Free Parking
We always appreciate Seven Days‘ thoughtful coverage of impactful community issues. That continues with the recent article by Courtney Lamdin about Main Street construction and its impact on local businesses in Burlington [“Main Concern: A Yearslong Street Reconstruction Project Is Proving Painful to Downtown Burlington Businesses,” April 9].
In Burlington, we’re all in this together. Now is the time to rediscover downtown. When Burlington voters approved a $25.9 million bond to transform Main Street, they supported a plan for additional housing, a more vibrant street for commerce, a healthier streetscape and less emergency utility repairs, bringing together residents, visitors, businesses and customers along the entrance to Vermont’s largest city and economy. With a new hotel opening at CityPlace this summer, the near-term reconnection of our downtown street grid, this project’s transformation of Main Street and myriad other projects, the city’s brightest days are ahead.
That said, Burlington’s businesses are feeling the impact of construction and need our help. Come to Burlington and enjoy world-class cuisine, shows and coffee, with terrific local shopping. This spring we’re able to expand free parking opportunities with a midweek promotion. Join us for two free hours of on-street parking Wednesdays and Thursdays through May 8, two free hours in the downtown garage Monday through Saturday, and free parking at meters and city garages on Sundays.
Chapin Spencer
Burlington
Spencer is Burlington’s director of public works.
Defining a ‘Good Life’
Thank you for “The Good Life” [April 9]. I’m no homesteader but most definitely harbor fantasies about living a similar life.
What strikes me about the article is framing homesteading “success” within the confines of the existing economic system. What if living closer to the land moves us toward living life? Well-being? Connection? Happiness? Joy? Empathy? Agency? Dare I say, love?
I’m curious if taking it a step further — thinking about homesteaders’ land stewardship impact, relationships with neighbors, contributions to local social capital, mental health, etc. — would make their endeavors more “successful”? Maybe less, depending on how folks treat the land.
I’m wagering that people more closely pursuing “pure” homesteading are not active on social media and make do or do without, including outside attention.
And what would the original land stewards of Vermont, the Abenaki, have to say about this topic?
Wayne Maceyka
Hinesburg
Reason to Swear
About the cover teaser “OMFG, BTV,” which drew attention from a reader who objected to the language [Feedback: “Cut the Cursing,” April 2]: She may have a point, but the more important takeaway of the story for me is to say “thank you” to Seven Days for shedding light on the workings of our local government [“On Message? Democrats on the Burlington City Council Talked Business — and Gossiped — in a Group Text Chain,” March 26].
In this case, it was Burlington City Council communications, behind the scenes and out of the public eye. Without your digging into social media threads and other sources — in some cases, connecting them with council actions — we the public would be unaware of personal conversations and comments that may have affected these actions. This includes remarks, some clearly disrespectful, made while the council was in session and expressed privately on social media to a few chosen councilors. These communications are inappropriate, at the very least.
Burlington has so many issues. We need a collaborative team effort to solve our problems. Please work together, all elected officials. It is not too much to expect respect and intentional listening by councilors to public commenters, fellow councilors and the mayor. Find real, effective solutions — together. It’s our future. It’s your responsibility.
Diana Carlisle
Burlington
‘Deeply Problematic’
I was appalled reading the review of Klovis Gaynor & the Urinal Cakes’ debut album, SAVE ME 4 THE SPANK BANK [April 2.]
The review focused on moments of shock and depravity, while entirely missing the point of the music — that of subversion and exploration told through stories of violence and trauma in sex work and New York City kink culture.
To write in earnest that “it’s completely artless. And it turns sex — specifically, gay sex — into something revolting” not only diminishes the dark realities of nonnormative queer culture and sex life but also upholds a deeply problematic idea that there is a correct or accepted form of sex, queerness and homosexuality, playing into a deeply colonial and capitalist mindset of normativity that entirely misses the point of queer liberation, punk culture and music as art.
The line “Gaynor sold his soul to the devil for a bottle of poppers, a cheap pleather harness and a douche autographed by Charli XCX” elaborates on this idea of internalized normativity and reads as incredibly queerphobic and misogynist by equating queer-femme art to the entire queer community, especially a queer man’s experience.
The Burlington think-space already suffers from the perpetuation of ideas of normativity in queer culture, and this felt like an extension of the mindset that ultimately harms the queer community outside of cis-gay experiences.
To write about music without acknowledging internalized prejudices ultimately does harm to conversations about art, and I hope that in the future more thought and reflection go into subversive music.
August Burrell
Burlington
‘Cowardly Misstep’
It was a relief to see Vermont Education Secretary Zoie Saunders walk back her misguided and cowardly directive to school districts to comply with President Donald Trump’s illegal and unconstitutional executive order regarding “illegal DEI practices” [“Vermont Education Agency Outlines Response to Trump’s Anti-DEI Directive,” April 7, online].
But note the sleight of hand in Saunders’ about-face: In her second memo, she says that the Agency of Education “issued a superintendents’ update alerting the field to the directive and providing an initial legal review” and that she is now “issuing a statement in response.”
That’s bullshit on two fronts. First, it wasn’t an amorphous agency that issued the original update; it was her. And second, her original update wasn’t an initial legal review; it was a directive to obey.
To be clear: Saunders is trying to make it sound like she is just now intervening to ensure that a wayward agency does the right thing. In reality, she is walking back her own giant, cowardly misstep.
Over the past couple of months, Secretary Saunders and Gov. Phil Scott have shown their true colors. By refusing over and over to push back forcefully against Trump’s illegal and unconstitutional overreach — unlike their counterparts in every surrounding state — they have demonstrated whose side they are on.
