Letters to the Editor (3/5/25)

Being Homeless Is Humiliating

[Re “Exposed,” February 5]: I’m struggling to survive as a homeless person living in my car. It’s a humiliating experience, stripping me of my dignity and sense of belonging in the community. Despite being a small business owner, I feel like an outcast.

Finding safe parking is a daily challenge. I’ve had terrifying encounters, including an incident at a rest stop near Waterbury where a naked man assaulted me. I’ve also experienced harassment from other drivers and individuals while trying to sleep.

Even when I’ve obtained permission to park, I’ve faced problems. At one location, I suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning, and my 74-year-old mother, who has been in and out of the hospital, was also affected.

Recently, I was treated horribly and illegally by the police, and I’m in the process of filing a complaint. This experience has eroded my trust of and respect for law enforcement.

Being homeless is expensive, with costs adding up for gas, food and car maintenance. It’s difficult to save and get back on my feet. I feel like I don’t belong, and the lack of compassion and support from authorities makes it harder.

Not all homeless individuals struggle with addiction, crime or incarceration. Many, like me, are simply stuck due to circumstances beyond our control. Our government must address the root causes of homelessness, including inadequate housing and restrictive laws like Act 250.

We need to invest in affordable housing solutions, such as tiny houses and micro-apartments, to help people get back on their feet. It’s more cost-effective to support those in need than to leave them on the streets.

I’m calling on our community to show compassion and understanding. We need to recognize that homelessness can happen to anyone and that we all deserve a chance to rebuild our lives.

I’m not sure how much longer I can hold on. I hope that by sharing my story, I can inspire change and encourage our leaders to take action.

Sequoyah Peace

Burlington

Musk Doesn’t ‘Belong’ in Story

While I appreciate the focus on Dr. Mel Houser’s important work in the neurodivergent community in [“Meeting of Minds: All Brains Belong Provides Neurodivergent People With Health Care, Education and Social Connections,” January 15], I found the comparison to Elon Musk at the end of the piece deeply troubling.

Speaking as an autistic patient in the All Brains Belong community, I am dismayed to see Musk, a figure whose public actions and statements have caused significant harm to autistic and other neurodivergent people, compared to Houser. Musk has repeatedly dismissed neurodivergent experiences, belittling our struggles and reducing autism to a caricature. Musk uses his own autistic expressions as an excuse for racist, repugnant behavior without apology, and his ongoing attacks on the trans community also contribute to the harm he is causing to marginalized groups, further perpetuating harmful stereotypes about gender and neurodivergence.

Dr. Houser is committed to creating neuro-affirming health care that values the diverse experiences of autistic individuals while prioritizing compassion and understanding. Comparing them to Musk, who often alienates and dismisses the very communities Houser seeks to support, undermines the important work All Brains Belong is doing to build a more inclusive world for neurodivergent people.

I respectfully request that the mention of Musk be redacted from this article. Despite his successful achievements in business, his actions and attitudes do not align with the values of the neurodivergent community, and such comparisons distract from the meaningful progress being made by autistic professionals like Houser, who are truly working to improve the lives of autistic and neurodivergent individuals.

Amy Noyes

Plainfield

Not the Only Winners

It was grand to see the soccer Cats’ victory parade on Burlington’s Church Street [“Year of the Dogs,” January 29]. They are in good company. The University of Vermont’s Lawrence Debate Union has been collecting national titles since 1950, when Richard O’Connell and future lieutenant governor Thomas Hayes won the national debate tournament at West Point. Burlington honored them with a parade down Main Street aboard a fire truck and a large ceremonial key to the city.

The Cats next roared in 1967, when Carl Lisman and Nicholas Danigelis were first at Delta Sigma Rho nationals. Those wins under legendary coach Robert “Doc” Huber established UVM’s reputation as a national leader, attracting debaters and grad students from far and wide. Huber’s successor, the renowned debate missionary Alfred “Tuna” Snider, led UVM to global ranking in international competition.

Most recently, under head coach Helen Morgan Parmett, Lawrence Debate Union teams won three national titles in 2016 at the Cross Examination Debate Association nationals (Taylor Brough and Khalil Lee), Social Justice Debates in 2024 (Rachel Kussick and Maggie Pierce), and the Yaatly Online Debate League in 2024 (Rachel Kussick and Bridget Grew).

Nominally in the English department, Lawrence Debate Union contributes to UVM’s national brand by demonstrating excellence in the humanities and social sciences.

