Letters to the Editor - 9/19/24

Reward results: Harding

Steve Harding became a Connecticut State Senator two years ago and quickly became the Minority Leader. He has come to Salisbury many times and is an avid supporter of open space preservation and local lakes. His focus in Hartford has been to insist on fiscal responsibility by opposing the historic tax-and-spend agenda. Steve’s opponent, former dairy farmer Justin Potter, seems to be an honorable person, but we must vote for the candidate better able to help our community—Senator Steve Harding.

Peter Becket

Lakeville

Equus Effect thanks community

‘Man Plans….’ and so it was on Saturday, Sept. 7, for our annual event at The Equus Effect. We could not believe that the skies would open up like that, just in time. And then, we could not believe that folks actually came out to be with us in spite of the torrent of rain and wind. Thank you. What an incredible community this is. We are so honored to be a part of it, and so very grateful for your support — rain or shine!

Jane Strong

The Equus Effect

Sharon

Your vote in November matters

I am voting for Congresswoman Jahana Hayes because:

She believes in the Constitution, democracy and the Rule of Law.

She believes in a woman’s right to choose, contraception, IVF.

She believes in working across the aisle.

She believes in moving the goal posts to help our small farms in the NW Corner, protecting SNAP benefits, protecting OBAMA Care, all while bringing home almost $9 million dollars to her district.

She will protect Social Security and Medicare…not try to destroy it.

She believes that millionaires and billionaires should pay their fair share — not less than the middle class.

She does not believe that our veterans are losers and suckers — she fights for our veterans and proposed a bill to expand healthcare for veterans’ families.

She will always tell you the truth — she will never tell her staff to “deny, deny, deny.”

She believes in helping all the people in her district– not just Democrats.

You may not agree with all of Congresswoman Hayes’ policies, but know that she is highly moral, dedicated, hardworking and most importantly true to her oath. She will always listen to your view points. Rep. Hayes is like you — she struggled to get to where she is today. She will defend the rights that are important to all of us – the right to peaceful protest, a women’s right to choose, voting rights, and more.

It’s up to you. Don’t sit on the sidelines and say I could never vote for someone not in my party. Put country over party. Be assured, you will wake up one day to find that your rights are slowly diminishing, and you will then ask yourself why didn’t I become more informed? Why didn’t I vote?

This election will determine what happens to you, your children, your grandchildren, your friends, and your family. We need to move forward, not back. You still have time to get informed about the issues important to all of us.

Marlene Woodman

Sharon

Issues that led to ‘Save the Rail Trail’ still present

Like Shasta daisies, yard signs sprouted last May in Salisbury and Lakeville. They carried a “Save the Rail Trail” message. The issues that led to the signs have not disappeared.

Those who display the yard signs, in harmony with many neighbors around our community, are ardent supporters of the Rail Trail. Thus, we were stunned to read a recommendation in a February 2024 study prepared for local government by the consulting company Collins Engineering and Design. The company advised paving over the northern tier of the Trail to allow “vehicular” access to the Pope property. That property is on Salmon Kill Road near its intersection with Highway 41/44 and is a possible location for affordable housing.

Collins recommended two-way automobile traffic across the current pedestrian bridge over the Wachocastinook Brook. Bicycle and pedestrian passage would be reduced to a narrow ribbon of land, cheek-by-jowl with cars.

Subsequently, officials have said this trail-paving project will never occur; that this notion is the product of gossip, rumor, and horseback speculation offered at a gallop. Yet a recent Plan of Conservation and Development report, entitled Sustainable Salisbury, has raised anew the prospect of a paved road across the Brook (p. 24).

It is precisely this notion of a paved road on the Trail that gave birth to the yard sign movement. Further concerns grew out of a government committee on the proposed housing development at the Pope site. In its “Schema No. 6” design, the panel recommended the construction of 64 housing units on the property. More than half of these structures extend into the Salisbury Historic District that runs adjacent to the Rail Trail and is one of the few green spaces left in the village.

Such high-density housing would concentrate units together in a confined area. One of the results: each day, scores of cars and trucks would spill onto narrow Salmon Kill Road and the proposed paved road over the Wachocastinook. The current pedestrian bridge would have to be widened and strengthened, at the cost of well over a million dollars. Unacceptable traffic congestion would occur at the intersection of Salmon Kill and Highway 41/44, without even the benefit of a stop light (prohibited on this State highway).

In contrast, if the housing units—which are much needed in our community, no question about that—were dispersed not only on the Pope land but to additional parcels of land in our area, we could retain our rural setting and provide less packed, more humane living conditions for new residents. This “scattering” of affordable housing in communities is the approach preferred by planners throughout the United States, rather than an “urban” design that groups new housing closely together into one overloaded site.

Let us forge a community consensus on a better local approach to affordable housing. We can achieve the worthy goals of new lower-cost homes, while at the same time protect the Rail Trail and the green Historic District, as well as maintain traffic and pedestrian safety.

Loch Johnson

Salisbury

The author is a member of the Salisbury Village Improvement Coalition (SVIC), but these observations are presented in his capacity as a private citizen.

Farm support is important

Both Donald Trump and the Republican plan Project 2025 want to boost fossil fuel drilling in the future and to negate all progress toward fighting climate change. Project 2025 wants to downsize the EPA, the Environmental Protection Agency. Their plan means nullifying Biden’s executive orders to mitigate climate change and reducing the Inflation Reduction Act which is the biggest investment in clean energy in history.

If elected, George Logan, running for Congress, would join his Republican colleagues to push this Republican agenda. He says he would vote independently but after accepting support from the Republican National Committee, like so many other colleagues in Congress, he would have to follow his Party’s line. The Republican plan, Project 2025, lists ending the “safety nets” like the Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) for farms, and ending the Price Lost Coverage (PLC), and reducing farm crop insurance.

As a child, Highfield Farm delivered milk and cream every day to my house in the woods. As an adult, I watched the dairy farm across the street decide to sell their prize herd of cows and stop production. Jahana Hayes, our Congresswoman, is a ranking member on the House Agricultural Committee, she backs farms and farmers in the 5th District. She supports ARC and PLC. Crop insurance protects farmers from the dramatic weather fluctuations, including floods and droughts we see from climate change. Price supports are important for dairy farms. Farm products are a huge part of the U.S. export market, and Americans need to feed ourselves.

Re-electing Jahana Hayes is so important for she will continue to work to create laws to mitigate climate change and to protect American agriculture no matter what the climate throws at us.

Lizbeth Piel

Sharon