Letters to the Editor (10/16/24)

Write About Nolfi

So, what happened to the promised “next week” appearance of a more complete obit for Barbara Nolfi [Life Lines, October 2]?

If her family declined or was unable to submit a paid notice, a truly local longtime editor (and certainly two local longtime publishers, ahem) should have known to assign a news story in the Local Matters section.

Barbara’s life, activism and participation in city government certainly deserve more than the too-brief, two-sentence notice published on October 2.

I am disappointed that her life and death received no other coverage in the pages of Seven Days. There would be no Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak without the groundwork done by Barbara Nolfi.

Euan Bear

Bakersfield

Editor’s note: The brief death notice referenced by the letter writer, which contained a promise for a more extensive tribute to come, was written and submitted by the survivors of the late former city councilor Barbara Nolfi. A complete death notice appears in this week’s issue. Obituaries reported and written by Seven Days staff are another matter. With a few exceptions, those “Life Stories” are published weeks or months after the subject has died; the final issue of the year contains a curated collection of memorials, mostly of extraordinary but unsung Vermonters.

Prosecutor Is Out of Line

[Re “‘Moose’ on the Loose: A Prosecutor’s Dog Is Biting People and Pets in Its Burlington Neighborhood,” September 25, online; “Prosecutor’s Dog to Be Impounded Following Bite Incident,” September 26, online; “Judge Denies Dog Owner’s Attempt to Toss Impoundment Order,” October 4, online]: Franklin County Deputy State’s Attorney Diane Wheeler is the kind of lawyer who gives lawyers a bad name. She is a prosecutor, which presumably means she knows the deference that must be given to judges and judicial orders. Yet she flaunts her distaste for the legal process by failing to appear at the hearings she asked for regarding her vicious dog.

I get that she probably loves her pet and is distraught by the thought of losing him. But she should know that ignoring court orders is not helping her cause. A man needed emergency-room services for the wounds caused by her dog. She is, in all likelihood, liable for his medical costs.

As a retired defense lawyer, I can say any criminal defendant would be amused and affronted by her declarations (e.g., “I was sick in bed” and “I’m moving out of Burlington”). These are the sorts of ploys used by defendants in criminal cases to delay cases they cannot win. She is taking a page from the book of a current presidential candidate, I think.

Barbie Alsop

Burlington

In Defense of Federal Employees

I found it jarring that the letter writer in [Feedback: “It’s About Time,” September 25] included a gratuitous sweeping insult irrelevant to his argument — to wit, “Generally, federal employees are unproductive, under-supervised and a drag on our economy.”

Such an offensive and unfounded throwaway comment does nothing to elucidate his position on the matter at hand. Indeed, such a reckless, uninformed slur ignores the facts: Federal employees are heavily vetted before they are hired; take an oath to uphold the Constitution; undergo regular, frequent performance evaluations; and pursue continuing education throughout their terms of service as they maintain up-to-date certifications and professional credentials in their fields of expertise.

It is worth noting that federal employees are your neighbors, serve in volunteer community organizations, coach youth sports teams and patronize local businesses.

Marty Scanlon

Westford

Question About No. 2?

Thank you for publishing the Seven Days Voters’ Guide 2024 [September 17]. I use it every year.

If possible, please publish some explanation about the second ballot question for the City of Burlington in 2024, which relates to oversight of the police department. I am confused about what is being proposed.

I recall ballot questions in previous years which had aimed to 1) defund the police department and/or 2) establish oversight of the police department by people who lack experience of police work.

How do the proposed changes on 2024’s ballot improve on those measures? Any clarity you can bring to this 2024 ballot question would help me a lot. Thanks in advance.

Bill Pierson

Burlington

Editor’s note: Look for Courtney Lamdin’s story about the ballot question referenced in this week’s issue.

Honor Overdue

[Re “Print Collection Celebrates 100 Years of Vermont State Parks,” September 25]: I had what I thought was a promise by Vermont Agency of Natural Resources Secretary Julie Moore to honor parks history with regular formal recognition of an outstanding employee in the name of Mollie Beattie. Beattie became the first woman leader of Vermont Forests, Parks and Recreation. Then she went on to also be the first woman to lead the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

That promise came more than six months ago. So far, Moore hasn’t delivered. Boo.

Rep. Peter Anthony

Barre City

Boys and Girls

Why does a school need to claim religious beliefs as a reason for girls refusing to compete against males in a female sporting event [“Full-Court Press: A Vermont Christian School Won’t Play Sports Against Transgender Athletes. But It Still Wants to Compete,” September 18]? When is common sense going to be a factor in these arguments?

Men cannot downgrade their whole physical biology and magically become women through surgery, drugs or by imagination. It is perfectly fine if a man wants to live his life as a woman, but he cannot erase certain physical advantages he is born with. The only discrimination taking place in these cases is to the women in prisons, locker rooms and sporting events who are being assaulted and losing safe spaces to men.

If one could magically transform between sexes, we would see equal numbers of women who have decided to live as men invading boys’ locker rooms, competing in the Olympics and demanding space in men’s prisons. It’s not happening because it’s a lie, and as long as we perpetrate this lie in our community, we are doing a disservice to our children and society.

Peter Garritano

Charlotte

More on Tom Banjo

[Re “The Ballad of Tom Banjo: From Folk Songs to Cranky Shows, Tom Azarian Is Vermont’s ‘Vagabond’ Storyteller,” October 2]: My congrats to Seven Days, Peg Tassey and “Tom Banjo” Azarian for keeping us in the banjo and cranky audience. Tom is a unique contributor to our music and folk storytelling, and it’s lovely that his performances are still available.

Back in 1988, I received a Vermont Arts Council grant to produce a cable show called “ImageMakers,” which featured folks like Dorothy Todd, Walter Ungerer, Robin Lloyd, Doreen Kraft and animator David Ehrlich. I decided to devote an episode to Tom’s music and cranky stories, which included a heart-wrenching retelling of the Armenian genocide in Turkey.

I lost the originals, but video copies went out to CCTV, Burlington Public Access and Middlebury Cable, so I hope one at least survived and could be transferred for viewing in the present.

Thanks for providing video and audio links to Tom’s new performances.

Michael Cerulli Billingsley

Plainfield

Blame This Newspaper

[Re “Downtown Dilemma: Plagued by Homelessness, Drugs and Safety Concerns, Burlington Tries to Adapt to a New Normal,” August 14]: I was born in Vermont. I have lived in actually dangerous cities. And I am disgusted, but not surprised, by Seven Days’ recent pivot to Nixonian law-and-order fearmongering, which is not a single article but a trend. From its inception, Seven Days has pursued a single goal with the dedication of a fanatic: gentrification, replacing the entire population of Vermont with a population of trust-fund millionaires who sell craft beer to each other — and who buy ads in Seven Days.

The staff of Seven Days understands how gentrification works. Rich ad buyers flood in. Housing prices skyrocket, which results in poverty, which results in higher crime. And Seven Days reports on the phenomenon without examining its own complicity or that of its cop-calling, rich, white, liberal flatlander readership.

For the record, housing construction is free. If Burlington took out a bond and built 1,000 condos, it could sell them at profit within a year. Or, I don’t know, maybe the University of Vermont could house its students.

To paraphrase John Prine, your Pride flag decal won’t get you into heaven anymore. And to directly quote a bumper sticker I saw: “Vermont sucks. Tell your rich friends.”

Colin Flood

Woodbury