Samuel Press

Burlington

Thank Baird for Bike Path

I’m so sorry to hear of Sandy Baird’s passing. She contributed so much to our community, as noted in the press [Feedback: “Losing Sandy,” February 19; Life Lines: Sandra “Sandy” Baird, 1940-2025, February 18; “Sandy Baird, Fierce Advocate and Lawyer, Dies at 84,” February 10, online]. Few remember her contribution to the Burlington waterfront.

My fondest memory of Sandy is from the battle to save the Burlington waterfront from the Alden Plan in 1985. Alden would have covered the filled land just north of College Street with a luxury hotel and two aboveground parking structures for 1,200 cars. Then-mayor Bernie Sanders was the leading proponent of Alden. Peter Clavelle was his director of community and economic development, promoting the plan.

Initially, the opposition to the Alden Plan consisted of a very small group of radical left environmentalists in the Green Party, Bea Bookchin and myself. Sandy and Maurice Mahoney, both former Burlington city councilors, and then-city councilor Paul Lafayette joined the opposition, giving the “no” vote credibility in the political arena leading up to the critical vote on December 10, 1985.

Alden needed a two-thirds vote for a $6 million bond backed by the city. We held the proponents to 54 percent. That stretch of the waterfront is now used for volleyball games with the bike path under a tree-lined canopy instead.

Sandy was one of a very small group of people that saved the waterfront from the Alden development. I’ll think of Sandy whenever I tread that stretch of the bike path.

Rick Sharp

Colchester

Words to Live By

I first met Frank Murray, whose recent obituary remembers his “commitment to justice,” in 1976 [Life Lines, February 6]. Back then, he was state’s attorney and we were writing a story for the Vermont Times Journal on crime in Chittenden County.

Here are a few of Frank’s salient points. They are especially timely today:

1) Our No. 1 priority should be “protection of the public.”

2) Way too often, the criminal justice system “fails to meet the needs of victims.”

3) “Two-thirds of serious crimes are committed by just 6 percent of the population. Police, prosecutors and courts must work closely together to identify and deal with hard-core, habitual career offenders.” Sorry to say, but these people most often “cannot be rehabilitated.” Letting them go free without consequences is an “invitation to more crime and harm to innocent people.”

4) To protect the community, these people “must be separated from society” during their peak criminal years.

There are lessons in Frank Murray’s words that need to be relearned by his successors in our current criminal justice system.

Jack Scully

Colchester

H.74 Helps Seniors

Kudos to Seven Days writer Anne Wallace Allen for her article on the challenges retired seniors face in Vermont [“Green Mountain Stakes: Taxes and a High Cost of Living Make Vermont an Expensive Place to Grow Old,” January 22]!

Allen mentioned legislation pending, and that is H.74, which over eight years would phase out Vermont’s practice of taxing Social Security benefits as income in many tax brackets. (My hope is that it takes less than eight years and that income caps are raised to help even more seniors so I may be in the Land of the Living to see such tax benefits.)

Seniors have worked hard to support themselves, their families and their communities. Many senior homeowners still pay a disproportionate amount in Vermont education taxes – as in, way too much — generation after generation.

Plus, many seniors get slapped with Vermont tax penalties just as they are adjusting to retirement and the resulting lower income. There is no perfect tax formula to match a lowering income during the transition into retirement!

H.74 as drafted is not perfect, but it needs support by seniors and all of us. Please contact your representatives and urge them to support H.74. No one wants to be dependent on government programs. Montpelier needs to cut taxes and government spending and let us live within our means.

H.74 will help more Vermont seniors retire with dignity.

Robert “Bob” Devost

Jericho

It’s a ‘Coup’

[Re “Vermont Orgs Announce Layoffs, Cutbacks After Funding Freeze,” January 31]: Elon Musk, a private, unelected individual enabled by President Donald Trump and his new Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, now has access to private, privileged, sensitive information such as our Social Security checks, tax refunds and Medicare benefits. I not only share the concerns of other seniors and disabled individuals but I am also asking Vermont’s U.S. senators, Bernie Sanders and Peter Welch, and Attorney General Charity Clark to commence a class-action lawsuit on our behalf against such blatant criminality, which disregards our laws and the separation of the different branches of our government. Musk is staging a coup, using similar tactics used by the autocratic Viktor Orbán of Hungary.

If we are to retain, let alone strengthen, our Democratic republic, then this cannot be tolerated nor be allowed to stand. A republic is for and by the people; it is not a monarchy or a dictatorship.

Giovanna Lepore

Jericho

What the Welch?

U.S. Sen. Peter Welch recently told Seven Days that President Donald Trump believes chaos is an instrument of persuasion [“Vermont Officials Still Wary After Trump Cancels Funding Freeze,” January 30]. At the time I am writing this, Welch was batting .500 in voting to confirm Trump’s cabinet nominees.

