Letters to the Editor October 6

There is public support

I would like to clarify a few things that Tri-State’s president has been saying concerning the community access television responsibility issue.

Marshall Miles is quoted in a Sept. 19 press release as saying “a key requirement, not according to TSPC, but to Comcast, was extensive community support.”

The support that Northwest Corner Public Access, Inc. (NCPA) was seeking is based on Connecticut General Statues, Section 16-331c, not Comcast nor TSPC’s opinions. There are eight criteria to be reviewed, which include “the recommendations of the advisory council and of the municipalities in the franchise area.”

The release goes on to say, “Northwest Corner Public Access, Inc. Executive Director Mike Flint ‘stated to the Cable Advisory Council, to Comcast and to TSPC that he had that support.’” No such statement was spoken. NCPA had issued letters seeking support from the boards of selectmen in anticipation of presenting at the September monthly meetings.

In an Aug. 23 letter to Comcast and NCPA, Mr. Miles and Jill Goodman write, “I am emailing a copy of this letter to Mike, Anna McGuire and the first selectmen who have contacted me, so they can remove this from any possible agenda that might be coming up at their next selectmen’s meeting.”

Much of what occurred between Mr. Miles and four first selectmen was done without the knowledge or involvement of any members of the NCPA Board of Directors, and while I was on vacation in Indiana. The Salisbury Board of Selectmen even held an “unnoticed” meeting in North Canaan on Aug. 22 to discuss this matter.

The story in this newspaper (Sept. 29), while presenting various perspectives concerning this issue and giving you a general idea of what is happening, is far from complete.

Accurate facts and statements are important in this matter. You may follow the entire story and access the supporting documents by following my blog (www.sttlk.wordpress.com).

Michael J. Flint

NCPA, Executive Director

Lakeville

BD-Canaan is a class act

We were privileged to attend the half-century celebration of BD-Canaan on Sept. 16, at the North Canaan plant headquarters on Grace Way.

Gov. Dannel Malloy was on hand to congratulate officials from Becton Dickinson & Co., including Edward Ludwig, chairman and CEO, Vincent Forlenza, president and chief operating officer and Dave Anderson, plant manager of the North Canaan operation.

BD manufactures disposable plastic syringes and is the largest employer in the Northwest Corner, employing approximately 350. The event focused on the facility’s contributions to advancing safety for health-care workers, patients and the environment since 1961.

During an engaging one-hour tour of the plant prior to the formal celebration, it was evident that plant manager, Dave Anderson, had a lot to be proud of. The facility is a modern, state-of-the-art manufacturing locale that shows the tremendous pride of its employees. Everything is spotless and it was clear to us that employees are very focused on commitment to quality.

All of the employees that we interacted with were genuinely professional and very welcoming. It was evident that there is a great deal of respect for Mr. Anderson and as we watched him work the room after the formal ceremony, it was clear that he is very thankful and appreciative of the teamwork among his employees.

We were in attendance representing the 21st Century Fund for Housatonic Valley Regional High School along with its board members. It should be noted that BD-Canaan has been involved with the school’s robotics team for many years and naturally is interested in graduating students with both technological skills and inclination.

Over the past several years, the Region One Board of Education and the 21st Century Fund for HVRHS have teamed to renovate the former Clarke B. Wood agricultural building on the high school campus to create a Science and Technology Center to allow students interested in the sciences and engineering to work on long-term projects, free of typical classroom limitations.

We were overwhelmed to learn that BD chose to recognize that effort and to honor the special contributions of Jack Mahoney, a former principal of Housatonic Valley and member of the 21st Century Fund board, whose passion for these types of cooperative efforts led to the creation of 21st Century Fund, and whose vision for new partnerships in education becomes one step closer to reality when the center opens its doors, hopefully later this fall. To assist us in reaching this milestone, BD presented us with a $20,000 contribution.

We would like to publicly thank Becton Dickinson & Co. for their extraordinary generosity. Their contribution will allow us to finish Phase 1 of the project and make a difference for the kids and citizens of Region One. For that we are eternally thankful.

