Letters to the Editor (6/4/25)

‘Incremental’ Means ‘More’

[Re “Taxing Dilemma: A Bill Meant to Fund Housing Infrastructure Collides With the Need to Protect School Funding,” May 28]: Sen. Emilie Kornheiser is concerned that tax increment financing would be used by too many developers. Does that mean she is concerned developers would build too much housing? Or is she assuming these housing developments would be happening anyway?

Well, Sen. Kornheiser, then where are these housing development projects now? Why aren’t they happening? They aren’t happening because they aren’t economically viable. TIF financing helps make them viable.

“Incremental” means “more.” Developers and municipalities across the state will access more development money that they otherwise couldn’t find and build more houses that otherwise wouldn’t exist. Abundance!

The incremental tax revenue from these houses would never have gone to the education fund in the first place. No harm done to the education fund. More housing will be built that Vermonters need, which means more of other tax revenues to the state, more consumer demand and more development of our workforce.

Kornheiser must know this, but it doesn’t match with her absolutist ideology. It seems that, in Kornheiser’s view, if the very few projects that would’ve happened anyway benefit, then the very many houses that wouldn’t otherwise be built shouldn’t be. That’s like opposing an entire social safety net because one undeserving person might be on benefits.

When it comes time to remember which of our elected representatives are entrenching our housing crisis, I hope every voter in Brattleboro holds Kornheiser accountable and votes her out of office.

Jonny Adler

Stowe

‘Don’t Bite the Hand’

[Re “Food Fight: Plans to Relocate a Free Lunch Program in Burlington Just Got Messier,” May 28]: There is an old saying, “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.” Burlington is and has been a very generous and tolerant community. I find it very sad that recipients of that tolerance and generosity express such vitriol toward the community that is working hard to support them.

wDowntown is economically struggling. It doesn’t seem like those who benefit from businesses’ support recognize that when business declines there will be no more money to fund services they rely on.

I would like to think that the mayor and the city council would understand that the Church Street Marketplace’s success benefits the social services. And its decline would end them.

Brooke Hadwen

Burlington

Fun With Puzzles

[Re Feedback: “Thoroughly Puzzled,” March 12; “Puzzle Pieces,” March 26; “Clue-less,” May 21]: In the past month or so, I have seen several letters to the editor complaining about my favorite part of Seven Days: the crossword puzzles.

Here’s the thing: They’re not supposed to be easy; they are supposed to be challenging. I have been doing the crosswords almost every week for the past several years. Sometimes I can complete them in a few hours, but I frequently can’t because I’m not familiar with a foreign language or a celebrity name. The point is, it’s a game and you don’t always win. That’s life. You win some and you lose some, but it was fun playing.

Regarding the May 7 issue, which seemed to frustrate Rachelle Rodriguez of Greensboro: I was not able to complete the puzzle either, because several of the clues were real eye-rollers to me, too. FYI, “OTOH” is “on the other hand,” and yes, that’s “conversely” to a texter. Maybe you never heard of it before, so now you have learned something and can text that to one of your friends.

You need to think outside the box of the normal parameters of your experience to finish these puzzles, but that’s what makes them fun.

Melyssa Bailey

St. Albans

‘Stick With It’

[Re Feedback: “Clue-less,” May 21]: I want to offer some encouragement to Rachelle Rodriguez and others like her who struggle with the Seven Days crosswords. Doing crosswords is like any endeavor: Stick with it, and you’ll get better with time. They get much easier once you master the difference between AGRA and ACCRA; get minimally fluent in text-speak (IMHO, BRB, OTOH); and make new friends like ENYA, ERTE, Ernie ELS and IDRIS ELBA.

Michael Quaid

Williston

Don’t Cut Counselor

Alison Novak’s [“South Burlington Educators Clash With School Board, Superintendent,” April 18, online] raises issues of freedom of speech and personal interests.

Regarding free speech, the article describes how the attempt by school counselor Aquilas Lokossou to speak at the school board meeting “was cut short by the board because he tried to discuss an ‘ongoing personnel matter’ involving superintendent Violet Nichols.”

Yet the superintendent then spoke about that very situation. The article states, “Her comments appeared to violate legal counsel [Joe] McNeil’s directive to refrain from discussing the situation publicly.” But the article does not report that the board interrupted the superintendent.

Moreover, even if the superintendent were right that Lokossou had influenced students, personal interest is certainly not the only possible reason for this alleged act. For example, is there not a deeply adverse effect on students, particularly Black students, when a school counselor, particularly a Black school counselor such as Lokossou, is terminated? If the effect on students is not good, the allegation of mere personal interest fades.

Furthermore, even if a cut in school spending is mandatory, choices of how to cut are available. For example, there is the choice for a high-paid administrator, like the superintendent, to take a cut in salary. In that light, isn’t it possible to allege that the act to instead terminate a counselor who directly serves students was for the personal interest of the administrator?

James Leas

South Burlington

Calling Phil Scott

Gov. Phil Scott, where are you?

I heard your voice daily during the COVID-19 pandemic. You were a comfort.

I heard your voice during Vermont’s severe storms and flooding disasters. You were a reassurance.

Vermonters need you to speak out against the administration of President Donald Trump’s civil and human rights rollbacks, including the arrests and deportations of student activists and immigrants, regardless of free speech and due process. We need you to protest the massive budget cuts and firing of federal workers, incapacitating many governmental departments. But where are you now?

Instead of rising above national rhetoric, we must raise our voices against the inhumane chaos of the Trump administration.

If our state and country ever needed you, a person of power, to speak out against the increasing atrocities in the United States, we need it now.

Growing up in South Carolina, I looked to Vermont as one of the leaders of change in our country. We offer hope for many, and they look to us for it.

Mary Oliphant

Williston

Pub Praise

Congratulations to Seven Days on its amazing awards [From the Publisher “Making It Count,” April 9]! You should all feel very proud of your achievements.

While the association probably didn’t offer awards for publisher’s commentary, I have always felt that Paula Routly’s [From the Publisher: “Earth to Dad,” April 3, 2024] was her best! I believe she talked about her dad and how he taught her to have interest in the skies. It was truly a great story.

Keep up the great work. Even though I have a different perspective on some of your positions, I still look forward to reading the paper each week.

Dave Spaulding

Montpelier