This is to express my disgust at the inflammatory op-ed in the October 9 edition of the Herald, in which the writer attacked Mayor Michael Doenges, Rep. William Notte, the members of Rutland Forward, and the Rutland Young Professionals.
Not only did the writer come off as a haranguing hatred-filled heckler, but there was no evidence of the writer’s credentials as a community leader, no evidence of their credentials as a business owner, and no evidence of their credentials as an educator.
What’s more, the writer did not offer any reality-based 21st century remedies that would benefit Rutland in particular or Vermont in general. Rather, the writer’s feeble attempt to denigrate progress came off as an obsession with regression, the kind of thinking that could boomerang us back a hundred years.
Usually the best retort to something as awful as that scornful screed is to ignore it. But as a Vermont business owner and educator who supports our state’s agricultural producers as well as advocating for several Vermont nonprofits, I’m compelled to express my utmost respect and admiration for the Rutland Young Professionals, in particular. That the organization itself continues to thrive is a testament to the fact that every one of its current board members is a vital contributor to Vermont’s growth, whether as business owners, corporate managers, civic leaders or nonprofit professionals.
They include: CEDRR’s Cooper Babbitt; HFCU’s Mackenzie Warner; Camille’s owner, Jadziah DeRosia, who is RYP’s current president; Killington marketing executive Amy Laramie; and Rutland City Alderman Kiana McClure. In every conversation I’ve ever had with these young leaders, they have been positive and solution driven, exemplary ambassadors for their organizations. The same goes for discussions I’ve had with Mayor Doenges – even about difficult topics. He is one of the most accessible and empathetic civic leaders I’ve ever met.
In contrast, when I Googled the writer’s name, and every version of it I could think of, I found nothing at all, except for their delusional diatribe in the Herald. Perhaps the fact that the diatribe is from someone with no other evident accomplishments, is all the validation the Rutland Young Professionals, Mayor Doenges, Rep. Notte, and the leaders of Rutland Forward need. Google any one of them, and their value is evident – front, center and, yes, forward – there, for most reasonable people to see.
Like many other seniors in our community, I am grateful for the emerging leaders who are doing so much to facilitate Rutland’s progress – and by extension, Vermont’s. Their optimism, experience, and expertise are our only hope for the future, a positively progressive one for all except the most oblivious and obstinate among us, those for whom regression is an obsession, a very dangerous one at that.
