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The session has come and gone and while some inroads were made in Montpelier this winter and spring there is still a lot of work to do. Let’s review the work list that should be priority one.
Affordability How much can the vast majority of Vermonters take? A tax increase on your property of 15%? An impending bill to raise the cost of heating oil by 70 cents? Our local prime property purchased by out of staters while locals cannot afford the massive prices accelerated over the last four years. We are pricing out our native Vermont sons and daughters to the point where many have to choose between food bills or fuel. This cannot sustain for long as many Vermonters are stretched to the limit. That is not the way we should have to live. That has to be priority one for House and Senate members. EMT, Fireman, Police Force, Border Patrol They run towards danger for the sake of our citizens. Don’t say there is no money when millions are wasted on junk bills and repeated studies on obvious problems. We spend Vermont tax dollars in this state on too many studies to figure out how to spend more money. What’s more important? Having an EMT rescue you from a crashed vehicle? Fireman saving your house and possessions when it’s totally engulfed in flames? Defending you from various criminals from drug dealers to burglars to thugs? These people save our lives, give them what they want and more importantly what they need. Schools It now costs more to send a student to a Vermont school averaging over $27,000.00 per student. This state has less students than they did decades ago. But with thousands of less students we pay millions more. We have to find a way to pay these educators that does not swamp the average taxpayer. Teaching our youth is a noble task and I commend anyone who is in the education field. I also believed they should be paid well for their efforts. We have a lot of outstanding teachers in Orleans County. Those educators that believe in our young people and support them in becoming the best learners and best citizens they can be. Those teachers are a prized part of our society. The public should be behind these teachers 100 per cent. In our area we have been fortunate to have some outstanding schools. United Christian Academy in Newport has paved a solid path of learning since they opened. North Country Union High school is smaller from 1200 students a few decades back to under 700 now and are led by the 2023 State of Vermont Principle of the year Chris Young so it’s clear they are in good hands. Lake Region UHS has placed among the top ten state schools several times in the last decade, a testament to Andre Messier and his staff and their performance. The big statewide picture needs some work but in our neck of woods in Orleans County our schools have performed very well. The price of all services always goes up. Lets just find some ways to fund those needed increases and take more of the burden off local taxpayers. Cell Service-Wi-Fi It’s gotten better but if you live in an area where cell service is spotty like I do, you need a booster to get your computer up to full speed you know what I mean. Orleans County has many dead zones to this day. Finish the darn job. Today. Housing This affects a very large number of Green Mountain state residents. The average Vermonter makes $33,000.00 a year. The average family makes $67,000.00 a year before taxes. Houses these days average $233,000.00 each and that seems to be a low estimate in 2024. Couple that with mortgage rates up to 9% on a 30 year mortgage and you have the perfect storm. The average Vermonter’s age is 43. That makes it virtually impossible for young people as a whole to afford a new home. Maybe you can find a fixer upper for 150K in the country. The current bill H.687 which is an act 250 reform proposal will further hamper Rural Development and make you find housing in towns, villages or our small cities. Not everyone wants to live in a crowded area. That’s not the type of reform Vermonters need. We have a beautiful state and ideals that generational Vermonters want preserved. They do not want themselves, their children and grandchildren forced out of housing, or jobs or the best schools. The Vermont way of life is worth fighting for. These five issues are just a few that need immediate attention. We have to start somewhere and start right now.
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The story is becoming a broken record. A young male in his twenties moves into the state generally seeking drug buying customers. That person enlists the help of a young woman either in her late teens or early twenties as a girlfriend but more of a person to provide a home base.
From there the visitor feeds the addiction and has the young girl enlist several friends who will sell the product usually to support their own habit. Within a year all are severely addicted except for the dealer and generally someone will die while working for the dealer either via an overdose or violence. I think all residents of Orleans County would agree enough is enough. It’s time for a strong arm approach to this menace. Forget the idea of having an injection site. They have been proven to never work and just serve as a place for addicts to hang out and ply their trade. Our local state police, county sheriffs and city police forces are smart but under financed and under equipped to handle the wave of drug crime. They are further impeded by soft judges that grant bail the day after they are arrested. Let’s get serious here. Get more financing for local equipment and manpower for law enforcement. The towns of Orleans County should use more local sheriff and state police patrols of local law enforcement for businesses and law abiding residents 24-7. When a bust happens or an arrest, keep these idiots locked up and impose severe penalties to the maximum level of the written law to contain the problem. No injection sites and more counseling centers and education units. And most of all incarcerate the offenders. Some just do not respond to counseling. They will respond to jail time and while in jail can get cleaned up. There is a bill in the Vermont general assembly to jail a person for 10 years for selling 1000 doses of fentanyl. Now that sounds like a deterrent. I speak to many individuals in the law enforcement profession regularly. They know who most of these criminals are. They need our help to enforce the capture and corralling of these drug houses which, sadly enough, we have in every town. In some cases all they need is a solid lead and they can do the rest. Law abiding Local citizens need to stand up and report illegal activities when they see them and not look the other way. And while out of state and region dealers command the most attention there are plenty of local dealers as well in Orleans County and for the most part, neighbors and folks living near them know who they are. They are committing the robbery crimes to maintain their habit through stealing from local folks. Working together as residents with local law enforcement is the most direct and immediately effective way to curb this scourge. We need to help the local law help us. Now. Before it’s way too late. Thanks for your time. I think that term limits in politics should be looked at more closely than they have in years. While I do believe some individuals are still effective after a long run, most are clearly not.
Incumbents dominate elections. You just get used to voting for the same name and unless that person has clearly improved the area’s level of life, new blood can be positive. Term limits would break up that monopoly. Participation is increased with more voter turnout. As long as new locals run for office the public gets new choices and better choices as well in many cases. And I do not mean transplants from other states that do not like where they have been and then try to change Vermont to be similar to where they came from. That happens all the time. We have a lot more than enough of that in the Green Mountain state already. Lets face it, career politicians have experience enriching themselves in some cases as well as their cronies. And leaders under term limits who are close to their constituents ensure a return to their home where they are subject to the laws they helped get passed, not still in office. With term limits less corruption with lobbyists takes place and lawmakers know they have been sent to do a job and have a set amount of time to get that done. Instead of trying slowly over decades trying to build enough support to pass bills a sense of urgency would take place moving along the slow process of change. Unfortunately do not count on many incumbents to make real change to the status quo. After all, it would take away the cushy environment that has been created. And the longer you have been there the less likely you will make a serious move to change the law. And as I’ve said before, after ten years if you have not improved the region for your fellow man and woman you probably are not very good at your job. You’ve had your chance and it’s time to move along. Ask your local Representative today what they are most proud of during their time in office. If you don’t like the answer, refocus your allegiance when you go to the polls. With that said, I also know there are exceptions. I witnessed one this week. After 46 years in Montpelier Senator Bobby Starr has called it a career. A very well liked man in the state house who helped both sides of the asle. The way politics should be. They don’t make them like that anymore. Best of luck in retirement sir and thank you for a job very well done. Thanks for your time. |
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