‘A Rising Tide’

The October 7 features “Of Glory & Gunpowder: The Champlain Valley Remembers the Most Important Revolutionary War Fight You’ve Never Heard of: the Battle of Valcour Island” and “The Teeth of Battle” by Jim Carrier and companion articles might be the sign of a rising tide. This follows in the wake of Burlington’s inaugural Fleet Week in August!

Contrary to Carrier’s thesis, I’ve spent time becoming familiar with this story.

In summer 2021 the Clinton County Historical Association sponsored trips to Valcour Island plus an open house at the Bluff Point Lighthouse overlooking “the strait” between the island and Plattsburgh, N.Y.

As a trio of enthusiastic young boys and I milled about that August day, the kindly lady coordinating rides shared that cannonballs could still be found at the southern end of the island. Later, in the boat over, an older gentleman asked me, “Where are you guys from?” I replied from Hinesburg, Chittenden County of Vermont. He smirked, then quipped, “Oh, from the soft side of the lake.” I smirked back, then thought he could mean all the low-lying river deltas and valley farmland compared to the granite rock coast of the Adirondacks.

Leaving the lighthouse, we hiked south down a narrow trail. We stopped at Indian Point for a bite and a swim. However awesome it would have been to find a cannonball, the upside was that we didn’t have to carry one back.

Labor Pains

[Re “Roof Raids: Laborers in Construction and Roofing Are Being Targeted as ICE Detentions Spike in Vermont,” September 23]: I want to say that most reputable roofing companies do not use subcontractors to skirt labor laws. I have no idea where the so-called professor David Stoll gets his facts from, but they are inaccurate.

Workers for many construction companies work directly for the company. It is expensive, and the federal government sets wage scales, etc. One Burlington contractor that advertises all over has been nailed multiple times for hiring illegals. This places a stigma on all the legal H-2B workers that are here.

The companies that hire legal migrants have to compete with those that use illegals, and regardless of what the employer stated, I would love to see his pay stubs where he is paying his employees $300 to $400 a day. Once again, he knows he is full of it.

These companies need to be fined and put out of business. That is the law.

And why do you suppose these illegals came to Vermont? We have a whole lotta idiots who forgot 9/11 and support all the gangs and criminals that come here. Just look around Burlington. That’s all it takes. A city destroyed by left-wing fools.

Saving Lives

[Re “Site Unseen: Despite Years of Discussion, Burlington’s Long-Awaited Overdose-Prevention Center Is Not Close to Opening,” October 7]: Unfortunately, the next to last paragraph in this article leaves the clear impression that overdose-prevention centers have “no impact on the level of public drug use or discarded syringes in the surrounding neighborhood.”

Here is a clarifying quote from Brandon Marshall, PhD, interviewed for this article, received this morning in correspondence with him:

“Studies consistently show that public drug use, discharged drug paraphernalia, and 911 calls for overdose go down after OPCs are opened. For example, one study conducted in New York City found that medical 911 calls went down by 45 percent in the areas surrounding the OPCs after they opened. We did not observe similar decreases in Providence because there was very little public drug use in the neighborhood before the OPC opened. All measures of drug-related public disorder were very low before the facility opened, and stayed low. But in cities with higher levels of concentrated public drug use, all research to date shows marked decreases after OPCs open.”

I believe this clarification to be crucial to understanding the benefits that will show themselves here in Burlington once our OPC is up and running.

These benefits are in addition to engaging and referring participants to health services; profoundly reducing municipal expenditures associated with emergency services, law enforcement and sanitation; and saving the lives of at-risk Vermonters in Chittenden County.

Seven Days readers are accustomed to accurate and thorough reporting, as well as valid inputs from other readers.

‘A Safer Downtown’

[Re “Site Unseen: Despite Years of Discussion, Burlington’s Long-Awaited Overdose-Prevention Center Is Not Close to Opening,” October 7]: As we discuss the best way to move forward to support people who are actively using drugs in the Burlington area, I was struck by the comments of Brandon Marshall, professor of epidemiology at Brown University. In discussing the overdose-prevention centers in Providence, R.I., and New York City, the story states: “There has been no impact on the level of public drug use or discarded syringes in the surrounding neighborhoods.” We’ve been repeatedly told that we should follow the science on the benefits of overdose-prevention centers. The science tells us that there is no appreciable positive impact on public drug use or reduction of syringes found in the surrounding neighborhoods.

