Open Letter to Governor Peter Shumlin:
Dear Governor Shumlin,
If you would please read the Vermont Journal, page 6A, May 1, 2013, you will find that Vermonters are outraged and angry at your Administration.
I join them in their written protest against over-regulation.
I was going to take my little nephew, the next time he visits me in Vermont, to a real old fashioned, genuine
Barber Shop run by Mike in Bellows Falls, Windham County, VT.
Mike’s Barber Shop, according to the paper, was ordered to close down due to Governor Peter Shumlin’s administration.
Mike’s Barber Shop in Bellows Falls,
Windham County, should NOT have
been ordered closed down,
it should be given an AWARD!
Mike’s Barber Shop should be given:
(1) historical significance and designation
along with funds for historical preservation;
(2) it should be given funding from
social services programs because
it provides a senior citizen day center
for gray and white haired gentlemen
to play cards and socialize;
(3) it should be given an award for
encouraging men of all ages, including
boys, to keep their hair and appearance
neat and orderly. Just compare the
men and boys who have been to
Mike’s Barber Shop in Bellows Falls,
Windham County, VT to the ones
in the neighborhood who have NOT
been in to have their hair cut!
“SEE” the difference!
Governor Peter Shumlin, you and your
administration have gone too far in
your zeal for raising Taxes to provide
jobs for your Inspectors to harrass people
with rules and regulations.
The majority of your rules and regulations
are Un-Constitutional because they were
not written by elected officials.
From this week’s Vermont Journal:
…
“Do you know that a barber must disinfect
his chair and sweep his floor after each
customer while
hospital waiting room seats occupied by
the very sick and seriously diseased
do not?”
…
“It should be noted that all deficiencies
were corrected within two weeks of
his initial inspection. Did I mention that
he sent three hundred dollars to the state
for a shop license which they promptly
cashed and deposited to the state coffers?
Eleven months later he has yet to receive
his shop license.”
written for the Vermont Journal by
Dr. Charles Houghton
As for myself,
I like to stop by and say “Hi!” to Mike
every time I’m in Bellows Falls.
He and his friends who socialize at
Mike’s Barber Shop are all very nice people,
and have a wealth of information on
political issues.
Because I am making my usual perennial
run for Governor of Vermont 2014,
I will definitely make a big campaign
issue out of the way Governor Peter Shumlin’s
Administration is harrassing small business
owners.
Governor Shumlin, it is time for you to include
Mike’s Barber Shop on the
Vermont Official Road Map and
Guide to Vermont Attractions
because it has historical and tourist
significance;
and give Mike his license back.
The fact that Governor Peter Shumlin’s
Administration took Mike’s license away,
considering that Mike and his Barber Shop
are both over 70 years old,
is an attack against the right of senior
citizens to work!
If 70 year olds aren’t allowed to work,
then send Inspectors in to close down the
offices of U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders
born Sept. 8, 1941, and
U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy
born March 31, 1940!
Cris Ericson
http://indyVT.com
(802)875-4038
MIKE'S BARBER SHOP
I couldn’t have said it more eloquently. Why the state would single out this elderly gentleman is beyond me .I don’t understand how my native state could be so anti-business & especially to the sector that is having great difficulty with bare survival .
Bully Pulpit
I would say the Shumlin administration has decided to go after the common man because he’s easier to intimidate than Entergy Nuclear. If they continue to attack the small businesses, like they always have, they’ll eventually get back the millions they lost in the absurd “Sorrell” Lawsuit.
BTW, for the person that was offended by a reference I made, a couple of weeks ago, to Nazi’s in Montpelier….
I rest my case.
Case dismissed
Right, because that was the whole problem with the Nazis, they enforced business licensing requirements and public health standards.
Reprint: Domenic Poli, reporter for the Reformer April 30, 2013
BELLOWS FALLS — A village barber has been temporarily shut down by the state after it was discovered that he doesn’t have a shop license. In addition, a state inspection found a number of deficiencies at the shop.
Michael Aldrich, owner of Mike’s Barber Shop, said he has fixed the deficiencies but is still barred from cutting hair until he gets a shop license, which has been mandatory for barbers in Vermont since 1997. Aldrich said he has a barber’s license but was never told he needed a shop license, too.
These problems were discovered when State Inspector Connie White was driving through The Square on May 17, 2012. Chris Winter, the director of the Vermont Office of Professional Regulation, which includes the Vermont Board of Barbers and Cosmetologists, said Mike’s Barber Shop was not on White’s list but she stopped in when she saw the barber’s pole outside. White found about eight violations in the establishment and learned Aldrich did not have a shop license.
Full text: http://www.reformer.com/sports/ci_23135291/rsquo-it-rsquo-s-nerve-wracking-rsquo-mike
Domenic Poli can be reached at dpoli@reformer.com, or 802-254-2311, ext. 277. You can follow him on Twitter @dpoli_reformer.
not his first rodeo
Here’s the complaint
http://www.vtprofessionals.org/opr1/oprdocs/all/2012-314.pdf
Read and draw your own conclusions. If this was a OSHA inspection at a factory and the respondents didn’t fix their faults, nobody would look favorable on the factory.
This isn’t the first time Mike’s has made headlines:
http://www.vpr.net/news_detail/90738/vermont-reads-race-issues-still-make-headlines-in/
rodeo
Nice factual articles detailing the situation. Interesting how facts and logic trump emotion every time.
While it seems like perhaps
While it seems like perhaps this situation could have been handled better the fact is that businesses in Vermont are required to have licenses. This isn’t something unique to Vermont- all states (as far as I know) require businesses to have licenses and to keep their businesses up to code. I don’t see where this owner is being treated any differently than any other business owner would be. It’s the owner’s responsibility to know what licenses are required and what the safety and health codes are for their particular business. The fact that he is older or has operated his barber shop there for years really doesn’t have any official bearing on the fact that he was -by his own admission-in violation of several laws. Could the powers that be move a little quicker to get his doors open again? Probably. But the responsibility of operating his business in a manner that upholds the current business laws rests only with him.