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In support
of Pearce
Editor of the Reformer:
I am writing in support of Beth Pearce for Vermont State Treasurer.
As a former Vermont state representative (1987-1997) and a retired Vermont teacher of 33 years, I have worked with and watched the performance of several of Vermont’s state treasurers. With that perspective, and based on her performance as state treasurer, I believe Beth deserves to continue as state treasurer.
During the uncertain economic times that have followed the national financial collapse and the subsequent recession, Beth has been instrumental in preserving and protecting Vermont’s state retirement funds and bond rating. Following the destruction of Tropical Storm Irene, I saw firsthand how effectively Beth worked with the people of the Deerfield Valley in their recovery by assisting them with state highway aid and education tax and payment matters. She was decisive, focused, and committed.
I currently serve with Beth on the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation (VSAC) Board of Directors. In this capacity I have observed her to be clear-thinking, knowledgeable, intelligent, and competent. Her approach to money management is both prudent and responsible.
Since early in 2011, when she became Vermont’s State Treasurer, Beth Pearce has demonstrated the non-partisan and professional commitment to her position that Vermonters want and deserve. Please
Dave Larsen,
Wilmington, Oct. 2
Co-op coverage biased?
Editor of the Reformer:
I am amazed at how biased the coverage is concerning the unionization of the employees of the Brattleboro Food Co-op. Every story seems to suggest that the Co-op should just embrace unionization because it is requested. Your story even mentioned that the Co-op Board would not allow a television station in to film the meeting. Why would anyone allow that dog and pony show to be filmed? Has the Board ever allowed it’s meetings to be recorded?
Allowing the process to go to a secret ballot is the fairest thing that the Co-op Board can do for its workers. The secret ballot lets the workers decide for themselves without any influence if having a union represent them is a good idea. If the support is as great as is being implied it should be approved by the secret ballot. So let’s stop trying to suggest that the Co-op Board is doing anything wrong here.
What are the conditions at the Co-op that are driving the unionization? Does the Co-op pay less than other supermarkets and grocery chains in the area? Do they receive less vacation time and benefits than other employers provide? Are working conditions so bad that the workers need to bring someone in to defend their rights? How would the union address these grievances? This approach of reporting would actually provide the workers at the Co-op the valuable information they would need to cast an intelligent vote.
What would the union dues be? It would be beneficial for the workers voting on the matter to be informed about what it would cost each month for their representation. What are the future goals of the Union and are they realistic goals?
Have you considered sending a reporter to see how the unionization is going for the two other Co-ops that were mentioned in your story?
Your responsibility as a reporter of this news story is not to listen to the people that are making the most noise about it but to get to the real facts of the story to assist those that have to make a decision on the issue. In my opinion you have let those people down.
I know that if 51 percent of the workers vote for the union in the secret ballot it will be approved. Is there any way to dissolve the union if the workers become dissatisfied with it?
What I must really criticize about your reporting is that you are making this a very divisive issue. What I enjoy most about this town is how well we respect each other’s beliefs, opinions and lifestyles. Hopefully we will continue to do this no matter what the workers at the Co-op decide.
Michael De Matteis,
Marlboro, Oct. 8
Chamber Board votes ‘No’
Editor of the Reformer:
The following statement was sent to the chairman of the Brattleboro Selectboard with a request to read it during discussion and entered into the public record of each information meeting held for the Town Representatives prior to the meeting on Oct. 20:
In an already extremely competitive and depressed market for our local businesses, exacerbated by the profoundly traumatic events on 2011 -- the Brooks House fire and Tropical Storm Irene -- the Board of Directors of the Brattleboro Area Chamber of Commerce urges the Brattleboro Select Board and Town Meeting Representatives not to impose a 1 percent local options tax.
Brattleboro Area
Chamber of Commerce,
Board of Directors,
Submitted by Jerry Goldberg,
executive director,
Brattleboro Area
Chamber of Commerce,
Oct. 15
VY is unhealthy
Editor of the Reformer:
In a recent letter to the Reformer, Ken Henson accurately points out that although the State of Vermont is no longer purchasing any electricity from Vermont Yankee the fact remains that it still provides power to the grid. What Mr. Henson neglects to inform us is that we don’t need Vermont Yankee’s electricity. Every 18 months the plant shuts down for a full 30 to 32 days to change the spent fuel rods, do an inspection, and empty the Torus and the recapture pools. During this month’s time the plant is shut down but we still get our electricity. So ... no we don’t need Vermont Yankee.
Another letter from a different writer makes it plain that the state’s fisheries scientists put the blame of the declining fish population in the Connecticut River on the fact that the fish shy away from the Vernon fish ladder and they make no mention of the hot thermal discharge as being a problem. I sat through 3 days of expert testimony during the thermal discharge case in the Environmental Court in Newfane and I seem to remember written testimony from an ichthyologist at Stanford University who said that the temperatures from the discharge from Vermont Yankee were such that the aquatic environment was no longer conducive to the fish pro-creating. The fact that the shad may be avoiding the fish ladder does not negate the fact that above a certain temperature the shad will not procreate. So ... yes there is a thermal problem.
What is actually going into the Connecticut River? I quote from a Reformer article by Gretchen Becker on Sept. 1, 1979, which mentions a discharge of 200,000 gallons of diluted water containing radioactive cobalt, cesium, tritium and zinc. This radioactive water comes from the Torus and the recapture pools which have to be emptied periodically. Here is the quote from Vermont’s Environmental Secretary at the time Brenden Wittaker: " ... concentrations of radioactivity are so low that they probably won’t be detected in the fish."
Thirty-three years later we know that strontium 90 was found in fish 4 miles from the nuclear plant. No question, strontium 90 is produced in particulate form and is released into the air from the stack vents at Vermont Yankee. It goes out into the atmosphere and winds up in the adjacent river or is sent off to distant parts on cloud formations. Strontium 90 is known to cause leukemia and has a half-life of 29.1 years. Radioactive releases from Vermont Yankee can be found on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s website by doing a search at the upper right hand corner for Vermont Yankee Annual Radioactive Effluent Reports then selecting a year.
Let’s shut this plant down. It’s unhealthy, dangerous and we don’t need it.
Peter Van der Does,
Brattleboro, Sept. 28
