voices - The Commons

6 nEWS The Commons • October 2008 The Commons • October 2008 nEWS 7
n politics FROM page 5
a little more open to voting for
progressives.”
Webster believes the mainstream
media has co-opted the
definition of “liberal,” turning a
more nuanced word into a loaded
term of derision.
“plenty of Vermont Republicans
are liberal,” Webster says,
savoring the irony. “They just
don’t know it.”
even well into the campaign,
it has been almost impossible to
find even one McCain/palin lawn
sign in the Brattleboro area, another
rough benchmark of the
minority status of the Republican
party in Windham County.
But Hebert, of Vernon, says
there’s a good, solid base of
support for his Republicans. so
does the state gOp organization,
whose chair, Rob Roper, points to
the ouster of Brattleboro selectboard
Chair audrey garfield as a
conservative backlash to a decidedly
progressive agenda.
Thirty-eight percent of Windham
County voters cast a ballot
for Douglas in 2006. president
george W. Bush received 37.3
percent of the vote in 2004 in
the county.
He describes Windham County
citizens as “a very diverse group
of people,” with a range of views
reflected on the Brattleboro
Union High school Board, where
he serves as vice chairman.
The problem, says Hebert,
himself a two-time candidate for
state senate, comes with fielding
new candidates who find
themselves reluctant to subject
themselves to a “not pleasant”
political arena, one where candidates
find themselves accused
of negative campaigning when
they express honest political
differences.
Vermont has followed the national
lead of increasingly nasty
partisan political rhetoric, Hebert
says sorrowfully. “a couple of decades
ago, that wasn’t so.”
Hebert describes former Democratic
state Representative
Tim O’Connor, a Brattleboro
attorney who served in the legislature
from 1969 to 1980, as “a
fine speaker of the house” who
didn’t deserve to be “vilified”
in recent years when he openly
broke party lines and supported
Douglas.
“I found that appalling,” he
said.
particularly distressing, says
Hebert, a self-described “Catholic
who was brought up with a
set of values,” was the contention
during the civil unions debate
of 2000 that “if someone didn’t
agree with gay marriage, you
were somehow a mean-spirited,
learn about the candidates
Governor
• Jim Douglas (R) ...............................www.jimdouglas.com
• Gaye Symington (D) .................www.symingtonforgovernor.com
• Anthony Pollina (I) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.anthonypollina.com
• Peter Diamondstone (LU) . . . www.libertyunionparty.org/?p=27#more-27
lieutenant Governor
• Brian Dubie (R) ...............................www.briandubie.com
• Tom Costello (D) ......................... www.tomcostelloforvt.com
• Ben Mitchell (LU) .......... www.libertyunionparty.org/?p=18#more-18
U.s. Representative
• Peter Welch (D) .........................www.welchforcongress.com
• Thomas Hermann (P) ......................... www.votepeacevt.com
intolerant homophobe.”
Hebert calls that the political
environment unhospitable
for candidates of any party. “If
the roles were changed — if the
legislature were predominantly
Republican — we’d still see a
problem getting candidates,”
he says.
Taking the long view, Hebert
says for Republicans to be successful
once again in the state,
“we must clearly define who
and what we are as Vermont
Republicans.”
“For far too long we have been
defined by our opposition, with
the support of most of the media
outlets in the state,” he says. “We
need to better utilize electronic
media to get the voters engaged
earlier in the process. Many folks
today tend to only think about
elections when the ads start popping
up on television.”
Hebert, chairman of the state
party platform committee, says
a new platform for the electorate
to consider “clearly reflects the
views of Vermont Republicans,
not just the die hard political
junkies like myself.” He also says
the party will look toward engaging
young people in schools with
guest speakers, Young Republican
clubs, and other activities
that will expose students to a
broad variety of political ideas
and ideologies.
“all this and more will take
time,” Hebert says. “Change
comes slowly. The Democrats
did not gain control of the state
overnight.”
Editor’s note: The campaigns of
Jim Douglas, Gaye Symington,
and Tom Costello, as well as the
Vermont state Democratic Party,
did not respond to multiple messages,
e-mails, or direct personal
overtures seeking participation
in this story.
n Recreation FROM page 1
skating rink, and a ski tow, has
developed serious problems that
will require extensive rebuilding
within the next few years.
The facility needs a major overhaul,
requiring major funding for
repairs — like $25,000 to repair
leaks in the pool lines — which
its proponents say would be better
spent on a new, state-of-the-art
activity center.
Now organizers on the town’s
Recreation Facility Committee
are optimistic that the Rockingham
area Recreation Center
will be “a gathering place where
family members of all ages can
find healthy activities, fun and
companionship,” according to
literature provided by the Rockingham
Recreation Commission
on the town’s Web site, www.
rockbf.org.
“The whole idea started as
a real grassroots idea based
around the thought of the town
of Rockingham simply needing
a place for kids to go, especially
during the winter months when
the existing recreation center
closes its doors,” said Raphael
“Lefty” Lopez, a Bellows Falls
resident and original director of
the Rockingham pool project.
“However, it has developed
into even more than that now, because
not only do the kids need
a place to go for activities, but
also adults and senior citizens
as well,” Lopez said.