For example, he voted to confirm Doug Burgum, a billionaire lackey of the oil industry, as secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, which Burgum’s government sued at least five times during his tenure as governor of North Dakota to loosen public land use rules. Welch voted to confirm Sean Duffy, a former reality TV star, Fox News host and climate denialist, as transportation secretary.

More recently, Welch and every other Democrat on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry voted to advance the nomination of Brooke Rollins, the cofounder of the America First Policy Institute, as secretary of agriculture. Yes, Rollins grew up on a farm and got an agriculture degree, but she’s also a known conspiracy theorist and fabulist, and she is yet another climate denialist with deep ties to the oil industry.

Trump and his associates have shown time and again they have no interest in governing, no regard for the public weal and no scruples whatsoever.

Please stop voting to place these foxes in the henhouse. Doing so only encourages further chaos.

Erik Post

Essex

‘Wake Up, People!’

[Re “Vermont Officials Still Wary After Trump Cancels Funding Freeze,” January 30; “Vermont Orgs Announce Layoffs, Cutbacks After Funding Freeze,” January 31]: Elon Musk, an unelected multibillionaire born in another country, has gotten access to U.S. intelligence computers, and they are now compromised. He now controls the U.S. Department of the Treasury and has all of our personal information, Social Security numbers, bank accounts, addresses, etc. They are shutting down USAID. They are systematically dismantling and destroying the federal government infrastructure. That includes, of course, Social Security, as well as so many organizations we all depend on.

It’s a coup and a blatant takeover going on with no oversight, no guardrails and very little information coming out about what’s really going on. This is a real constitutional crisis. Our country as we knew it is going down, and a world of hurt is on the way — unless, somehow, we all stand up with all our might and resist and call our senators. I cannot believe that all Republicans and people who voted for the current president are OK with this. It is illegal and a crime. Wake up, people!

Carolyn Bronz

Bakersfield

Education Shouldn’t Be Political

Alison Novak’s [“Power Move,” February 12] provides an excellent overview on why Vermont public educators find themselves valiantly defending the core, and the future, of our democracy, following years of well-orchestrated attacks taken from a national playbook.

In 2012, the Vermont School Boards Association fought tooth and nail against newly elected governor Peter Shumlin’s proposal to change the Vermont Department of Education, with a commissioner appointed by and directly accountable to the State Board of Education, to an agency with a secretary answerable only to the governor. We worried that such an important role overseeing education would be undermined and subject to the direction of political winds. And here we are.

It’s worth noting that the previous administration, under former governor Jim Douglas, had drastically reduced staff at the department. Now an “agency,” the state entity has been working short-staffed ever since.

In the article, Vermont Education Secretary Zoie Saunders is quoted as acknowledging she had “inherited an agency with many issues.” It really shouldn’t matter if those issues began with a Republican governor, were exacerbated by a Democrat and are now seeing efforts to privatize Vermont’s education system near fruition under another Republican, because education should not be political — period.

Friends of Vermont Public Education — savevtpubliced.org — has a mission statement focused on ensuring public dollars support only schools that abide by our state rules and the Vermont Constitution, but I submit there is a direct line between that challenge and this power grab.

Ken Fredette

Wallingford

Rethinking USAID

[Re “Vermont Aid Workers Reel in Wake of Rapid USAID Cuts,” February 12]: If it is a nongovernmental agency, why is it completely dependent on U.S. federal funding? If it is an independent media outlet, why is it completely dependent on U.S. federal funds? If ThinkMD wants unqualified amateurs working legitimately as doctors, why wouldn’t we fund a medical tricorder project instead? Why should we fund Catholic Relief Services with federal dollars while pretending we have separation of church and state?

If USAID had focused its efforts since John F. Kennedy entirely on bringing potable water and sanitary septic to every marginalized community around the planet, we wouldn’t live in a world where 60 percent of humanity doesn’t have safe toilets. The cost would be nearly the same, but the effects would be biologically undeniable. We wouldn’t need propagandists to message in other nations about how great we are. Why would you call a chaplain an “independent consultant” when she clearly has a religious edict to fulfill? Why use such Orwellian terms if we are speaking the truth?

Devin Wilson

Jericho

Meow Mix

On January 29, Seven Days published a news story by Courtney Lamdin headlined “Reining Cats and Dogs: Roaming Burlington at Will, Cats Fight, Poop and Kill Songbirds. Councilors Are Considering a Leash Law.” Not surprisingly, readers had a lot to say about the idea of a local law that would make it illegal to let cats roam free.