I think a better investment of our limited funds is to build up our recovery and treatment systems so that when someone wants to move into recovery, there is a treatment bed available, safe recovery housing after treatment and a robust recovery system that will wrap around them to support their early recovery.

If we make our recovery and treatment system attractive, available and on demand, it would have the potential to break the cycle of addiction while creating a safer downtown and supporting our business community.

Drop the Charges

[Re “Attorney General Under Fire for Charging ICE Protesters,” September 24]: The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building is technically located in an “office park,” but it is a stand-alone building, so blocking one entrance into the building inconvenienced no one. I’ve passed by that building for many years since it was built, so shame on you, Gov. Phil Scott, with the BS line that the protesters would not have been charged had it been just an ICE building.

I pay a lot of taxes in Vermont, so my money is being wasted chasing these protesters to, what, set an example? The Attorney General’s Office should step in here immediately and administratively suspend prosecution and stop this waste.

Remember, folks: ICE was funded to stop the worst of the worst violent illegals among us. These protesters sure look to me to fit that profile — not.

Brunelle v. Kochalka

[Re Feedback: “Mr. Brunelle Fan,” August 26]: I agree with the recommendation from Mary Kintner that Robert Brunelle’s “Mr. Brunelle Explains It All” would be a good addition to the “Fun Stuff” pages. It would be a fine replacement for James Kochalka’s “Gentle Observation” panel. Although I admire Kochalka’s graphic novels for children, his panel is so vacuous that it is almost devoid of any visual or content interest.

Also, I usually avoid political cartoons, but I think Tom Tomorrow’s “This Modern World” brilliantly pushes what is already absurd into greater (and humorous) absurdity.

LOL, ASAP

Is anyone else growing tired of reading complaints regarding the cartoons in “Fun Stuff”? The contrast between Dolly Parton and President Donald Trump, aka the Donald [“K Chronicles,” September 29], is spot-on, though bemoaned by Thea Knight [“Feedback,” October 7]. When has a little levity been more needed than in these troubling times? Laughter was once described as the best medicine. Humor may be our only vaccine left against despair. What else can we muster to combat this psycho-political world closing in? Dear God, please make it stop! It is what is truly wearying.

‘Don’t Read It’

[Re Feedback: “Mr. Brunelle Fan,” August 26; Feedback: “No So ‘Fun Stuff,’” October 7”]: Regarding several recent letters to the editor about the comics, there’s really a simple fix: If you don’t like the content, don’t read it.

Tough Choices

Election Day, November 3, is right around the corner. We’re publishing as many related letters as possible before the polls close. Here’s this week’s selection, some of which are responding to the Seven Days Voters’ Guide, inserted in last week’s paper.

Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George was effectively reelected to a third term in the Democratic primary, and my sincere congratulations go out to her. While she was outspent by her opponent, he was likewise a candidate about whom many of us had tremendous concerns regarding managerial effectiveness, which were well documented in the Seven Days article on the race [“Pleading Their Case: Bram Kranichfeld Says He Should Be Chittenden County’s Next State’s Attorney. Reform-Minded Incumbent Sarah George Objects,” July 1].

I hope George also notes that she lost the progressive center of Chittenden County — Burlington — whose citizens feel most adversely impacted by her prosecutorial decisions, especially around tolerance for low-level narcotics trafficking.

While our leaders cite a declining opioid-related death rate as evidence that their approach is working, in my mind the data point in the exact opposite direction. Looking at 2024 Kaiser Family Foundation data, Vermont still has the fifth-worst death rate in the nation, with seven of the 10 worst states being so-called “blue states.” Compassion without more aggressive enforcement is not working.

George is not the root cause of narcotics problems in Burlington. Yes, there are court backlogs. Yes, there are insufficient treatment resources. Yes, there is a lack of effective state enforcement. Yes, our gun laws contribute. But it’s likely that her prosecutorial decisions can make this issue better or worse, and the jury is very much out in that regard.

Good leaders have the courage to change course when the people they serve demonstrate their disagreement with their policy direction. My hope is that our state’s attorney has the courage to do likewise.

