Letters to the Editor - The Lakeville Journal - 6-11-20

How have we gone astray? Let me count the ways.

We’ve traded public good for private gain.

Let forests fall, let acid rain.

Let media supposed to liberate

Voice resentment, rage, and hate.

We’ve traded science for pleasanter views.

Replaced knowledge with false news.

For climate change we’ve no solution;

We’ve blown through every resolution.

We’ve let families, fleeing murder and despair,

Fester in detention, mothers here, their children there.

We’ve let corporate profit be the ruling creed,

Promoting envy, pride, and greed,

Believing all the money made

Will trickle down to cooks and maids.

As for racial maters, let me explain,

It is us versus them all over again.

Justice has not rolled down like waters.

We’ve betrayed our sons and daughters.

Left a legacy of fear and division.

How does that match Martin’s vision?

This road we’ve travelled is not good.

It’s led us to a dark, dark, wood.

It is time to find another way,

Where truth and justice have their say.

Lyn Mattoon  

Sharon

Journal editorial inaccurate and misleading

In contrast to the detailed reporting provided by The Lakeville Journal concerning the Supreme Court decision, the editorial comments made in this weeks’ Journal are both inaccurate and misleading. As far as the Planning and Zoning Commission is concerned the Court has clarified our authority to regulate the RE Zone (including Lime Rock Park) in the same manner that we regulate all other uses, public and private, within Salisbury.   

This is not back to where we started at all. Far from it. Words matter, and it’s offensive to refer to any citizen, group, or problem to be “at the feet of the Planning and Zoning Commission.” Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was our practice to invite people to sit at the table with us, to level the playing field, to have a conversation about the needs and concerns of our citizens. We are a small town, we value civility, collegiality, and access to our local decision-makers. This is in stark contrast to many other communities where one has to stand to address a seated commission.  

Finally, as I have stated in several newspaper interviews, the primary “interested parties” are but two, the Track and its neighbors.  While anyone is welcome to voice an opinion at our meetings, the Track and its abutting neighbors are the ones who will determine the future of Sunday racing.  

Indeed, the Track and the neighbors (but not the Planning and Zoning Commission) are the parties in a separate nuisance lawsuit that has established the permissible race times at the Track since a judgment in that case was first entered in 1959. The Planning and Zoning Commission has stated on several occasions that if these two parties reach an agreement on this matter, we will amend our regulations to accommodate that agreement.  

This letter is being sent to you in my capacity as Chairman of the Salisbury PZC and has been approved by our members as representing our collective position.

Michael W. Klemens, 

Chairman

For the Salisbury Planning and Zoning 

Commission

Salisbury

A remembrance of a brave neighbor

Some remember the late Robert Chatfield as the morning host of a local radio show and some as an assistant athletics coach at Housatonic Valley Regional High School.  

I never knew Bob well, but in 1994 I came to know him, however briefly, as a man much braver than I. Because of the circumstances — the responsibility Bob took from my shoulders one evening — I have never forgotten him. In the wake of George Floyd’s death and the protests, I write to pay tribute to Chatfield’s life, a life that still matters to me, though Robert died three years ago.

There was racial strife at the high school. Bob, I and other concerned citizens living in the Northwest Corner volunteered to try to help resolve the problems.  

Toward the end of the school year, a group of white students, the so-called “The Red Bandana Gang,” clashed violently and repeatedly with a small group of black students after the girlfriend of one of the white boys started dating one of the African-Americans. The racial clashes earned nationwide media coverage. The high school and the Northwest Corner would be in tumult and turmoil for months.

Administrators, students, teachers, outside consultants and concerned private citizens met, discussed and formulated until, at least for Robert and me, one meaningful decision was arrived at by our committee: Bob and I, over a weekend, would interview the parents of the four most seriously involved white students. We would then report back with the parents’ explanation for what their children were alleged to have done.

I volunteered for this because, as the owner-operator of a group home for boys in Cornwall over seven years, I fielded African-American students to Cornwall Consolidated School and the high school. It was supposed that I had some expertise, but I was more than a little apprehensive about what Bob and I volunteered to do that weekend.

Have I mentioned that Bob was African-American? As I recall, Robert was one of only two African-Americans on our committee. The other was a mother. Vice Principal Brooks was the one African-American administrator at the high school. There were no black teachers other than Assistant Coach Chatfield.

