Opinion

For opinion pieces on any topic.

Should Safe Injection Sites Be Legalized?

by RDavis | Politics

Rhode Island and New York City allow people addicted to drugs to inject themselves at safe injection sites without fear of prosecution. The drugs these people use are illegal but they are given a pass if they go to one of these sites. Vermont is about to pass legislation that would allow cities and towns to set up these sites if the local municipal body approves it.

The bill, H. 72, has passed the Vermont House and is now in the Senate Health and Welfare Committee and is expected to be passed into law. Governor Scott has made it clear that he will veto this bill, so the big question is whether or not there will be enough votes to override his veto.

Brattleboro Selects BFD For Trash Collection

by cgrotke | Rumors

The Town of Brattleboro received four bids for the new trash collection and recycling service. At Tuesday’s meeting, the Selectboard chose the Brattleboro Fire Department to do the job.

“It’s been our experience in the last few months that having the fire department do everything in-house is more cost-effective for taxpayers,” said the Assistant Town Manager.

Can’t Impeach-Prosecute Joe Biden For Illegally Continuing to Supply Bombs Dropped on Homes in Gaza

by jay janson | Activism, Op/Ed

Biden has been guilty of breaking a U.S. law against providing U.S. weapons to a nation using them against a civilian population as Israel has been doing openly for five months.

“When the President of the United States becomes aware of the possibility of violations of the Arms Export Control Act (AECA), the law mandates specific actions:

Prompt Notification to Congress: The President is required to promptly notify Congress about the potential violations.”

Officer Did Not Falsify Evidence

by Kurt Daims | Op/Ed

CORRECTION: The officer did not falsify evidence. To falsify evidence means to alter it after it is admitted into a court record. That’s really serious and worse than what happened. Here’s what happened.

The Brattleboro “health officer” came to our emergency homeless shelter February 7 2023. We had three RVs for free shelter. He had been told that there were no sewer connections to the RVs. See the video. at brmse.org .

Awful Feeling! ‘Starving Palestinian Children Are Watching Me Eat Their Food ‘- Can’t Take It Anymore

by jay janson | Op/Ed

Am feeling some slight pangs of hunger as I sit down to my dinner, and the thought automatically arises, ‘how could a starving person take the immeasurably more severe hunger pain caused by the strong contractions of the stomach when it’s empty,’and that makes me think of the poor desperately hungry children being starved in Gaza. Am still aware of the good taste of the food in my mouth but suddenly am not enjoying eating.

WSESD School Director Re-count Warning

by Not Signed In | Politics

The following Warning is to be posted in all usual Meeting Warning locations:
 
The Town Clerks and Boards of Civil Authority in the towns of Brattleboro, Dummerston, Guilford and Putney will convene to re-count votes from the March 5, 2024 School Director Election for two three-year term positions as Brattleboro representatives on the WSESD Board of Directors. 

Vermont Tries Again – H. 156

by RDavis | Politics

December of 2014 marked the end of the campaign for single payer health care in Vermont. Governor Peter Shumlin had been onboard with the effort during his tenure in office and he worked hard to support efforts to move in that direction. But in the end, when he had to look at the real cost of the plan, he declared that single payer in Vermont was dead because the cost would have been too much for small businesses.

We now have a new effort in the form of H. 156, a bill that would, “… implement Green Mountain Care, a publicly financed health care program for all Vermont residents, over time, starting with primary care in the first year, adding preventive dental and vision care in the second year, and incorporating additional health care services in later years. It would establish the Universal Health Care Advisory Group at the Green Mountain Care Board to provide recommendations to the General Assembly regarding the sequencing of and financing for the health care services to be added in the third through tenth years of Green Mountain Care’s implementation. The bill would also express legislative intent regarding funding sources for Green Mountain Care and would prohibit health insurance plans and rates from reflecting duplication of the coverage provided by Green Mountain Care.”

Thank You To Voters

by RDavis | Politics

Thank you to all of the voters who turned out for the Brattleboro election on March 5. Democracy is alive and well in our town. And thank you to those who voted for me. I hope to represent those who voted for me and those who voted for other candidates. The Brattleboro selectboard is a non-partisan institution and that means that we have a great deal of potential for collaboration and consensus building.

I hope to promote that climate on the selectboard and to be a voice for the people of Brattleboro. I intend to ask a lot of questions and make sure issues important to all voters are discussed openly and in necessary detail.

Richard Davis

Brattleboro Representative Town Meeting Informational Forum To Be Held March 13

by Not Signed In | Politics

The Brattleboro Selectboard is scheduled to host an informational forum on Wednesday, March 13, 2024, at 7 p.m. at the Academy School, with doors opening at 6 p.m. Academy School is located at 860 Western Ave, Brattleboro, VT 05301.

The informational forum will cover Representative Town Meeting articles, including the budget and Bond Vote articles.

Prior to the informational meeting, starting at 6:30 p.m., Town Meeting members from each district will be available to meet with constituents, providing an opportunity for residents to share their views and discuss articles slated for vote at Representative Town Meeting.

Brattleboro’s Unofficial Presidential Primary, Town Meeting Day, and WSESD Election Results

by Not Signed In | Politics

Please see attached for Brattleboro’s Unofficial Presidential Primary, Town Meeting Day, and WSESD election results. These are the results from the ballot tallies, not including write-in votes, and not including other towns’ results for the Presidential Primary and WSESD races.

Thanks to the amazing poll workers and the American Legion who made today possible! We had a lot of voters coming through the doors, and the day was smooth and safe!