Not a Joke

It seems like a joke to worry about cat licensing or the thought of police arresting pussycats when there are big problems in our city. The problem of outdoor cats is about livability and safety.

Trees don’t address issues such as homelessness. Yet Burlington spends tons of time and money on beautification. People can’t use their own backyards, and they deal with dead animals, cat poop, cat bites and sleepless nights. Outdoor cats torment your neighbors. We’re not laughing.

Also not a joke is bird flu. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends keeping pets away from wild birds. H5N1 in cats has around a 67 percent fatality rate. A global spike in reports of bird flu in cats coincides with the spread of the H5N1 strain, which affects more types of birds and mammals and has spread to people. Shelter workers have gotten other bird flu strains from cats, which shows cats as a potential transmitter to humans.

Don’t underestimate the deterrent power of laws. The police aren’t going to arrest outdoor cats en masse, just as they don’t cite everyone who breaks dog laws. Laws create a culture of good people following the rules. It also gives people somewhere to turn if there is a problem. The same would be true for cats. Responsible cat owners will license their cats. Hopefully, many will bring them indoors and think twice before letting a new kitten out.

There was a time before dog laws, then the culture shifted. Let’s do the same for cats.

Kristen Cameron

Burlington

Cat Casualties

If you think you are a cat lover or an environmentalist but you oppose the Dog Task Force’s recommendation to prohibit free-roaming cats, think again.

The lives of free-roaming cats are typically cut short by 10 to 15 years, and their deaths are not painless. Burlington’s cats are no exception. Let’s not forget the cat who was hung from a tree in the New North End, the cat who was caught and injured in a leghold trap on the waterfront, and the many cats found dead by the side of the road. If your free-roaming cat has lived a long, healthy life, you have an extraordinarily lucky cat, not a “street-smart” feline.

Cats have been domesticated for centuries. They are called “house cats” for a reason. Studies estimate that domestic cats kill billions of birds, small mammals, amphibians and reptiles each year, mostly out of human sight. The ecological dangers of free-roaming cats are so critical that the International Union for Conservation of Nature lists domestic cats as one of the world’s worst non-native invasive species. And remember Ecology 101? Our fate is inextricably intertwined with that of our environment.

As a lifelong cat guardian, I know that cats can be happy indoors if given the appropriate enrichment and their guardians aren’t too lazy to be inconvenienced by a litter box.

In a community that prides itself on its compassion and proactive environmental initiatives, this proposed ordinance is a no-brainer and a clear win for cats and our urban environment.

Lori Kettler

Burlington

Better Indoors

When I was a kid back in the 1960s, cats were fed mostly dry food, went outside as they pleased, and were brought to the vet only for vaccines or obvious health issues.

Much has changed in the field of cat care since. Animal science and research have shown that cats do best on a wet food diet, an indoor lifestyle is optimal, and an annual physical exam, complete with a blood panel and even a dental cleaning, is beneficial for our feline friends.

Burlington’s consideration of a cat ordinance is in line with the most recent info supporting the fact that indoor cats generally lead longer and healthier lives than their outdoor peers. Where I live, in the country, free-roaming cats are endangered by insect-borne diseases and wild predators. City cats contend with their own dangers, too: injury by unleashed dogs, other felines (who may carry diseases), traffic and cat-harming people. Keeping your cat indoors — or, if outside, in a catio or on a harness and leash by your side — is the best policy for your friend’s well-being.

Remember: While dogs were domesticated by us, cats domesticated themselves to us, when we formed agrarian communities. They initially came for the rodents in our grain storage, but the bravest of them crossed our thresholds, realizing that we offered safety from “nature red in tooth and claw.”

We still have an evolutionary — and moral — responsibility to honor that relationship.

Scott Stockwell

Duxbury

As Dogs Do

Our animals depend on us to keep them safe. Cats are family members and a lifelong responsibility. Cats allowed to roam outside are not safe. Like dogs, they should be licensed and included in laws that require them to be accompanied when outside their own home or yard. And, yes, poop scooping, too.

Like all responsible dog owners, I clean up after my dog and am conscientious about their safety as well as my neighbors’ rights. As a dog owner, I’m required to license and keep them under my control when we are walking the neighborhood.

Why are my cat-owning neighbors not subject to the same responsibilities? They seem to be incredulous that their neighbors would expect otherwise! I am an animal lover, but I do not want your cat in my yard. We all have private property rights; please be considerate and keep your cat from free-roaming my property and instead keep it inside with toys, things to climb on, a window perch and perhaps even a catio.