Bob and I were set to phone the families to make appointments for interviews, but when I telephoned my two sets of parents, they told me Bob had not only already telephoned them, he had met with them, interviewed all four families and met with their sons.

At the followup meeting, after Bob had written our report and I had thanked him, I asked Bob why he had “gone it alone” with those people. His answer made sense. Some years earlier he had attempted to establish a pickup and delivery business in Waterbury and had himself been harassed by white competitors for his routes until they had ruined his business. There had been nothing he could do then, but in our present circumstance he had felt able to act and had wanted to confront the white families alone.

Wm. Earl Brecher

West Cornwall

To read an article and editorial about the incident that Brecher is referring to, go to The Lakeville Journal archive online through the Scoville Memorial Library: https://bit.ly/37aEL6K and https://bit.ly/2UlDogg.

America needs to be safe and welcoming for all

Our country and our communities are in the midst of a reckoning—one that is rooted in racial injustice and horrific, systemic violence against people of color. We grieve with the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and the numerous named and unnamed black and brown Americans who have been killed — too often by police — as a result of bigotry and racism. We grieve with all people who are suffering during this devastating time in our nation’s history. We support the many peaceful protests demanding racial justice and also know we must do so much more.

We live in an unequal America, unmoored from its founding principles of equal rights and protections, with leaders who foster hate and division. This must change or the country we love will be lost. We don’t know all the steps that must be taken on the path ahead of us — equal protection for all has been long promised but never delivered. We do know a place to begin. We must listen to the people who want to fix the system that works so unjustly and often so violently against them, heal the wounds of hate, and forge a more perfect union that is inclusive, welcoming, and safe for everyone.

Jill Drew and Linda Neiberg, on behalf of the 

Sharon Democratic Town Committee

Sharon

Can’t wait to get outside

A very big thank you to Stacey Dodge, Lisa McAuliffe, and everyone who has worked so hard these last months and weeks to ensure The Grove in Lakeville could open and function safely this summer. Thank you for bringing some joy and normalcy to many of the area’s children (and adults!) who have been cooped up for months.

My children cannot wait to get back in the lake. Thank you!

Nonie Brzyski

Lakeville

Lime Rock Park, a business that’s part of local history

The state Supreme Court made a ruling on racetracks, racing on Sundays, and towns being regulated. So, what does this mean? Simply put it does not mean racetracks are prevented from operating on Sundays. It means that local zoning commissions can make determinations on when races can be held. This in and of itself is not the travesty. It actually makes sense.

What would be a travesty is if Salisbury’s Planning and Zoning Commission decided to prevent Lime Rock Park from holding Sunday races. But, they probably will. Too often in the past our zoning commission has sided with people who have bought a second home or recently moved to our area to the detriment of local businesses. Two examples are Lakeville Printing and Decker’s Laundry. In both instances, people bought houses near these businesses and decided they did not like the business being there. In both instances the companies had been operating for decades and were forced to shut down. 

In the case of Lime Rock Park, it is a racetrack with race cars. These cars make noise. The only entities that are impacted by this are Trinity Church and Music Mountain. These two places have been around at least as long as the racetrack, if not longer. I do not believe any of the people who live in Lime Rock and are complaining have lived here that long. So, to them I say, you moved in near a racetrack that has been around here longer than you — it makes noise — you knew this when you moved here. I realize that to many of these new residents the locals and the local businesses are a necessary evil. You like us to mow your lawns, teach your children, repair, and build your homes, and all the sundry things that you either do not want to do or you cannot do. As long as there are fine restaurants and people to provide services for you, you do not care about the local economy.

I grew up in this town. The face of this town has changed and not in a good way. Do not get me wrong, not all of the new residents are bad. Rather, only a handful or two. There are many new residents who do great things to support local businesses by standing up for them. It is really too bad that the other new residents won’t embrace what has existed in this area for decades before them and accept it. I find it outright disgusting that people move to the area and then complain about businesses near them. I truly hope that for once the zoning commission will side with a local business instead of a group of wealthy individuals who want the “historic” Salisbury.  

To them I say — if you want the truly historic Salisbury, we will need to take down all of the trees, fill the air with smoke from the kilns, and start up the iron industry.  

Kevin McGivern

Salisbury