Awful Feeling! ‘Starving Palestinian Children Are Watching Me Eat Their Food ‘- Can’t Take It Anymore

by jay janson | Op/Ed

Am feeling some slight pangs of hunger as I sit down to my dinner, and the thought automatically arises, ‘how could a starving person take the immeasurably more severe hunger pain caused by the strong contractions of the stomach when it’s empty,’ and that makes me think of the poor desperately hungry children being starved in Gaza. Am still aware of the good taste of the food in my mouth but suddenly am not enjoying eating.

I want to tell the children I feel are watching me eat, to go watch the sky for an American plane dropping meals to them, but I imagine the severely traumatised children (who have their eyes on the food on my plate), have had their homes, playgrounds and schools destroyed, many of their brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, uncles and aunts, teachers and playmates killed or horribly wounded, some crippled, by bombs dropped by American planes piloted by Israelis dropping American bombs on them day and night for as long as they can seem to remember. I sense they are still watching me and my (their) food.

(America has also been allowing its client state Israel to starve the citizens of Gaza by blocking food and water from entering into Gaza and U.S.A, has used its veto power to vote down demands of the UN Security Council for a ceasefire.)

Once More for Oscar Heller

by fidel | Politics

The Brattleboro Selectboard made important decisions over the last year

–Proposing to Representative Town Meeting an increase in staff salaries by 13.1%, which will result in salaries and benefits constituting 61.2% of the Town budget, up from 58.3%

–Replacing emergency medical services (EMS) previously provided by Resue (and in the last two years by Golden Cross) with EMS services embedded in the Brattleboro Fire Department, all despite sustained public opposition

Richard Davis Candidate for One Year Selectboard Seat

by RDavis | Politics

I am Richard Davis, a 74 year old semi-retired nurse, writer and political activist running for a one year seat on the Brattleboro selectboard. A Boston area native, I have lived in Windham County for the past 45 years, 41 of those years in Guilford and for the past 2 ½ years in Brattleboro with my wife Roberta Levy.

I feel that the current board would benefit from new blood to provide a different perspective on issues important to the people of Brattleboro. Many people have been frustrated at the appearance of a lack of transparency that has surrounded the actions of the current board, especially in relation to the decision to end a long-standing relationship with Rescue Inc.

Selectboard Oversight & Transparency

by Oscar Heller | Politics

This is my fourth year on the RTM Finance Committee. Many people have asked me what the committee’s job is, and now that we’ve finished our report (link), I can give a specific answer.

Our job is to provide citizen oversight of the Selectboard and the town’s budget. This report represents the culmination six months of research, analysis, and hard work by David Levenbach, Millicent Cooley, Mike Hutcheson, Paula Melton, and myself. We watched and rewatched Selectboard meetings, interviewed Town staff, and performed independent research.

Some notable sections:

What Does Being Too Old Really Mean?

by RDavis | Politics

There has been a lot of talk about electing someone to the office of President of the United States, perhaps the most demanding job in the world, who is in his eighties. Joe Biden was born in 1942 making him the oldest person to sit in the oval office. People express misgivings about voting for him because of his age, but there is very little discussion of what exactly they fear about his age.

It is time to unpack the issues relating to an octogenarian president to see if they will really make it difficult for Biden to continue in office. The worst case scenario is that he dies in office. Males at 80 years old have a seven year life expectancy. That is based on averages, but when it comes to Biden, he is not your average 81 year old. He remains mostly physically fit and his father died at 86 and his mother at 92, so he has some genetic longevity working for him. He had a physical a few days ago and was declared physically fit to perform the duties of President. His doctor felt no need for cognitive testing.

Hegemonic Western Colonialist Media Journalists Are Accessories to Israeli Mass Murder of Children

by jay janson | Op/Ed

Since October 7, journalists of hegemonic Western colonialist media have made themselves accessories after and then before the fact of crimes against humanity ordered by the Israeli government and committed by Israeli military in their continuous mass murderous bombing and air strikes demolishing homes and entire cities of Israel’s captive Palestinian population in Gaza – indiscriminately killing thousands of residents, 70% [1]of which are women and children. These journalists became accessories after the fact and then before the fact. How?     

Maya Hasegawa: Oscar Heller for Selectboard

by Oscar Heller | Politics

I received this letter and permission to post it from Maya Hasegawa. I worked with Maya on the Finance Committee, and her name is well known to anyone involved in town politics. In addition to town meeting, she currently serves on the Charter Revision Commission, the Design Review Committee, and the Development Review Board – three serious commitments. I’m grateful for her support, and hope you’ll consider voting for me on March 5th.

Her letter follows. Thank you again, Maya!

***

One hears a great deal of talk these days about aging Vermont and how important it is for our future to attract and keep younger people. Brattleboro is fortunate to have such a person running for Selectboard.

We Perceive, and Then Believe

by AnneODyne | Opinion

I don’t know about you, but if I inadvertently walk into a spider web, or step in dog poop, my impulse is to get it off as quickly and thoroughly as possible. Why is the same not true for wayward ideas, made up threats and prejudices we blunder into? Clearly we are bound by our frames, blinded by the bubbles we inhabit, conditioned by what we see, even if that’s an optical illusion.

The most obvious example, steeped in misperception, the Sun rises in the morning and sets in the evening. Seems obvious and undeniable, and our ancestors can’t be blamed for succumbing to this illusion, but the fact is the earth is spinning, and our orientation of the sun coming and going is a fabrication.

There are countless similar constructs in daily life that fail to register as odd. Fake news, so to speak. How much more is this true with the projections and propaganda that pass as settled knowledge. There is probably a protective rationale for errant world building, but so much trust is abused by these faulty mechanisms in our consciousness.