Op/Ed

The Op/Ed opinion section

Brattleboro EMS Options

by fidel | Op/Ed

Ever since the relationship between Rescue and Brattleboro was ruptured in 2022, the Town has been faced with the challenge of arranging for EMS services. While the explanations for the 2022 break have been vague and unconvincing, the plan is for the Selectboard to decide how to proceed at its 19 September meeting. There are three options. Details on the three are worked out in Town Manager Potter’s 1 September “Transition Update” memo and a 7 September “Supplemental” memo (hereafter first and second memos); both of them, and much more information, is posted at the dedicated Fire-EMS Transition section of the Town website. . It is important to note that Mr. Potter’s analysis of the three options are focused on the first year–FY25 impacts—on the General Fund. Longer-term financial impacts for a Town EMS are not estimated.

EMS Deception

by SK-B | Op/Ed

Although I have made a comment or two on ibrattleboro.com decrying the autocratic manner of selectboard members (we make the decisions, we don’t have to explain), I have been reluctant to speak out about the EMS controversy as I have not made a truly serious effort to become informed. After watching the September 12 EMS forum, I still do not feel capable of analysing which choice is better; but on a gut-feeling basis, I do not trust the Dog-And-Pony-Show put on by Town leadership. A “consensus” of 11 Town employees concerned with their jobs reciting matching opinions, is hardly a genuine consensus.

Still, I wondered what if they are right and EMS run by the fire department actually would be better?

EMS Forum: Brattleboro Municipal Staff Are In Favor of Municipal EMS

by cgrotke | Op/Ed

I took notes for last night’s public… uh, lecture? …spanking?…justifications? ….gaslighting?  It certainly didn’t seem much like a forum on EMS options.

For example, Town Manager John Potter introduced the evening by saying that one goal for the evening was to NOT go into detail of any of the EMS options.  A goal.

This was followed by over an hour of Town staff, many who live on towns served by Rescue, explaining why each and every one of them think the BFD is great!  A member of the public called BS on this pretty quickly, but was ignored.

Below are my notes (cut and pasted from the comments of another thread.):

Brattleboro Selectboard’s EMS Surprise

by cgrotke | Op/Ed

Thursday’s delayed Brattleboro Selectboard meeting almost seemed like a last-minute confessional. In the movie version it would have gone like this:

Board: “Forgive us, voting public, for we have committed the sin of omission.  When we said it was about the one letter from Rescue, it wasn’t the full story…”  (Cue ominous music)

…..

I’m not sure if it was the late hour, or a lack of air conditioning on a hot evening, or an impending sense of guilt, but moments before the the meeting was to wrap up, (with the next steps being a public information session then a board vote on EMS services,) board members revealed that they had other, important information that they have been keeping from the public.

Like Israel Only Worse

by RDavis | Op/Ed

My biggest fear is that Trump ends up in the White House again. It would be a disaster for this country and for the world, but it is something that could happen. Remember how improbable it seemed the first time around?

The best way we have to prevent this catastrophe is to vote and to make sure that a majority of the people who vote have functioning brains and a sense of justice and morality based in a world where the truth matters.

It is also possible that even if Trump ends up in prison he could still win the election. If that happens the United States would lose its standing as a world power and it is very likely that our economy could end up in the toilet. The world repercussions would be staggering.

Democracy Expands in Brattleboro and From Brattleboro

by Youth Vote Brattleboro | Op/Ed

At BCS we’re shouting hallelujah, You can imagine, with the overwhelmong selectboard lawsuits against our homeless shelter it’s great to have this good news. It’s been ten years. Brattleboro is the first city — the only city in America that gives its young people a voice as voters and as elected officials. This may stem the tide of youth moving out of town. We were just talking with Addie Lentzner of the Vermont Youth Lobby. We’re thinking about a state-wide campaign. If we proceed BCS will advocate for full voting membership on school boards.

Young Brattleboro students have a great range of options for political expression. On one hand the student member of the school board is formal but tokenized and not allowed to vote. On the other hand Rio and other Youth Vote workers also disrupted the selectboard and the Heifer Parade to declare a climate emergency. The Youth Vote amendment creates the best option, both formal and powerful, if the young voters choose to own their power.

Loss And Gain

by RDavis | Op/Ed

It’s helpful to check in and try to understand your place in the universe every so often. It’s easy to get caught up in the day to day madness of the world and move around less thoughtfully than is healthy for us. Taking time to just sit back and reflect can be a form of self-guided therapy.

The older we get the more the ledger moves toward loss and away from gain. As the decades roll by it seems as if we are climbing some sort of imaginary hill adding years and experience to our working and personal lives.

Of course making generalizations is always dangerous and what I am talking about is the perspective from my little corner of the world. There comes a point where the scales seem to tip more toward loss than gain. The changes are subtle at first.

Memorialize USA Lies About Each Mistaken Undeclared War Americans Remembered Today Gave Their Lives

by jay janson | Op/Ed

‘Decoration Day,’ a day to decorate the graves of soldiers, who died fighting on either side of the American Civil War is the origin of today’s (changed name) ‘Memorial Day.’ Because America’s subsequent wars have been in other people’s countries, the compassionate idea of a day dedicated to the families and friends decorating the graves in remembrance of loved ones, who were soldiers of either side in a past war, is lost, since one side’s soldiers were not Americans.

So, for instance, loving commemoration of the death of fifty-eight thousand American soldiers during the American war in Vietnam, is not accompanied by commiseration for Vietnamese family and friends remembering their more than a million Vietnamese soldiers who perished in America’s war in their country,

Brattleboro EMS – An Open Public Process Made Murky

by cgrotke | Op/Ed

At the May 2 Selectboard meeting, the board endorsed a proposed schedule of information-gathering prior to deciding on Town EMS services in September.

