WOODBURY – I’m writing to speak from my heart about the terrible human toll of Act 181, the major overhaul of Vermont’s land-use system that’s threatening to destroy the lives of so many rural Vermonters. My husband of 48 years has Alzheimer’s. I have become both husband and wife in our duties[Read More…]
Another Opinion
This year was going to be a challenge
HARDWICK – When I was asked to be town moderator, I immediately said yes. Town Meeting Day is my favorite day of the year, of course I will step up when asked to serve my community. I knew enough of Robert’s Rules to accept the challenge and then spent days[Read More…]
The absurd push for school consolidation
CABOT – Dear Governor Scott, Secretary Saunders and Vermont State Legislators: I am a retired educator, with 40 years’ experience in teaching and leadership roles. I don’t understand how you can continue this absurd push for school consolidation: creating huge districts, closing small schools, mandating class sizes, imposing spending[Read More…]
For whom the bill tolls: property taxes are killing Greensboro
GREENSBORO – Town select boards pore over municipal budgets line by line for weeks. The town budget process is difficult and time-consuming, but it isn’t complicated. There are revenues and there are expenses. School budgets are different. Vermont’s Education Funding Formula has become so complex that most school board members[Read More…]
The first 72 hours matter most
HARDWICK – In emergency management, there is a phrase that comes up often: the first 72 hours. It refers to the period immediately after a major event, when outside help may be delayed, systems are disrupted, and communities must rely largely on what they already have. For Hardwick, it is[Read More…]
As we become unmoored
GREENSBORO – The United States has had more than its share of moral failure. From the Trail of Tears to the My Lai massacre there is plenty for us to be ashamed of. But with our democratic institutions, our Constitutional rights and the power of dissent, for 250 years, we[Read More…]
At the crossroads of too many lines
HARDWICK – One of the less visible parts of running a town like Hardwick is how many different regional systems overlap here. On paper, Vermont looks neatly divided into counties and regions. In practice, especially in this corner of the state, those lines rarely line up in ways that make[Read More…]
After the buyout: standing in the in-between
HARDWICK – Recently, I spent a bitterly cold afternoon walking through several flood-impacted sites in Hardwick with a group of University of Vermont students. They are enrolled in a course on climate adaptation and are thinking about what towns manage after buyouts are complete. We were standing in places where[Read More…]
Kicking the tax can
TURENNE, France – Some school districts are experiencing sticker shock heading into town meeting. Their projected tax increases for the next school year seem out of line with their proposed spending increases. A few different things can cause this, but one big factor was the Legislature’s decision last year to[Read More…]
The Little School in Calais
by Jennifer Bliss There’s a little school in Calais town, With creaky doors and swings worn down. Not lots of kids in every class, Some desks empty as days go past. They count the numbers — one, two, three. “Not many students,” they say sadly. “Maybe it’s time to close the doors, There[Read More…]
River corridor mapping to break cycles of repeated damage
HARDWICK, GREENSBORO – Over the past few years, towns in the Lamoille River watershed have spent a great deal of time and money repairing roads, stabilizing riverbanks, replacing culverts and helping residents recover from flood damage. In many cases, those problems were not caused by water sitting in fields or[Read More…]
A more affordable energy future for Vermont
The cheapest energy is the energy we don’t use. This simple fact has guided Efficiency Vermont for over two decades. It remains critical for Vermont’s energy future. As Efficiency Vermont plans for the years ahead, we’re listening to feedback from Vermonters. Our latest three-year proposal to the Vermont Public Utility[Read More…]
