A vote for Lisa Cope

I believe many readers of this periodical will agree how refreshing it is to meet someone who not only likes their job but is good at it as well. I speak of Lisa Cope who is running for another term as town clerk. 

 I seldom tout any individual up for election but Lisa does deserve consideration.  She is not only dedicated to her position but community minded as well, frequently serving as a volunteer within our community.

I don’t want to be here — yet I do. I avoid crowds and congestion. Bad things can happen in crowds. But — I’m back for the sixth or seventh consecutive year. It’s the Salisbury Central School’s Veterans Day event honoring Tri-state veterans and their service to country. The surrounding community is invited. A much appreciated, well organized and orchestrated event prepared by students, teachers and faculty. 

Sometimes, political edicts — as opposed to negotiated law that survives political debate — are so wrong to experts that they are forced to stand for principle. When that fails — facing an onslaught of non-legal edicts that Congress won’t overturn or debate, their only recourse is to obey the letter of their oath of office. 

The article and survey running in The Lakeville Journal and Millerton News have already led to opinions being shared with us on how The Lakeville Journal Company handles local news coverage. We’re hearing those opinions through the online and written surveys, email, phone and face to face. And that is just what we wanted. Thank you all. And for those who haven’t yet done it, please fill out the survey. It will help us moving forward.

Kudos to Dutchess County for setting the gold standard for all municipalities to follow. How? The county has become, under the leadership of County Executive Marcus Molinaro, a New York State Certified Climate Smart Community, reaching the bronze level of certification from the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). In today’s climate-challenged world, such a designation means something. It’s a way to help us work toward a world in which we don’t see rapidly rising oceans or out-of-control wildfires, climbing global temperatures or a melting Arctic.

Sometimes a recap on where we’ve seen the country going for over 60 years is useful, if only to awaken one’s indignation and yet understanding explaining an honest desire for many Americans to hanker after the times that were, the past, when we saw and felt the nation on a different course.