[Re: “Home Stretch: Gov. Phil Scott Has Handily Defeated Opponents for a Decade. But Political Newcomer Amanda Janoo Is Mounting a Credible Challenge,” October 14]: I liked Phil Scott as governor during the pandemic. He communicated. He made us feel connected in a time of great fear. That was then. This is now.

Now we are in decline. We have a housing crisis, an affordable health care and access crisis. We have an aging demographic. We have declining school enrollment. Many people who find jobs here can’t find affordable housing. Vermont has the fifth-highest per-capita homeless population in the country. In some media ads, Scott blame-shifts our state of affairs on the supermajority in the Statehouse. In others, he says he works across the aisle and is bipartisan.

In any case, he is the executive. The legislature works part time and has little staff depth. Scott works full time and has multiple administrators and thousands of state employees. He has the leadership wheel and staff capacity but has not put forth an affordable, integrated, comprehensive system design to move the needle on these issues.

We have an opportunity with Amanda Janoo. A Vermonter with an international economist background. A visionary. A leader who has stepped up. Someone who can see what Scott can’t and do what he hasn’t done. Time for a change.

[Re “Rural Reckoning: A Grassroots Group Convinced the Legislature to Roll Back Land-Use Rules. Can It Influence Elections This Fall?” September 23]: I was encouraged reading about the grassroots conservative movement in rural Vermont. I’ve lived in Burlington for 43 years, and since the Progressives and Democrats have been in charge, the city’s social climate and financial standing has gone from good to bad to worse.

We’ve been brainwashed into believing the Dems and Progs are on the side of the working class while the Republicans are on the side of the rich. In Vermont, however, the opposite is true.

The Dems and Progs tax us, regulate us, raise our cost of living, stifle business, and coddle those who would steal, harm and harass us. Republicans are the ones who want to keep taxes low, remove overburdensome regulations, lower our cost of living, bring in businesses and jobs, and get tougher on crime.

For years, we told Montpelier that school taxes were becoming unbearable. The Dems and Progs just dragged their feet, confident we’d reelect them and their jobs were safe. But when more Republicans were added to the legislature a few years ago, then they took notice and “heard” us.

There’s an old saying: “If nothing changes, nothing changes.” We need the courage to change our voting habits, or we’ll end up with the same people who created the problems in the first place. We need leaders who will allow us the freedom to succeed.

[Re “Home Stretch,” October 14]: Amanda Janoo can get the job done, and Vermont deserves real progress — not just talk — on affordability, health care, housing, jobs and energy. For too many election cycles, Gov. Phil Scott’s reelection has been a foregone conclusion. He may be a nice guy, but it’s time for a change. Notably, too, he is the nominee of a party that nationally has abandoned its once-reputable principles and driven American democracy to the brink.

To his credit, Scott is among the rare Republicans in office who have not kowtowed to President Donald Trump. Neither does he claim — as Trump has — that the affordability crisis is a hoax. In fact, Scott for many years has harped on affordability but done just about nothing about it. In 2024 he used affordability to reduce the Democratic majority in the legislature — with the assistance of Americans for Prosperity/Koch brothers’ dark money. This helped him politically but left many Vermonters struggling still — or even more — to make ends meet.

Undeniably, Vermont over the past decade under Scott has grown less and less affordable. An incumbent who has done the job well deserves reelection. An incumbent who repeatedly has not delivered does not deserve the benefit of the doubt yet again.

Maintaining the gubernatorial status quo is making things worse and worse for more and more Vermonters. Amanda Janoo understands — as U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders does, too — that we have the resources for the changes we need to make — and that we’re all in this together.

[Re “Home Stretch,” October 14]: As you look to the November elections, please join me in voting to reelect Gov. Phil Scott.

Why, you might ask?

Because in our current world of overwhelming uncertainty and surging costs, we need Gov. Scott to continue to provide steady, safe and sound leadership to navigate these troubled waters. He’s been doing it for a long time in his many roles — and he’s trusted and gets results — even when he has to thread the proverbial needle.

That’s also known as finding the middle ground, which isn’t easy when Democratic politicians are more interested in controlling the narrative rather than listening to Vermonters and addressing our affordability issues and safety concerns.

When we reelect Gov. Scott and legislators who will bring balance to governing and addressing Vermonters’ needs, we will be on the right track to rebuild the state that works for all of us.

