Letters to the Editor- 2-28-13

Saving the postal service

Ralph Nader has some great ideas on how to save our post office, including Saturday services nationwide. You can see them online at www.nader.org.

I have a few more ideas to add, some that even conservatives will love and see the need for immediately. Here they are:

First, the definition of “national security” needs to be expanded to include personal and community security to be better protected from the likes of hurricanes, tornadoes, rain, wind and snow storms. Nor’easters even. We have spent so much money running down a few hundred third world swamp foxes with World War II guns we have no funds and no national guard left to help us when we need it most: when our homes, schools, communities and friends, families and neighbors are hurting. What to do? Take a bigger share of our national defense budget of over $1 trillion a year and:

1) pay down our national debt,

2) increase revenue sharing with cash-poor states,

3) refill FEMA and state funds to handle future natural and unnatural disasters affecting more and more cities, towns and states.

Next, we need to both save our post office, and the good people working there for us and also save ourselves. How? Simple: give the Post Office people some “Homeland Security” duties. And money. Why and what would they be doing in addition to delivering our mail? To answer these questions we need to know a few things about the terrific people working for the post office:

1) They do not drive four-wheel-drive Jeeps — probably the only people on the planet who do not.

2) Post office employees, more than anyone, know who their customers are, where they live and how to get to them, whether or not they are in need or if they are likely to be in danger from storms or from not having any heat or electricity or food.

3) And they know who our elderly and at-risk populations are and where they live.

Also, post office people do have clues about who the bad guys among us may be, which is not to say we need another police force but, at the least, our mail men and women can help communities assist at-risk elderly, disabled and other people when they need it most and when it’s unlikely others know of storm and other dangers to townspeople. Post office personnel have had, and should regain, the work they once did to make sure that if they think any of us are in danger, they — the post office people — can call for help, which is probably what they do anyway, and without any more pay or recognition.

But men and women of the post office can certainly help us better if they are better equipped and properly trained and if we pay them for their professional and personal help when needed. Imagine: spending more for postal services that are at least as important as delivering the mail — with human, transportation and other resources we only need modify and supplement a bit.

Alan DiCara

Winsted

The writer is a former Winchester selectman.

Winsted, are you listening?

Did you notice that, because the result of re-evaluation was an actual decrease in the town’s grand list ($818,214,774 to $689,132,050), the mill rate will have to be raised in order to produce the revenue generated by the previous property values? 

Winsted is already a “going nowhere” town because its citizens tend to have a negative attitude when voting on the annual budget. The cost of town operations has not decreased. It is imperative that we raise more revenue just to keep operating.

As the Department of Public Works tried to clean up after the Blizzard of 2013, several major pieces of snow removal equipment broke down.  They are old and need to be replaced.  This is just one of the results of zero budget increases over the past several years.

Dig down, Winsted citizens, and get moving!

Lucy W. Southergill

Winsted