John F. Perotti, Chairman

21st Century Fund for HVRHS

Patricia Chamberlain

Region One Superintendent

Falls Village

Hiking emergency prompted a professional and appreciated response

I am writing on behalf of the group of women hikers who required rescue medics for one of our members who had broken her leg and dislocated her ankle at the summit of Mt. Frissel last Monday at noon.

 It is with supreme gratitude that we thank the 19 volunteer responders who gave up six hours of their day to come to our aid.

Because the accident occurred at the summit, it was uncertain whether it was in New York, Connecticut or Massachusetts. A GPS app on a cell phone determined that it was on the Connecticut section of the red trail. We thank the valiant members of the Lakeville Hose Company, the state police, medics and EMTs from Salisbury, as well as volunteers from Sheffield, Mass., who were on standby for the rescue.

Seven ATVs were launched from a staging area off Mt. Washington Road to the ridge trail between Brace and Frissel mountains. Trees had to be sawed to allow passage. From there a stretcher had to be hand-carried to the summit of Frissel where the patient was patiently and bravely waiting. Sue Kam of New Fairfield was evaluated, her leg immobilized and then she was transported by hand down the rocky mile of trail to the waiting Gator ATV, down the remaining trail and then to ambulance with transport to the hospital.

These men and women showed tender care and compassion, professional expertise, as well as brute strength. We are sincerely appreciative of their efforts.

Ann vonHoorn

New Preston

Sharon road paving a job well done

The Sharon town road paving project is now done. The job, as far as I am concerned exceeded almost everyone’s wildest expectations. What a pleasure it is to ride  these roads and feel  like you are riding on air.

Many thanks should be given to our First Selectman Bob Loucks, for having the foresight to set this project up and even enhancing it as it progressed. He has taken a lot of flak about various aspects of the job, but he stuck to his beliefs, in so doing he has left Sharon with about 70 percent of their paved roads in excellent condition.

Another facet he should be complimented for is the fact that he borrowed the money with a 15 year bond issued to the town of Sharon. No state or government money was used. Sharon relied on nobody else for help. The town did it themselves and for this I am very proud of our citizenry.

In the future I hope the town gives Bob all the support and encouragement he needs to finish this project. The town owes him a vote of thanks. Thank you again Bob for a job well done.

Richard L. Carley

Sharon
 

Mayland has knowledge, experience and integrity

Don Mayland has served with distinction on the Salisbury Board of Finance for 18 years and fully deserves to be re-elected on Nov. 8.

His command of economics and the ability to make it understandable to others are grounded in his academic background. Don has a B.A. in economics from the University of Vermont and an M.A. in education from American International College. He also taught economics for 35 years at The Hotchkiss School.

In addition to his command of finance and experience dealing with our town budget issues, he has served on the boards of several area banks, the Salisbury Volunteer Ambulance Board, the Sharon Audubon Board, our Salisbury Water Pollution and Control Authority Board and runs his own business.

The list of Don’s involvement in service organizations that have improved the quality of all our lives here in the Northwest Corner can go on and on, but in deference to space limitations I will move on to the quality of Don Mayland’s character.

Since we first became acquainted in 1972, Don Mayland has always been the perfect gentleman, a good family man and maintained a reputation for impeccable honesty and integrity along with his careful deliberative nature. He is a man not only of infinite energy but also holds himself to the most rigorous standard of good character.

Salisbury has been blessed by his willingness to keep an eye on our financial affairs, a task that for most of us would result in migraine headaches and sleepless nights. Voters are encouraged to vote for Don Mayland once again on Nov. 8 so he can continue his wise and honorable work on our Board of Finance.

Kathy Lauretano

Lakeville

Why we live in the South

I sympathize with Carolyn McDonough’s letter (“Uncomfortable living in the South,” Sept. 15), up to a point. The term “South” is too broad and misleading. While I had no interest in ever living in the South, when three of our children settled in Florida, I was content to visit and then come home. My wife, Carol-Lee, daughter of Ann and Stewart Hoskins of wonderful memory, and I  met in Binghamton in the 1960s, were married in 1969 and lived there until retirement.

I have a special affection for Lakeville. When Lee and I first became serious about each other, I agreed to spend part of the 1968 Christmas holiday in Lakeville so that I could meet the family.

