On February 9, 2016

Haff time: On planning and progress

Dear Editor,

As we approach election time just weeks from now, please know that when you vote for a select person you’re actually voting for somebody whose main job it is to set a budget for our town that takes care of existing infrastructure, roads, public safety (fire/police), schools and recreation. It is not the town’s job to get into private business. Over the past 10 years, I feel that our town hall has gone away from the main purpose of town government — our roads are failing, our pool is failing, our irrigation system at our golf course has limited time left, and now we’ve been told that our fire department needs to be replaced. This select board has put together a budget that does not address any of these issues. They continue to kick the can down the road. Instead what they’ve done in the budget is cut back funding for core capital reserve plans for our town and have decided to add an extra full-time employee to the EDT, (which comes with full benefits.) We’ve also decided to fund other projects such as a park and ride, welcome center, kayak trails and bike trails, which is great IF we were taking care of our existing infrastructure.

Over the course of the next few weeks I look forward to explaining to voters how we can accomplish this and still plan for an exciting future here in Killington. With the right leadership and prioritization much can be accomplished.

Jim Haff, Killington

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