Changes at the hospital are not viable
I have been associated with Sharon Hospital for 55 years, first as a general surgeon and since 2011 as one of the wound care doctors. It has been disconcerting to see what the administrators associated with Nuvance Health System are doing.
They claim to have a plan, such as adding services of specialists coming into Sharon once a week or every other week. They want to discontinue services such as maternity, the intensive care unit and stop all surgery after 3 p.m. each day.These are vital core services necessary for a vibrant small community hospital, which Sharon has been for over a century.
In addition, they are not recruiting primary medical physicians for such places as Kent, Canaan and Dover Plains. In addition, we have had two neurologists and a urologist retire, and they have served the hospital well. Pediatrics coverage has diminished as well.
It’s like cutting the heart out of a patient and expecting them to live. Women will have to travel 45 minutes east, west, north or south to deliver babies and this is especially difficult in the middle of winter. The core of doctors remaining at Sharon Hospital have voted their displeasure with the plan recently. We need to rally the surrounding community to halt corporate Nuvance and its destructive ways if Sharon Hospital is to remain a functioning small community hospital and not a walk-in clinic.
Why would people retire here or want to move here?
W. Peter Reyelt
Salisbury
These candidates deserve your support
On November 2nd, Salisbury residents will elect officials to fill our various town offices, boards and commissions. We hope that you will cast your vote for all four of our endorsed candidates - two of whom are running on the Republican line and two of whom are running as “Petitioning” candidates. All four are well-known and widely respected members of the community.
Don Mayland - Selectman. In 2017, after serving four terms on the Board of Finance, Don was elected to the Board of Selectmen. He was re-elected in 2019 and is now running for a third term.
Jon Higgins - Planning & Zoning Commission. Jon has served on the PZC since 1983, including stints as Chair and Vice Chair. Now an Alternate member, with the encouragement and support of Chair Michael Klemens Jon is running for a regular seat on the Commission.
Jacquie Rice - Board of Education (Petitioning). Jacquie is a current member of the BOE and is running for another four-year term. She teaches mathematics at HVRHS and is Chief of the SVAS.
Rick Cantele - Board of Finance (Petitioning). Rick has served as President and CEO of Salisbury Bank and Trust since 2009 and is currently on the board of Sharon Hospital.
We also support the re-election of four Democratic candidates: First Selectman Curtis Rand, Selectman Chris Williams, BOF member Janet Graaff and Regional BOE candidate Keith Moon. While we offered to cross-endorse these candidates, the Democratic Town Committee refused to allow any of its candidates to accept our endorsement. This is most unfortunate, as we believe local government benefits from the work of good people from both parties and that, on local matters, there is no such thing as “Republican” or “Democratic” solutions.
Tom Morrison
Chair, Salisbury Republican Town Committee
Salisbury
Put Kent in these capable hands
In small towns like those of northwestern Connecticut, you get to see government up close and find that problems aren’t always where you expect. When I served on the nominating committee of the Kent Democratic Town Committee, the problem was finding people willing and able to fill town positions. We scanned the lists for people with experience and abilities that matched openings, but most declined right off. Others agreed to meet but realized taking on the job wouldn’t work for them.
It came as a welcome surprise when this year’s Nominating Committee proudly introduced an unusually diverse group of exceptionally qualified people. Some candidates, like Naomi Joseph (Board of Education) are relatively new in town; several, like Jason Wright (Finance) are new to town government, together they bring valuable experience to Kent, like Glenn Sanchez (Selectman), Director of Advancement for the Marvelwood School.
At the top of the list is the position of First Selectman, and the person running for that office is not new to town or to the job. She has lived in Kent for 20 years and is running for her second term. She was elected just in time to steer Kent through the COVID pandemic, an example of the right person in the right job at the right time. For the previous nine-and-a-half years Jean Speck, the current First Selectman, was Region 5 EMS Coordinator, covering 43 towns on the western side of Connecticut. Her duties included regulatory guidance, system planning, and EMS policy development. Additionally, from 2012 to 2015 she assumed duties and responsibilities of managing statewide EMS and Trauma data.
Her previous experience was put to good use when she brought to Gov. Lamont’s attention, at one of his weekly COVID-related Zoom meetings, the fact that the Northwest Corner had no major COVID testing site. Shortly thereafter, an efficiently run testing site opened at the Kent recycling center. She also had weekly meetings with representatives from all the schools in Kent to go over prevention practices and problems. Her previous experience also helped her bring the Office of Emergency Management into alignment with correct current practices.
Of course, the COVID-related parts of her job were in addition to ongoing issues facing the town, new issues that arose and other emergencies such as tornadoes and power failures. It was a tough time to be starting out in government.
Two years is barely enough time to figure out the geography of Town Hall, but with the experience Jean Speck has acquired during two difficult years, and supported by the excellent new Democratic slate, Kent will be in good hands.
Betty Krasne
Kent
Salisbury has great candidates
I hope everyone will go to the polls and vote on Tuesday, November 2nd. I’m happy to see that the Democrats have excellent candidates running for virtually every board and commission, which is something to celebrate.
So is the new talent on the slate, first-time candidates Liz Dittmer and Tom Carter, Salisbury Central Board of Education; Lee Greenhouse, Zoning Board of Appeals Alternate; and Joe Woodard and Michael Voldstad, Board of Finance.
We are very lucky to have so many capable people willing to volunteer their time and energy to help our town. Volunteerism is a reflection of the community spirit that makes Salisbury such a great place to live.