Mercifully — I was terrified at the prospect — the visit had to be brief. I had to spend most of the Christmas break interviewing some 34 new Ph.D.s for 11 new positions in the English department of Harpur College/SUNY Binghamton.

My terror at the thought of Lakeville and in-laws was allayed somewhat by the Kahlers, still at Stagecoach,  so that I could appreciate both the beauty of the area and  its wonderful people. For as long as we lived in Binghamton, we regularly drove to Lakeville and got to know wonderful people such as Charlotte Reid,  Bob and Mary Lou Estabrook,  Mark Van Doren (my teacher at Columbia),  Bob and Alice Yoakum and others.

Harpur, where Lee and I both worked, was rightly called by Time and Newsweek magazines  the “Jewel in the Crown” of the state university and “Swarthmore on the Susquehanna.”

When we retired in 1996, we decided to move South, to western North Carolina, because we were tired of cold and damp winters and hot, damp summers. We chose western North Carolina, with its mountains, its mild weather (lovely spring and fall, mild winter and summer), and its excellent medical facilities.

Our community is lively, diverse and fascinating; the cultural scene is superior — lots of theater and music, including opera. Most important  is something I did not anticipate: the superb “College for Seniors,” an all-volunteer institution somewhat like the Taconic Learning Center that Dr. Reyalt happily described in the same Sept. 15 issue of the Journal but bigger and more ambitious.

We currently enroll over 1,000 lively, interesting, and challenging people in 100 or so courses each term, four a year. I have taught almost every term for the last 13 years, mainly Shakespeare, and will continue to do so as long as they’ll let me.

The Asheville area may be somewhat special  and anyway I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else, but Asheville isn’t a whole “other” South. True, western North Carolina is unusual and there’s far too much of the old unreconstructed South still around, especially in Mississippi and Alabama. But the world continues to change, and I think we can realistically look for a better day even there.

Meanwhile, we love where we are.

Mario A. DiCesare

Asheville, N.C.

Dell family is appreciative

The family of John Dell would like to give our heartfelt thanks for the many cards, notes, flowers and kind words following our recent loss.

Also, our thanks go out to Dr. David Kurish and Salisbury Visiting Nurses for their care of John and to Brian Kenny of Kenny Funeral Homes for his kindness.

John was a loving husband, a wonderful dad, grandpa and uncle, and we will all miss him very much.

Myra Dell and family

Salisbury

Sweet sounds of bluegrass

Last Friday we missed going to the concert given at the Douglas Library. Imagine my surprise when channel-scrolling Sunday morning to hear the great sound of bluegrass.

After reading the confusing nonsense going on at the public access channel, it was the last thing to expect a filming and showing of that concert.

That was some mighty fine strummin’ and pickin’ by the Bash Bish Bluegrass Band, and because it was shown on Channel 6, we didn’t miss the concert after all. Great!

Norma Haight-Colman

North Canaan
 

In support of Electra Tortorella

I urge you, regardless of party affiliation, to join me to re-elect Electra Tortorella to the Sharon Board of Education.

I am retiring from serving on the board after eight years, so I have seen Electra’s work and leadership up close for several years. For the last six years Electra has been chairman of the board. She has been a strong, reasoned voice on the board and within the town while also encouraging dialogue and candor in our work. She has worked tirelessly to keep the budget within the limits set by the Board of Finance while retaining the superior quality of our school.

Electra should be thanked for the fine group of teachers, administrators and staff which has been assembled while she has been board chairman. Electra has worked to keep increases in personnel costs — a key component of the school (and town) budget — to a minimum.

There is more to be accomplished to further improve our school while adhering to current financial realities, and we need Electra’s fine leadership to continue. Please join me in voting for Electra Tortorella for Sharon Board of Education.

Kate Beatty

Sharon

Loucks deserves commendation

First Selectman Bob Loucks is paying a price for improving Sharon town government.

Sharon has a long history of giving preferential treatment to certain contractors. With the same first selectman in office for 18 years and no town requirement that jobs be put out for competitive bid, a culture of unchecked favoritism was deeply entrenched.

One reason Bob Loucks ran for office was to change that pattern and bring fairness, transparency and accountability to town government. He has faced some mean-spirited backlash for making that change. First Selectman Loucks should be commended and supported in his efforts to improve our town.