The neighborhood cats (who have a home but are allowed to free-roam) patrol my yard, stalk and kill wildlife, spray urine, and poop in my gardens. If my dog were wandering in my neighbor’s yards causing havoc, 1) that would be illegal; 2) I would be horrified!; and 3) my neighbor would be rightfully upset.

I hope the committee does the right thing and moves forward with a free-roaming cat ordinance. Laws for cat owners are fair and will be a deterrent.

Andy Tracy

Burlington

People Problem

In “Reining Cats and Dogs,” Courtney Lamdin talks about how people in Burlington are suffering because of free-roaming felines that kill songbirds and are “yowling so loudly that they rouse people from sleep.” In fact, it is the cats who are suffering much more than people because of this situation.

Many of these cats are hungry and unneutered strays or are “owned” by irresponsible people who do not care for them properly. These are usually the ones yowling because they are in heat or are very hungry.

Want to resolve this? Contact the Humane Society of Chittenden County for advice about helping catch these cats and find responsible homes for them — or, if they are feral, humanely trapping, neutering and releasing them back to areas will they will be fed. There are other cat rescue groups in Burlington that the humane society can recommend.

And yes, bird populations are dropping in some areas, but the biggest threat to birds is not cats but urban sprawl, the use of pesticides and fertilizers, and being hit by cars.

As humans, let’s take some responsibility.

Vivien Brown

St. Albans

Sketch-Worthy

If Burlington passes the proposed cat leash law, it would mean that cats have more restricted access to Burlington than repeat offenders with a grocery list of felonies. Are we living in a drama or comedy? Neither — we are living in a satire, at least in the good old Queen City.

Burlington: where it’s illegal not to compost but perfectly legal to openly use fentanyl in public. Burlington: where you can obtain five different strains of weed from five different dispensaries in less time than it takes the cops to respond to an assault call. Burlington: where the safety of birds holds a higher priority than the safety of the average citizen.

Fred Armisen himself could not concoct a more biting satire than the one we’re living in. My favorite part is that the grown adults in charge have convinced themselves it’s not their fault. Say what you will about math and science; we need to teach our kids about irony.

Al Teodosio

North Ferrisburgh

What About Dogs?

Shouldn’t we all, including city employees and council members, have to first reveal our personal bias before speaking on this topic? I do not own a cat or a dog but serve on the Burlington Parks, Recreation & Waterfront Commission and work in invasive species control.

Neither domesticated cats nor dogs are native to North America. The Dog (not pet) Task Force invited four animal specialists to speak at a city hall meeting on why cats should be controlled. They were asked to address topics of “nuisance animals,” “cat welfare,” “wildlife protection” and “public safety.” While the science agrees with their statements pertaining to cats, the science also states the same of dogs, yet the task force recommends allowing dogs to be off-leash and unfenced within various city parks.

I was able to locate contacts for three of those specialists, asking three questions. Were you made aware of the off-leash dog portion of the report? Have you been invited to return to speak about off-leash dogs? Is it good policy for dogs to be off-leash and unfenced within city parks? Thus far, two responded and their answers were no, no and no.

Domestic dogs threaten 200 International Union for Conservation of Nature “Red List” species and contributed to the extinction of a dozen bird and animal species. Four and a half million dog bites occur annually, 60 percent of them to children. There were 58 fatalities in 2023.

Task force documents state it is seeking “good environmental stewardship,” yet it is laughably hypocritical. Think these same specialists will be invited to support the dog portion of the report?

Aaron Keech

Burlington

‘Anti-Cat Agenda’

A quick search of the internet will provide you with 32.8 billion hours of cat videos. I would be careful not to upset those crazy cat people; they own the internet.

Some “real” statistics:• Cats kill birds, but birds aren’t real! They are government surveillance drones. So cats are actually doing us all a favor.• Unfortunately, of the 50 billion birds in the world, cats are only able to handle about 1 to 4 billion (2 percent), while the combination of windows, cars and the Bird Surveillance Task Force account for at least 60 billion.• As for poop … a shameless plug for diapers. I got some wicked fashionable ones with squirrels on them (for the cats).• One of the best-kept secrets of the Anti-Cat Agenda: The best way to protect yourself against cats is with … cats! Outdoor cats provide incredible protection against invading cats. Just get a couple of scrappy rabid kittens to handle the invaders. Cat fight!• Last but not least, U.S Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has stated hundreds of times that toxoplasmosis causes people to hate cats! Thank God he will be heading up the Bird Surveillance Task Force.

What do we want? Freedom!

When do we want it? Meow!

Patrick Johnson

Burlington