Maureen Tadlock

Don't blame opponents of Putney project for rise in costs

The article was very interesting and informative. However, I take issue with Elizabeth Bridgewater's insinuation that those who oppose the Windham-Windsor Housing Trust's proposed building project in Putney are responsible for the increase in costs for the project.

Once again, it seems that citizens who have every civil and legal right to oppose this building project in the only green space in downtown Putney are being shamed into silence.

Why doesn't WWHT do what it has historically been so good at doing - which is to redevelop an existing building to provide the 25 housing units in Windham County?

According to Craig Miskovich - as quoted earlier in the article - it costs something like four or five times more to put up a new structure than to redevelop an existing building.

Read More

Opposition to Putney affordable housing project is not about opposition to affordable housing

I thank and applaud Laura Campbell for all of the time and energy she has given to opposing the proposed housing project in Putney. She and those who have helped and supported her in this effort deserve a lot of credit for stepping up and showing up to meet...

Read More

How can we get beyond the toxic standoff in our politics?

Pointing fingers at the ‘other’ and calling names is only causing a wider chasm where a second civil war starts to seem like a real possibility. We need to start seeing each other as human beings again.

Are we ever going to be able to talk to each other again? This is something I've been asking myself for a while now. And, along with the threat to our democracy, I find that question to be one of the real tragedies of our polarized society. Oh, and...

Read More

More

Concerns about Putney housing plans are not unwarranted

In reading the various articles and commentaries regarding the low-income or mixed-income housing proposal in Putney, I am struck by the fact that most of the people who are advocating for it do not live near the proposed site. They talk about all of the reasons we need more affordable housing in this town - an argument that would be difficult to dispute anywhere in Vermont. But I don't get the feeling that those who are opposed to this particular...

Read More

‘Our country is a nation of beautiful agony’

In reading Nick Biddle's essay, I found myself taken aback by the words, “Our democracy began not as an ideal but as a con by our Founding Fathers to spur colonists to war.” But then it was meant to be provocative. And though I am not ready to see our Founding Fathers as cons rather than idealists, I was reminded of something I learned in college many years ago: to accept an idea or concept for hypothesis' sake long enough...

Read More

Too many of us fall prey to our magical thinking

As I write this, it is the first day of a new year, and I, along with many others, ponder the mostly dreadful year that can't get into the rear view mirror fast enough. So long, 2020 - don't let the door hit you on the way out! There is a sense of relief as I anticipate positive changes on the horizon. I look forward to an administration that at least has the intention of focusing on things like racial...

Read More

From panic to peace

I sat at my desk at work, taking in the breaking news of the Coronavirus and coming to the conclusion that I would need to meet with my supervisor to discuss my taking some time off as I am of the age to be considered at risk of serious complications or even death should I contract it. I was already one of the only people wearing a mask on the unit at the psychiatric hospital where I work. Because I...

Read More