Corey Shaff

Sharon

Sharon residents should vote for John Perotti for selectman

I am writing this letter in support of John Perotti for the office of selectman for Sharon.

A friend of more than 30 years, I have known John to serve as a member or leader of numerous civic organizations and committees, elected and appointed town boards and professional organizations. John has given this service all while pursuing a successful career and, together with his wife, Shirley, raising a wonderful family.

Unlike many people who serve in name only, when John accepts a responsibility, you will get all of his effort, from organizing to working to follow-up. As a career employee, president and CEO of the Salisbury Bank and Trust Company, John has proven to be an invaluable asset to the Tri-state community. Numerous times  over the years when I have sought business or financial advice, John has provided straightforward, honest counsel. His understanding of finance and budgets, his experience with business, and his dedication to our community make John an outstanding choice for selectman.

When you see John in town or at election events this fall, talk with him, ask him about the issues facing Sharon. John will shake your hand, he will look you in the eye and give you straightforward, no-nonsense, practical answers.

Vote for John Perotti and provide Sharon with the type of leadership our town needs and deserves.

Tim Parry

Sharon
 

We urge vote for Bob Loucks

We are writing in support of our first selectman, Bob Loucks, and the candidacy of John Perotti for selectman.

Bob Loucks has strived to fulfill his campaign promises from the first day he officially took office. One of his promises was the repair of the town roads, which were and have been in disrepair. Bob has met the challenge and most of our roads are now in a safe condition for driving.

 We feel that John Perotti has the business experience and professionalism to effectively work with the first selectman and the other board members to meet all of the needs of our town and its citizens.

Robert and Marilyn Hock

Sharon

Wherein the merit of service for Lauretano?

Even the poorest service is repaid with thanks — but not at The Lakeville Journal. Mark Lauretano has recently retired after serving this town and state for 29 years as a state trooper. As part of the D.A.R.E. program at Salisbury Central School, he taught our children how to make healthy choices in life, but scant mention in the paper of his contributions to the community.

Each week I see one-quarter or half-page news articles about new restaurants, pizza parlors or boutique openings (free advertising), but no words of compliment for our fine civil servant.

Why not? Mark spent four years in the Marines serving in the Gulf War. Still no recognition. And where, in all that time, he was able to earn an MBA degree I’ll never know. Danger was a daily part of the job. It would not be hyperbole to call his service heroic — it was much more than traffic tickets, both in war and in peace.

Why this pointed neglect? He is after all a candidate for one of the highest positions in town, a member of the Board of Selectmen. Why the stone silence?

Could it be because he is on the ballot as a Republican?

Newspapers are supposed to work in the realm of facts, but apparently at The Journal they have transferred their allegiance to some other cause. Their ideological struggle and belief in the superiority of their own enlightenment is pitiable given the ideal community in which we all live. Their personal jihad against the very mention of Republican nonbelievers is unremarkable and less than inspired journalism.

The visceral repugnance is continually expressed. Week after week after week the letters, articles and commentaries give the paper its indelible character and scent. A catalogue of their biases would a weighty volume make.

The Lakeville Journal will not be remembered as an example of fair and balanced news gathering to the community of their circulation or to their profession — and most certainly not to Mr. Lauretano. The paper’s transgressive attitude implies mediocrity. By any moral or ethical standard of journalism, they do Lauretano and the general public wrong by their pointed neglect.

One must lament the lack of a minimal level of reportorial competence from a newspaper; at least good taste if not brilliance. The paper allows politicization of news and facts to become treason to truth itself.

By way of full disclosure, I confess that ladies Manko and Hochswender who officiate at the paper’s helm are absolutely charming and have always extended every courtesy to me personally. I fear though that the owner/publishers of The Journal are the ones who wield the heavy and noxious hand. This is their least inspired moment.

After 40 years of readership, I regretfully concede that emotional and liberal incontinence seems to be the sole common denominator that drives this paper. It is very disappointing and isolates this writer further into the contented existence of an anchorite within the beautiful environs of Salisbury.

Alfred Nemiroff

Salisbury

Randall would make a fine selectman in Sharon

Differences among selectmen on courses of action concerning roads and drainage, sewers and energy are common, but Sharon’s recent selectmen’s meetings have been unfortunately acrimonious.