It’s time for new leadership in Vermont. If Scott, Lt. Gov. John Rodgers and the rest of the administration aren’t going to defend Vermont against Trump’s bullying, we need to replace them with leaders who will.
Jason Van Driesche
Burlington
‘DEI Is Discrimination’
[Re “Education Secretary to Feds: Vermont Will Continue ‘DEI’ Practices,” April 14, online]: Education Secretary Zoie Saunders’ insistence on following prejudicial DEI rules will only get Vermont into trouble with the feds. Additionally, trying to defend an outdated concept will cost the state tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees, all for nothing.
DEI is discrimination against white males and white females. Hiring and promotion in the workplace should be based on merit.
Peter Rinaldi
Moretown
Bill Goes Too Far
Paul Fleckenstein’s letter [Feedback: “About ‘Antisemitism,’” March 26] makes the point that the Shalom Alliance, which opposed the “apartheid-free community” campaign, has been using a strategy of drawing attention away from the genocide in Gaza by centering the discussion on antisemitism.
The Shalom Alliance now has another project: a bill in the Vermont legislature. H.310 would “require the Secretary of Education to develop curriculum and provide trainings, teaching materials, and technical assistance for antisemitism awareness education in kindergarten through grade 12 schools.”
The bill includes a comprehensive definition of antisemitic harassment: slurs, stereotypes, etc. — things that most would agree should be on the list.
The last item on the list is different. It defines “negative references to Jewish customs or the right to self-determination in the Jewish people’s ancestral and indigenous homeland” as antisemitic. In other words, H.310 would require that Vermont schools, K-12, teach kids that people who criticize Israel’s practices of apartheid, ethnic cleansing and imprisonment of Palestinians without a trial, for example, are motivated by antisemitism.
It also implicitly ignores the fact that Palestine is also the ancestral and indigenous homeland of Palestinians. Is it antisemitic to insist that they, too, have the right to self-determination in that same homeland?
The text of H.310, including the list of its sponsors, can be found on the legislature’s website.
Peter Lackowski
Burlington
Beware Medicare Advantage
[Re From the Publisher: “65 Candles,” April 2]: Understanding and choosing Medicare coverage is, indeed, complicated, and it is wise to seek some help in doing so. But please be aware of the bias built into the advice of a consultant who also sells insurance. Medicare Advantage plans are marketed as an alternative to government-administered original Medicare by private insurance companies that are in business to make a profit. They may sound attractive but may well be more complicated, more restrictive and more difficult to make claims on than original Medicare.
An alternative source of information about Medicare is Age Well’s State Health Insurance Assistance Program, which offers free and confidential Medicare counseling.
Janet Rutkowski
Williston
Flawed Approach
[Re “Thousands of Vermonters Turn Out to Protest Trump, Musk,” April 5, online]: Pity that the organizers didn’t focus their energy and hysteria on solving our bigger problems, such as homelessness — instead using misinformation to excite and agitate.
Robert L. Merchant
Barre Town
Lighting the Way
I found the overall feedback [April 2] on the article on excessive drinking [“Vermont’s Hangover,” March 19] interesting, because several letters referred to light or the lack thereof. Marc Richter says, “Let’s continue bringing it into the light.” Aaron French said, “We have neglected to illuminate this problem … Keep the light on alcohol consumption in Vermont.” Trine Bech hinted that alcoholism is worse in Norway, where the sun shines less than in Vermont.
What I find interesting is that not only the lack of light but also the daily and accumulative loss of light both contribute greatly to this problem. I would like to see more attention given to the lack-of-light issue in combination with alcohol consumption. Thank you for bringing everything to the forefront.
Mimi Clark
Montpelier
Free Advice
Thank you for the column on choosing Medicare options [From the Publisher: “65 Candles,” April 2]. I agree that getting some counseling on the process and the options is a good idea. But it is important to mention that high-quality advice is available and free in Vermont. I am a retired physician, but — like most people — I thought I needed some help. I knew I wanted to choose “conventional Medicare,” but what about my Medigap policy and Plan D?
I got that help at the Central Vermont Council on Aging in Barre, but I could have gotten it at Age Well in Chittenden County or another of the regional councils on aging. The staff at these organizations are knowledgeable, dedicated and friendly. Give them a try before you pay for an insurance consultant.
Daniel Wing
Corinth
A PR Idea for Dems
[Re “Tax Resistance Is Booming After Gaza and Trump’s Reelection,” April 2]: Until now, I have focused my participation locally, serving on our town’s selectboard. But alas, today, focusing only on our town is equivalent to “arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.” Today, America is under siege! My suggestion: Responsible members of Congress should mount the biggest public relations campaign in our history!
Do it on every medium in existence to counter the threat facing the USA. The threat is not a matter of conservative versus liberal. The president, aided by his cowardly followers in the Congress, is clearly destroying America. Together they’re murdering almost everything America is and stands for.
Congress, leverage your strength; you can’t do it alone. Initiate a gigantic public relations campaign. Reach for every living American. You can do it! You have the connections: labor, Hollywood, Madison Avenue, many patriotic wealthy citizens. If more than $70 million were raised in a campaign for a Wisconsin state court election, raising funds for such a campaign should be a piece of cake. Mount the campaign to educate the American people on how your policies will help and how the president’s policies harm, and do it especially in regions where the majority voted for the president. Laser-focus only on the issues that affect all of us, to put maximum pressure on the president’s cowardly Congress members.
Realistically, it will not impress all of them. But it only takes a few in Congress to turn the tide.
Kenneth Albert
Shelburne
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This article appears in Apr 23-29, 2025.
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