I am running for the remainder of a three-year term on the Hartford Selectboard and ask for your support on Aug. 10.
I grew up in Norwich and am a lifelong resident of the Upper Valley, except for the time I spent away attending the University of Vermont and Vanderbilt University Law School. I grew up bowling candlepin at the Astrobowl, went to the White River drive-in, and for a time got my haircut by Trot the barber in his little shed down by the Wilder Dam. Three years ago, my wife and I bought a house in West Hartford. I remember moving in and feeling like I was home.
I am committed to being a voice for all Hartford residents and will work to ensure that every resident’s views and concerns are heard and treated with respect.
I will bring experience to the position, having served as an attorney for the Vermont Legislature and Vermont Department of Labor. I learned the value of public service from my parents, who commuted to Montpelier from Norwich every day for 30 years for their jobs in state government.
Many decades ago, my dad served in the Vermont Legislature as the Norwich/Strafford representative. Twenty years ago, and a good 1 years since he last served, he began to receive regular calls from a guy named Bruce. Bruce was from the Northeast Kingdom, and Bruce was peculiar. But he remembered my dad, had a lot on his mind and wanted to talk. Every week for months the phone would ring. My dad would always take the call and listen to Bruce. He did this because he still felt a responsibility, years after his public service had ended, to listen to people.
I am running for Selectboard because I believe I can be of service to Hartford. I will not prejudge any issue and I will work hard for my community. If you would like to learn more about me, please send an email to hoytforhartfordvt@gmail.com or find me on Facebook at facebook.com/hoytforhartfordvt.
I ask for your support on Aug. 10.
MIKE HOYT
Hartford
Aug. 10 will be an important special election for two vacant Selectboard seats in Hartford. I support Mike Morris for one of these seats.
I have known him as a friend and a businessman for many years. He has served our town for many years in numerous ways — as a Selectboard member, coach and a member of the Board of Civil Authority and Board of Abatement. I served on the town manger search committee with him and found him insightful, intelligent and always concerned with Hartford’s future and residents. He worked well with all the members, considering all viewpoints and positions, until we got a final choice.
He assures the town of clear, logical thought and consideration of all the facts to solve the problems we are challenged with. I will vote for Mike Morris and encourage all Hartford voters to evaluate his candidacy as well.
FRANK M. KLYMN
Wilder
Right on! As Dr, Martin Luther King said, “Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” Steve Nelson’s recent op-ed column (“Debate over critical race theory is a con game,” July 17) demonstrates both qualities.
I believe today’s version of critical race theory is being taught is elementary schools around the country. That’s why there is such a nationwide groundswell of mothers. A perusal of headlines in media from around the country might enhance the ability to understand what is at stake — forward thinking, not rewriting of history by yesterday’s so-called newspaper of record. Suggest you check out some good history books.
ALFRED W. ROSSOW JR.
Cornish
The July 28 Valley News had stories headlined “Sununu signs bill prohibiting some shot requirements” and “New NH law makes it legal to flash a gun.” So the state of New Hampshire is hell-bent on protecting the “right” to openly carry a deadly weapon while restricting people’s and institutions’ attempts to protect themselves against a deadly disease.
Are these our values as a state, as a society: Don’t infringe on an individual’s freedom to imperil his fellow citizens, the good of the greater community be damned?
What ever happened to “ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country”? I and many members of my generation were inspired by those words, spoken by President John F. Kennedy . Now, some 60 years later, I am heartsick witnessing the divisiveness and seemingly total lack of concern for one’s fellow citizens. “Don’t tread on my right to flaunt my gun, don’t tell me to get vaccinated.” Live free or die — no matter how many others die as a result of their actions.
We have become a nation of selfish egotists.
BETH DINGMAN
Norwich
To those who complain about the cost of government aid during the pandemic, which I believe saved our nation, and to those who oppose the desperately needed proposed infrastructure spending, remember these facts: We spent more than $700 billion on the war in Iraq (without finding any weapons of mass destruction). We lost 4,400 American service members, and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis died, in a futile and unwinnable war.
JON APPLETON
White River Junction
My husband and I have both at times been triggered by responses from Judith Martin in her “Miss Manners” column. She once gave what felt like an outdated answer to a query involving racism, and in Sunday’s column (“I just want dinner, but my hosts want more,” July 25) she responded to a woman who experienced sexual harassment by suggesting that she should think twice about certain dinner invitations because there is a risk that “a lady could lose her reputation.”
Good manners of the 1940s and 1950s are not necessarily the blueprint for today. If manners don’t evolve with changing societal values and issues, what good are they?
We both tried separately to write a response at MissManners.com only to receive messages that an error had occurred and we should try another time. Does Miss Manners truly appreciate responses to her column? It seems as though good manners would dictate an easier response method for readers.
We are loyal readers of the Valley News, but the Miss Manners column seems woefully out of touch with current thinking.
PAM and STEVE SKILLMAN
Grantham