BRATTLEBORO — In the Feb. 13 issue of The Commons, John Allen states that the Selectboard “shouldn't be political” and claims to represent the “working poor” while clearly not being part of that demographic. He claims that this “base” is being lost.
At the same time, he brings up the talking points of the GOP for the past year, “wondering” if people come to Brattleboro due to the state's social welfare system and “looks on” the issue of why so many qualify for subsidized school lunches while claiming to represent “the poor working stiffs” who spend their lives scratching out a living and thus are unable to participate the town's political process.
It also appears that he believes there is too much affordable housing being built. (But don't worry: the forthcoming Brooks House will displace the previous affordable housing and bring in unaffordable apartments.)
Yet, John Allen, your first goal is to tackle the town's property taxes.
Well, a minuscule amount of research will find that, while many Windham County towns have seen a substantial population increase over the past decades, Brattleboro's residency count has remained remarkably stable for four decades - 12,000, give or take say 300 people, since 1972.
Where are the people looking for handouts - as you insinuate - coming from, and where are people leaving to?
How will the town maintain a sufficient revenue stream while cutting property taxes? What is your stand on the Option Tax, one that - like any sales tax - is highly regressive, disproportionately affecting the poor?
John Allen, your contention that the Selectboard not be political and that you will stand for the working poor while insinuating that too many residents are living high on the hog from subsidized school lunches demonstrates that you have far more than one face.
Poor students need subsidized lunches precisely because they are poor.
Poor people need affordable housing - the more the merrier - because Brattleboro has its fair share of people living below or quite near the poverty line.
The stance of claiming to be non-political while adopting FoxNewsSpeak is clearly contradictory, and is also clearly in your wheelhouse.
The town endured your nonsense for two years - and yes, I've sat and endured the drools of stupidity that foamed from your mouth (as well as the mouths of Corum and DeGray) during your “amazing” tenure on the Selectboard - and the horsehockey is transparent.
I will vote, John Allen, if only to attempt to ensure your prior tenure on the Selectboard is your only time in a position of political power.
Ian Kiehle, you have my vote for merely pointing out that pedestrian safety is seriously absent from this town, what with the Brattleboro Police Department issuing anti-pedestrian missives every two years or so and not enforcing basic road rules.
I'm routinely cut off while within the downtown crosswalks, and the one time a patrol officer observed this I became the object of his hostility despite the obvious transgression by the driver and his ton of tin.
The problem of being a Brattleboro pedestrian is compounded by Connecticut River Transit's absolute and continued bungling of public transport - without notice, they changed the schedule again in the past three weeks -since the Selectboard gave up on the BeeLine.