Isn’t that what we all want and need?

[Re “Prop Drop: Voters Will Decide This Fall Whether to Enshrine Labor Rights and Antidiscrimination Measures in the Vermont Constitution,” Voters’ Guide, October 14]: Finally! On Election Day, Vermonters have the opportunity to vote to add a long-overdue equal rights amendment to our Vermont Constitution.

Both the Vermont House and Senate have voted in favor of the equal rights amendment over the past two biennia, enabling it to go before the voters of Vermont on Election Day this year. This past legislative session, it was passed by the Vermont Senate with a unanimous vote of 29-0, while the House passed it by a commanding majority vote of 128-14. What a wonderful expression of bipartisan solidarity by our state legislature!

As a state that values all people, regardless of their particular identities, Vermont should specifically include equal civil rights in our constitution. I sincerely hope that the citizens of Vermont will agree and vote in support of Article 23 on November 3.

[Re “Prop Drop,” Voters’ Guide, October 14]: What do Kansas, Texas and Utah state constitutions have in common? An equal rights amendment. Same with New York, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and most other not-southern states.

What gives, Vermont?

Vermont’s Article 7 Common Benefits Clause is inadequate. It does not adequately address unfair nor unjust discrimination. Fill this historical gap by ensuring that our laws do not create nor perpetuate the legal or social inferiority of any class of people. Vote yes on Proposal 4.

We can no longer count on the Supreme Court or government to afford justice or protection from unfair and unjust discrimination. Voting yes protects us all. It’s time to update 1777’s good intentions. It’s time to enshrine the strongest legal protections for our collective, comprehensive and inclusive equal protection.

Voting yes on Prop 4 makes it clear that our founding document stands for everyone who calls Vermont home.

I listened to and then watched the Vermont Public debate on October 6 between lieutenant governor candidates Molly Gray and John Rodgers. I did both because I wanted to see the candidates’ faces in the moments when Rodgers asked questions designed for soundbites, questions meant to leave Vermonters with an unfavorable impression of Gray’s character.

As Kevin McCallum recently reported [“Fighting Words: Lt. Gov. John Rodgers, Behind in the Polls and Cash, Takes Off the Gloves Against Challenger Molly Gray,” October 7], Rodgers has embraced a new strategy of going on the attack against Gray. I’m not naïve to the fact that punches and low blows are often part of campaigning. But with the standards of public political discourse so low right now, I’m paying as much attention to the conduct of the people asking for my vote as I am to their policy positions.

Later in the debate, Gray asked Rodgers to reflect on a mistake he’s made as lieutenant governor. He immediately replied that he “can’t think of any mistakes.” His answer, lacking depth or reflection, was deeply disappointing to me and, in my opinion, may prove to be a mistake he regrets.

Throughout this debate and her campaign, Gray has shown that she is the kind of person who will lead respectfully, intelligently and humbly. With so many unknowns and complexities in the political battles ahead, she possesses the qualities we need in a leader right now.

[Re “Fighting Words,” October 7]: In the race for lieutenant governor, incumbent John Rodgers has been working to undermine Molly Gray’s credentials and her commitment to the needs of rural Vermonters. As an attorney who has practiced in Vermont for over 40 years, I have witnessed human and constitutional rights in peril, particularly in our rural communities. I am confident that Gray is the best candidate to address the threats these communities face.

Through my work as an attorney, I have represented numerous small, rural school districts. Since state-mandated school district mergers went into effect in 2019 and we started closing small, rural elementary schools to supposedly save money, we now have a school system with 82 fewer classroom teachers but 800 more employees —doing harm to rural communities, rural students and taxpayers statewide.

Additionally, I have seen the increasing damage that the lack of affordable housing is doing to small, rural communities in Vermont. In the Northeast Kingdom, we have an opportunity to grow a new, emerging agricultural economy, but without more affordable housing, that opportunity will die aborning. Rural Vermont needs a stronger agricultural economy — not data centers.

Gray is the kind of leader we need in Montpelier right now. I know Molly well. As an attorney, she has committed her career to defending human rights. Having grown up on a farm, she knows rural Vermont. As lieutenant governor, she will be the voice we need for rural Vermont and a thriving agricultural economy.

This article appears in The Tech Issue • 2026.