The board thought they had a good plan, but what they presented turned out to be confusing to anyone trying to follow along.  Sadly, in an effort to be extra open and transparent, the board ended up making things murkier.

The Official Path – Meetings and Correspondence

Town Manager John Potter presented the official EMS decision-making schedule, which gives time for public discussion on the topic at the second Selectboard meeting of each month. This is the official time for the public to come and weigh in on warned EMS agenda items.  There will also be a public forum scheduled just prior to the board’s vote in September.

No WWII No Victory Parade in Moscow & No War in Ukraine Today If the West Had Not Rearmed Germany

by jay janson | Op/Ed

May 9th! Moscow Celebrates Victory Over Nazi Germany’s Most Massive and Genocidal Invasion in History, but with incomprehensibly little or no public condemnation of American corporations having earlier heavily rearmed Hitler’s Nazi Germany as British and French armies stood down in cooperation and in violation of the Versailles Treaty’s prohibition of German rearmament.

Do the Math!

by RobertOeser | Op/Ed

I was advised the link in the other story does not open. Here is the copy I submitted to The Commons which was published 4/26/2023:

An April 7, 2023 Commentary in the Reformer, Brattleboro EMS: Fact vs fiction, asserted that “Rescue notified the town on March 25, 2022, that it would not be providing service to the town beyond the June 30, 2022,” citing Rescue Inc’s letter.

That is misleading. The full statement by Rescue from that letter reads:

“Given your stated position and unwillingness to pay for emergency medical response, Rescue Inc will not be able to continue providing that service to the Town of Brattleboro beyond the June 30, 2022 contract end date. If the town would like to come and speak with me about an agreement for service beyond June 30, 2022, please contact me no later than May 1, 2022, to schedule a meeting.”

Who’s On First? Brattleboro Says Brattleboro

by cgrotke | Op/Ed

Brattleboro was given a clue, perhaps,  to the problem between the Town of Brattleboro and Rescue, Inc. at Tuesday’s Selectboard meeting. Fire Chief Howard said multiple times that even if another EMS service was chosen to provide first response care in Brattleboro, he would have his department keep arriving on scene “first,” no matter what.

WSESD Should Report All Vote Totals

by DonInGuilford | Op/Ed

On the WSESD site is reported the unofficial results of the March 7 school director election. For the Brattleboro 3 Year term only the vote for Kimberly Price is reported, though Jaci Reynolds was also on the ballot. A footnote indicates that Reynolds withdrew from the race before the election, but she presumably got some votes, and those should be reported.

I got the chance to do some homework on this issue in our Guilford Selectboard contest on Town Meeting Day. One of the three candidates for the 2 year seat announced before the election that she was “withdrawing,” but her name was already on the ballot, and, in fact, in absentee voting she had even already received some votes.

Defending My Friends and Neighbors

by Marta | Op/Ed

With March 7th – election day – drawing closer, I wanted to take a moment to speak to the defamation of my friends and neighbors that has been going on.

Here are some things that have been said over the past few months by landlords:

“No landlord would evict a good tenant”

“You say they’ve been no-cause evicted but didn’t do anything wrong? Well, I’d really like to hear the other side…”

and the most offensive: “Vote No on Article II It hurts responsible tenants”.

RAD Just Cause Amendment Implies Permanent Homeless Under-class

by Kurt Daims | Op/Ed

NOTICE : This doesn’t mean anyone should move out. It only means that the compassion is misplaced.
Imagine you’re homeless, living in a car for five years, and you hear about a new law that says everyone with an apartment can keep it forever.

They say the endless lease is compassionate >> If you already HAVE a place, you’ll be able to stay your whole life if you want, regardless of a signed agreement, regardless of someone waiting to move in, regardless of homeless people waiting in the snow.

RAD Just Cause To Create Permanent Homeless Under-class

by Kurt Daims | Op/Ed

Section B of the RAD Just Cause amendment demands for tenants the privilege of an endless lease. RAD says the endless lease is compassionate. Let’s be real here. To demand the option of an endless lease while homeless people endlessly wait is not compassion, it is self-interest. To preach it as compassion shows no thought even of the existence of homeless people. Section B creates a class of priveleged landed tenants and an under-class of permanently homeless people.

Section B) “This charter provision excludes from ‘just cause’ the expiration of a rental agreement as sole grounds for termination of tenancy.”

Vote In New Selectboard Members To Mend EMS Relationships

by RobertOeser | Op/Ed

The currently sitting Selectboard in Brattleboro has unfinished business … and it cannot be accomplished by the currently sitting members.

For there to be honest and real “transparency,” three members of the board must change.

Richard “Dick” DeGray stands out first as someone who speaks his mind and — from personal experience, I can say — as someone who will think through an issue and debate it. Dick and I may not always agree, but we will hear each other.

Franz Reichsman is the detail person, I believe, measured and thoughtful. He has the needed background in emergency medicine to do the deep dive into our present quandary with EMS.

And Peter “Fish” Case showed his insight and evenhandedness by bringing together, virtually, the chiefs of the Brattleboro Fire Department and Rescue Inc. during an episode of Vermontitude, “A Path Back.” https://youtu.be/CYi39JDY5-U

Selectboard Notes Feb 21, 2023 – Let Homeless Sleep in the Snow

by Kurt Daims | Op/Ed

BCS submitted its Statement to the board by email and in person on paper. The selectboard (health commission) declined to read any part of BCS’ STATEMENT at the hearing.   The selectboard decided to uphold the Emergency Order to shut down BCS emergency homeless shelter in RVs.  As you might note in the Statement (ask for a copy), the Order is legally defective, as BCS was not notified of our right to a hearing within five days of the Order (and for other reasons).  So, the evening’s proceedings may  be declared void.