Mary Close Oppenheimer
Lakeville
Re-elect board of ed rep
It is a truism that the best predictor of future performance is past performance. Stacie Weiner’s candidacy for Salisbury’s representative to the Region One Board of Education speaks perfectly to this truism. As Salisbury’s current representative for the past two years, she has exhibited an exceptional level of competency and dedication that have earned the respect of the Region One Board of Education and Region One educational leadership.
Throughout the pandemic, Stacie has worked tirelessly in fulfilling her responsibilities; participating in frequent meetings to discuss Region One educational issues and the budget. As a member of the Board’s Finance Committee, Stacie was integral in producing an educational budget that is 1.58% over the previous budget with no sacrifice to the quality of education, and so acceptable to the taxpayers that it passed on the first ballot. Clearly, Stacie’s background as a public-school teacher and presently as a financial professional has given her the appropriate skill set for the role.
Very importantly, Stacie will never “rubber stamp” a proposition and simply go along with party view that may be flawed. Paramount to her decision-making is consideration of what is best for Salisbury’s educational system and residents; as well as what is in the best interest of Region One. Given her track record and proven effectiveness, qualifications and commitment to the role, Stacie, who is running as a petitioning candidate, is the clear choice for Salisbury’s representative to the Region One Board of Education.
Danella Schiffer
Salisbury
Wants answers on 2018 election in Norfolk
With town elections looming, local officials and news media must do a better job of reporting any problems.
One big problem that was never fully explained occurred in the 2018 race for State Representative in the 64th district between Brian Ohler (R-North Canaan) and Maria Horn (D-Salisbury). That race was so close after Election Day that an automatic recount was triggered.
Within hours of the recount announcement, the town of Norfolk added 12 extra votes for Horn, which was just enough to get the recount called off.
But the state decided to recount anyway, and it turned out that 11 of those hastily added extra votes did not actually exist and had to be retracted, although Horn still won.
The Lakeville Journal and the Republican American both reported the above, but neither paper ever told the public whether those non-existent extra votes were the result of cheating or error.
Nor did the press tell us how it was done, why it was done, or even who did it.
Both papers told me they lacked the resources to follow up. I don’t accept that. They follow up other stories. Why not this one?
Searching for answers, I spoke several times with Norfolk’s first selectman Matthew T. Riiska, who is standing for reelection. He repeatedly told me he knew nothing about his town’s non-existent votes, which I find almost impossible to believe. He just kept assuring me that the final recount turned out fine. (The final recount was not in question.)
One of Norfolk’s two registrars from 2018 also professed to not know what happened, but also assured me everything had been fine.
The other Norfolk registrar from 2018 told me it was not on the up and up. This registrar said the state found that the Norfolk moderator had changed vote totals approximately four times after the election.
The Norfolk moderator was no longer in that job after the recount. This wasn’t reported either. Was he fired? Quit? Anyone else involved? The public still doesn’t know.
The Journal also initially reported problems with two other towns’ votes in 2018, but didn’t name the towns or their problems, and again never followed up. The executive editor later told me the towns were Salisbury and Sharon, but said she couldn’t recall any more.
If town funds were missing, and the treasurer was gone, and officials claimed ignorance, and the press didn’t follow up, no one would accept that.
Why vote for town officials or support newspapers that don’t provide complete accounting of such basic issues?
Mark Godburn
Norfolk
This right is universal
The right to vote should be universally available. Registration and voting should be convenient and not onerous. All Americans should be able to vote.
C. Archer Woodward
Winsted
Whose job is it to find help for those in need?
Seeing ads on TV for 211.org or to call 2-1-1 for help in a crisis or for help with housing, childcare, medical or less pressing needs, one might think “we’re all set” even for those without computer skills. However, that’s not the case. Some cannot get in the system and get a case worker.
Maybe a social worker at a hospital or in a town, a minister or other advocate could guide someone to the door of getting more services whether a youth or elder. But still one can often need family, friends or other advocates to answer basic questions and follow through with paperwork or online forms. Someone being paid to work however cannot generally handle the finances of their employer so clear guidance is needed even about many basics.
If someone has managed to stay in their home and set up routines that work for them that are safe, more help could be given to maintain that situation. Some people may not be able to see the big picture and all of the options that would be reasonable to secure long-term regular help even if that is clearly needed and there are ways to get that.
No one should be faced with needing to go into a nursing home even locally if they have a home to live in or a community that could map out clear options complete with a ready-to-go care team for short term and even longer term needs if there are funds to pay for some or all of that.
A game to explore the many kinds of challenges that can arise for one person or a pair of people living together in a village or farther afield would be helpful to get more people thinking of the What Ifs that many people face due to a temporary or longer setback of mobility, transportation, housing or financial changes and an array of physical or mental health challenges.
We plan for a car to break down but not so much for a two-legged person to get help with moving (wheelchairs and walkers along with assistants to help with those or even with standing or transferring to use a commode or bedpan or wear adult diapers.)
Caregiving teams could accommodate many needs for full-time cases if there is room in the home or a place not too far away. Perhaps trailers could be allowed to house helpers and funds raised to provide a basic wage and cover extra costs month to month if a reverse mortgage or other loan is not available. But getting more people to tune into the clear needs and requests for help is urgent.
Thanks to all working in the field and planning to help others in their circles and community. I would like to network in a serious way to help a few I know who need help and I’m sure others would come forward as well if we put out an “all call” to assess our local needs.
Catherine Palmer Paton
Falls Village
"Cow," by Joelle Sander.Cornwall Library
Lala TamarProvided
