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Skateboarding project is sexist
Editor of the Reformer:
The article celebrating the International Go Skateboarding Day in Brattleboro at Crowell Park ("Local skateboarders unite," June 21), inadvertently illustrates the sexism associated with this project.
Photographs only include boys and young men. By my count at 4:05 p.m., there were 19 males and no girls or women involved, although I saw some women on the sidelines, presumably mothers, and one small girl with a helmet sitting nearby.
The inane loudspeaking blather was antithetical to neighborhood tranquility and certainly to any young families who may have been attempting to use the park playground. The town is moving forward with its misguided plans to convert the park from a family resource to one devoted to a narrow segment of the population engaging in an individual sport.
Fritz Engstrom,
Brattleboro, June 21 Keep a better eye on my tax dollars
Editor of the Reformer:
As one of Westminster’s larger taxpayers, I am formally asking my representatives to keep a better eye on my tax dollars that I unwillingly donate each and every year to my home town.
The first is the elementary school in Westminster West that is not being run economically, with low student enrollment, and we have a newer and fully equipped school in town. It is up to each of you to address the School Board to take action to
The second demand I have is related to the tax-funded trash pick-up trucks that handle the trash, which enters the town each Thursday and is not weighed when it enters and is not weighed when it leaves. This would not be accepted or tolerated in the private world of any well run business. We have the new truck scales at the recycling center on Route 5 and it’s way overdue that we start using them.
In the past I questioned the numbers that were submitted by the former ambulance company and I asked for an accounting but my suggestion was rejected until the present ambulance service arrived and did the job for one half of the previous cost.
Christian Blake,
Westminster, June 21
West B stores will be missed
Editor of the Reformer:
I see in today’s paper that West B is getting financial help to keep things better here. Why don’t we help ourselves more? We finally got the Dollar General Store and the Discount Store. It seemed so good to be able to stop there instead of heading into town for everything. Now we’re losing them both. We wouldn’t be if the people in Mountain Home and the housing developments and other residents would stop and shop there. I think it’s sad that more people didn’t take advantage of the opportunity for savings. Many may have thought that everything was outdated at the Discount Store, but that’s not so at all. Some is, but much of it isn’t. We’re losing so much -- not just in convenience, but also in savings. I will certainly miss them.
Elaine Petrie
Brattleboro, June 25
How many other VY volunteers will be lost?
Editor of the Reformer:
Your June 14 story on Larry Smith’s retirement from Vermont Yankee was a fine tribute to one of Brattleboro and Windham County’s most public-spirited citizens. His efforts on behalf of our most vulnerable citizens over the past 40 years were very significant and he will be missed.
The kind of selfless volunteerism that characterized Larry’s commitment is the glue that holds our communities together. Under his guidance, Vermont Yankee also was a strong supporter of local institutions like the Boys and Girls Club, the Drop In Center and the United Way, to name a few. In addition to financial support, Yankee employees also volunteered their time and labor to many projects.
Larry has re-located to Maine and Florida for his retirement. His commitment to help those in need was exceptional, and there are many people at Yankee who share his community spirit. If Yankee is forced to close in the next few years, how many other committed and public-spirited citizens will we lose?
Eileen Shuman,
Brattleboro, June 25
Be vigilant about details of health care reform
Editor of the Reformer:
A recent writer takes John McClaughry to task for being critical of the Green Mountain Care Board. "Vintage McClaughry" the writer suggests ("McClaughry’s skewed view of health reform," June 16).
A sense of history might help us recall McClaughry’s warning about the state’s rushed response to the Brigham Decision; a defining piece of legislation that permanently changed the fabric of our state. Haste appears to make waste in legislation and we should wish to avoid unintended mistakes in health care reform. While the writer was quick to dismiss what McClaughry had to say about health care reform, I read his piece in a larger context.
McClaughry may have illusions that Vermont will adopt a market-based health care system; that is simply not going to happen. The free market left healthcare many years ago and what we have now is no system at all. We need to move boldly, but does that mean we should settle for a top-down structure where the system, not the patient, is the client? Every indication in health care reform suggests that is where we are heading. This should be a concern for all of us.
Ownership of our state’s direction in health care reform lies completely with the current leadership. It is entirely of their own design. To paraphrase Joseph Stiglitz; what you measure is what you get. And therein should be our collective concern ... the authenticity of results. I can guarantee you, if you leave it to leadership -- any leadership -- to measure success, they will do just that ... be successful.
I have had the opportunity to attend presentations by members of the GMC Board. In their candor they acknowledge that they are long on theory and short on details. And this only serves to perpetuate the public’s inflated expectations of health care reform. It is only a matter of time before ambition and reality collide. As citizens and taxpayers we can handle the truth ... and we can handle it now.
As Vermonters, let’s be vigilant about the details of health care reform. We want to get to the end of this and acclaim that it was well worth it. The question to ask is; what is our metric for success?
Hilary Cooke,
Athens, June 23
