New Hampshire holds its Democratic primary for governor on Sept. 8. Regardless of your political affiliation, I urge you to support Andru Volinsky in that contest.
His commitment to funding education fairly and reforming our broken property tax system is badly needed in Claremont. It doesn’t matter which way you vote — red, blue or somewhere in the middle — your taxes are suffocating. This is because our state relies too much on property taxes to fund public education, forcing property-poor communities to raise taxes every year. Volinsky was the lead lawyer in the 1997 Claremont school funding case, which required the state to adequately fund public education. Because the funding formula is so unequal, property-poor towns across Sullivan County have some of the highest property tax rates in the state. Until that formula changes, nothing else around here will.
For 25 years, Volinsky has championed an equitable school funding solution, holding educational forums across the state. We need an advocate in Concord who will fight for bold, systemic change. Volinsky is the only candidate for governor who has made that commitment. The difference to you could be hundreds or thousands of dollars. I hope you’ll go to volinskynh.com to learn more.
SAM KILLAY
Claremont
Molly Gray is a candidate for lieutenant governor who represents the future of Vermont leadership.
Born and raised on a working farm in Orange County, she and her family have lived the importance of a self-reliant and robust Vermont economy. After working for U.S. Rep. Peter Welch and fighting for humanitarian rights in Washington, D.C., she came back home to Vermont to be closer to family. Since graduating from law school, she has served Vermont as an assistant attorney general, continuing her work representing the most vulnerable among us.
Unfortunately, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have shed light on the importance of what Gray has been talking about all along: developing a stronger, self-reliant economy. She envisions strengthening community networks and working hard to help small, independent businesses thrive by providing fellow Vermonters with the goods, services and food they need more directly. Who better to advocate for that than someone whose roots are deep in Vermont agriculture?
Gray’s campaign caught my attention because she shares my belief that Vermont needs leaders who are focused on making sure rural communities and the workers who are essential there aren’t left behind. We need leaders who will make the magical experience of raising children in Vermont accessible to working families. We need leaders who will make Vermont a place where the essential workforces and industries we need for whole communities can thrive.
Gray is an extraordinarily competent, thoughtful, and kind individual with the government and legal experience needed to make for an effective leader in statewide office.
Besides working for Welch, she clerked for Judge Peter Hall on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. During her tenure in Washington, she led delegations of U.S. policymakers into conflict zones all over the world to bring about humanitarian responses to crises. She has been a passionate and effective leader and is looking forward to bringing that passion and experience to the office of lieutenant governor in Vermont.
To learn more about her campaign and how to vote in the statewide primary on Aug. 11, visit mollyforvermont.com.
EVAN ANTAL
North Pomfret
The term “living soil” might not mean much to many people. But this kind of soil, abounding with living plant roots, microbes and beneficial fungi, is crucial to our future. It not only fosters healthier crops but combats climate change by drawing carbon out of the atmosphere and back into the ground. It also reduces the need for toxic pesticides and lessens fertilizer runoff by keeping topsoil intact and spongy. This helps make it more resilient against drought and floods.
Farm policies have often incentivized agricultural practices that have damaged the soil that is foundational to our food and our farms. That’s why Rep. Chellie Pingree, of Maine, has sponsored the Agriculture Resilience Act, which would protect and promote the “living soil” so essential to both. It would also address climate change by setting goals for U.S. agriculture to achieve net zero emissions by 2040 and fund the research tools to meet that goal. It needs more co-sponsors to move forward.
So far, the Agriculture Resilience Act has no co-sponsors from New Hampshire or Vermont. While farmers and scientists recognize the need for wisdom in how we steward the soil that grows our food, our members of Congress should understand this too. We can inform them by urging them to become co-sponsors of this important bill.
STEVE GEHLERT
West Newbury
Two college seniors, presidents of their respective college Democrats organizations, lay full blame on President Donald Trump for the COVID-19 crisis in the U.S. (“College seniors pay the price for Trump’s failure,” May 19). These well-meaning students have most likely missed some classes this spring.
They first cite South Korea as the model for response. However, such a comparison is specious as that country is now suffering an infection surge after lifting social-distancing restrictions, having dodged the virus earlier through a combination of culture, past experience and good luck.
Their undergraduate reasoning — that they are somehow entitled to life without worry and that the government is responsible for providing it — is a symptom of too little learning from too much education.
Perhaps graduation will serve them well.
DAVID REEVES
New London