Having decided that Mr. Mathews could not be depended on for a “yes” on all issues, our first selectman, Robert Loucks, saw to it that a more “reliable” candidate would be proposed by the Republican Party.

As a result: 1) after 16 years of good service to the community, John Mathews was summarily replaced by John Perotti as Republican candidate for Board of Selectmen; and 2) Howard Randall, another Republican who has regularly attended selectmen’s meetings, was persuaded by others that an automatic yes on all issues is not the solution to tensions in these meetings and that he should therefore run as a Republican petitioning candidate.

Howard Randall is well known in Sharon as an activist and can-do man. Randall supervises a wide range of individuals in his local building business, as well as during his annual Falcon Ridge Folk Festival in July, in Hillsdale, N.Y. He is a member of Sharon’s Inland Wetlands and Watercourses, Zoning Board of Appeals and Long Range Planning, and has been a voice for civility and moderation during Sharon’s difficult selectmen’s meetings.

Howard Randall single-handedly took on changing the heating system in the town garage to a waste oil furnace, which may save Sharon as much as $9,000 a year in heating oil. He has also been a vocal and constructive critic of our recent townwide road renovation, placing pictures of problems in road renovation on the web at www.bubsviews.com,

To have effective town meetings, we need mutual respect and room for multiple considered opinions.

We also need a no-nonsense selectman like Howard Randall, who can take in information, conduct research, think independently, but also work collaboratively in pursuing the town’s best interests.

Carol Ascher

Sharon

What about statehood for Palestine?

History and precedent dictate that Israel and the United States in 2011 should not stand in the way of the Palestinian Authority’s application to the U.N. for statehood recognition. Why should not the Palestinians do what Israeli Zionist leadership and an American president did 63 years before?

On May 14, 1948 the British lowered the Union Jack in Jerusalem. Tired, broke and bloodied, the British in Palestine were shutting down and preparing to ship out for home.

Palestine with the Brits gone presented a dicey situation. Nothing would be certain except that the occupying power had left. In the hiatus both law and order would be in doubt. Who ruled? True, the Jewish underground army, Haganah, had fought the Brits to a standstill. Also true, Haganah had vanquished a poorly led, badly armed local Palestinian resistance. But the evening the Union Jack was lowered, seven Arab armies stood poised to cross Palestine’s borders to fight Haganah for control of the former mandate.

The British Authority rang down their curtain at 8 p.m. on the 14th. Haganah’s high command knew the Arab League’s invasion was set to begin the following morning,  May 15th,  and expectations were that Haganah would be  overrun.  Israel’s  political leadership, though, considered that a declaration of statehood followed by immediate American recognition of Israel might give the  Arabs pause or at least gain vital time to toughen defense.

Such a declaration had been a calculated risk. There had been no guarantee of American support — indeed, quite the opposite had been the case. During discussions in Washington in March Secretary of State George C. Marshall, fearing a general war in the Middle East, had warned against such a declaration. His position had been followed up early in May by a threat from Assistant Secretary of State, Dean Rusk, to block American Jewish philanthropic funds should statehood be declared. It was against this background that Ben-Gurion made his announcement.

The following morning, May 15, in Palestine, on schedule, seven Arab armies invaded. Initially the Arab attack was successful, but Haganah fought back. Privately funded arms from abroad flowed to the Israeli forces. Arab unity splintered upon the rock of Israeli resistance. Within weeks the two opposing forces achieved a stalemate. Then, on June 15th, the United Nations brokered a truce.

Thus is told the story behind Israel’s own declaration of statehood. In a like manner and for similar reasons, I think, the Palestinians have just requested from the United Nations recognition of a Palestinian state. In 1948 Zionist military and political leaders, faced with a threat they had not the material means to counter, declared statehood. Their only chance for survival, it seemed to them, had been to buy time by gaining recognition and status. In a like manner, after decades of illegal and intractable Israeli occupation, Palestinian political authority is seeking — I believe — the status that international recognition may bring to their own struggle for freedom and independence. To me it makes sense that they do that.

Wm. Earl Brecher

Cornwall