Politics

It has been a year of continuous warfare in the Middle East. The spark that started the conflagration happened when Hamas killed 1200 Jews in a bold and ruthless attack. Many of the hostages they took a year ago have either died or not been heard from and families of the hostages are living in a constant state of frustration.

Israel responded to the attack predictably and over 41,000 Palestinians have been killed and much of Gaza has been destroyed. The Israeli bombing of Gaza continues and over 1.9 million people (90% of the population) have been displaced from homes that no longer exist. Famine and disease are daily reminders of just how hopeless the situation is for Palestinians.

Most of the leaders of the civilized world have been calling for a cease fire in Gaza but their pleas and diplomatic efforts are falling on deaf ears.

It has been impossible to craft a deal acceptable to Hamas and the Netanyahu government.

The selectboard of a small town is one of the most unique aspects of democracy. There are many similarities between a selectboard member and a state representative or senator as well as a federal politician, but I think the level of accountability on the most local of levels is unique.

I have only been in the selectboard position for six months and I am trying to understand what accountability means. We have meetings where the people who live in our community can come and face us directly and question and criticize us. They have access to us by phone, e-mail and perhaps, most importantly, on the street.

We do not travel somewhere to do our political business and we engage in our community on a daily basis. People learn to recognize us and feel comfortable engaging in conversation whenever they see us. This is about as pure as democracy gets.

Dear Brattleboro Voter,

You will be receiving an absentee ballot in the mail for the November 5, 2024, General Election. The State of Vermont will be mailing ballots during the week of September 23. The local Justice of the Peace ballot will be on the reverse side. 

If you have not received your ballot by October 7, please contact our office at 802-251-8157 or townclerk@brattleboro.gov. Otherwise, please wait for your ballot to arrive.

It seemed like the Democrats were facing a gamble that might not be worth taking. Could Joe Biden really beat Trump after so many of his party allies called for him to step down? The problems that he displayed were clearly not going away and they provided too much fuel for a vindictive opponent to burn a candidate at the stake.

Biden did something that Trump would never do. He looked at the situation objectively and listened to a lot of people and he put his own needs aside and made a decision that was best for the country. The real embodiment of what it means to be a mensch and a true patriot.

Now we have Kamala Harris as the heir apparent. I was never really excited about the possibility of a Harris run for president but when Biden made his announcement I felt a sudden sense of relief. I felt a level of hopefulness that I have not experienced from politics in a long time. This reaction surprised me.

Ian Goodnow should become the next state representative from Brattleboro District 9 because he is the right person at the right place at the right time. The 32 year old Brattleboro lawyer has already proven that he has extremely effective leadership skills serving on the Brattleboro selectboard for four years, two of those as chair. Anyone who has been elected and then re-elected to office has earned the trust of his constituents and that is one of the many reasons why I am voting for him.

Ian represents a generation that does not have enough presence in the statehouse. If we are to remain a vibrant state that is responsive to the needs of the long future ahead for this state then we must elect people who are part of the emerging social and economic fabric of communities.