will join us.
JESS CHAYES
White River Junction
The writer is BOLD associate artistic director at Northern Stage.
Two recent Forum letters wished to describe President Donald Trump’s achievements. Trump has been notoriously busy with attempts to repeal or reduce critical environmental safeguards and regulations, with 95 environmental rules under threat, according to New York Times reporting supported by research from Harvard and Columbia law schools.
Among the more notable:
■ Trump has repealed the Clean Water Rule. Critical waterways are now more vulnerable to pollution.
■ Trump has replaced the Clean Power Plan, which required coal power plants to reduce carbon emissions, with the “Affordable Clean Energy Rule,” which eases regulations on the coal industry.
■ Trump has rescinded the Methane and Waste Prevention Rule, removing requirements for oil and gas companies to monitor or fix leaks from facilities and pipelines.
■ Trump has weakened the rules regulating the disposal of toxic coal ash.
■ Trump has changed the Endangered Species Act, making it more difficult to protect vulnerable plants and animals while allowing for more oil and gas drilling in protected habitats, and has made changes to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, severely limiting penalties for bird deaths.
■ Trump has attacked common-sense automobile fuel economy standards and energy efficiency standards for lighting and even ceiling fans.
■ Trump has deleted references to climate change and global warming on government websites, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the departments of Energy, Agriculture and Transportation, and he has sidelined independent scientific advice by appointing individuals without science backgrounds — but replete with conflicts of interest — to leadership positions.
■ Trump also plans to weaken the long-standing National Environmental Policy Act that requires federal agencies to prepare environmental impact statements for proposed projects, account for climate change contributions, and solicit and consider public comment before taking any major federal action.
■ And of course, Trump has pulled the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement.
In between his roughly 247 golf outings and 17,000 tweets since taking office, Trump has, remarkably, found the time to threaten more than 90 important environmental laws. What a disastrous list of accomplishments.
DEE GISH
Sharon