The plan will evolve into a
“multi-generational facility that
will not only be useful for all generations,
but also help bridge the
gap between those generations,”
Lopez added.
The fully accessible facility
will include a new outdoor pool
with a movable bulkhead to divide
a splash pool from a lap
pool. a 37,000-square-foot recreation
building will include locker
rooms and bathrooms, an indoor
facility featuring a therapy pool,
and versatile courts used for
activities such as basketball, volleyball,
and tennis.
a second floor will accommodate
office and storage space,
meeting and activity areas, a
media center and computer lab,
and a mezzanine level that also
serves as a walking track.
The estimated overall cost? a
cool $4.5 million.
Building and operating expenses,
estimated at $400,000
to $450,000 per year, should be
offset by fees, income, and contributions
from the community,
according to the Web site.
The Recreation Facilities Committee
has contracted Mark
green from saxtons River, who
will oversee the fundraising
efforts of the Recreation Facilities
Committee at least through
mid-October. green told the
selectboard aug. 5 that the
committee will secure 75 to 90
percent of the necessary funds
prior to breaking ground on the
project.
Depending on how quickly the
town raises funds for the new facility,
construction could begin as
soon as next year — realistically
in the fall of 2009, unless federal
money comes through.
A long process
The concept of building a new
recreation facility was originally
proposed in 2001 by Lopez,
then a selectboard member, to
address not only the concerns
of residents having a place for
activities, but also the town’s concerns
with serious leaking in the
existing pool.
a community survey showed
roughly two-thirds of Rockingham
residents in favor of moving
forward with the “playground
project.” With those results and
a lack of funding, Lopez visited
the architecture department at
Keene state College.
“I talked to the professor at
Keene state and he thought it
would be a great assignment for
his students,” Lopez said. “so the
class created three different designs,
one of which remains the
main plan to this day.”
However, the proposed “pool
project” eventually lost momentum,
partly because of a lack of
fundraising, but mostly because
the Rockingham selectboard
simply had too many other more
pressing issues on their plate,
Lopez said.
a further complication came
from nearby springfield, which
had just received a $137,500
grant from the U.s. Department
of agriculture’s Rural Development
Housing and Community
Facilities programs to construct
a similar recreation center, making
it less likely that Rockingham
would simultaneously receive
the same type of government
funding.
Fast forward to 2007 and with
several new selectboard members
in place, Lopez received
a call inviting him to a board
meeting about brining the “pool
project” concept back to life.
“after going through so much
red tape the first time around,
I wasn’t sure how serious they
were about resurrecting the
project,” Lopez said. “But I went
to the meeting and indeed, it appeared
they had good intentions
about getting the project rolling
again.”
The selectboard appointed
a pool committee to research,
develop, and implement a structured
plan to erect a new facility at
the existing recreation facility.
“We again conducted the same
survey done six years earlier and
got virtually the same response,”
said Rockingham Recreational
Director Brad Weeks, who also
serves on the “pool project”
committee.
The majority of Rockingham
residents wanted to see the “pool
the current recreation area, in service since 1958.
project” plan put into motion.
However, this time the plan was
fine-tuned, incorporating the reality
that an outdoor, seasonal
pool would be far less costly
than the original plan with an indoor
pool.
The town of Rockingham then
received a $10,000 engineering
grant from Dubois & King, Inc.,
an engineering firm that has
designed the new facility using
Keene state students’ plan as a
base to work with.
Raising the money
“Fundraising for the pool project
is now in full swing, with a
plan of building the new multigenerational
recreation center in
two phases,” Weeks said.
phase one would encompass
construction of the swimming
pool and building, and phase
two would add the multi-use indoor
gymnasium and walking
track to the facility. each phase
would require 12 months of
construction.
The town of Rockingham has
put $100,000 towards the project,
and the pool committee has
raised roughly $50,000 towards
the cause since June. The committee
will seek the balance of
the funds from federal and state
grants and from residents and
businesses. The pool committee
has placed donation jars throughout
the town.
The project has also received
positive backing from senator
Bernie sanders, who has lobbied
for the town receiving the
same type of federal government
funding that springfield received
some six years ago.
Once the verdict on the earmark
is in, due in late October
or early November, the pool committee
will have a much better
idea of how close they actually
are to beginning construction on
the existing recreation area.
“It is indeed an important step
in the process; however, there is
still so much we as Rockingham
residents can do to contribute
to this important cause,” Lopez
said. “It’s not just about money.
There are many local businesses
that could also help with in-kind
services to help the cause, such
as demolition, plumbing, and
electrical services.
“The more that residents can
contribute by way of monetary
donations or services, the
closer we will be to seeing this
project realized. We need everyone’s
help in order to make this
happen.”
To contribute money or services
to the pool project, write to:
Rockinham Pool Project, Town
of Rockinham, P.O. Box 370,
Bellows Falls, Vt. 05101, or
contact the Rockingham Town
Hall at (802) 463-3456.
The Brattleboro Savings
& Loan is pleased to
support the Commons’
Media Mentoring Project,
a grassroots initiative
that helps budding
journalists write more
effectively about local
events and issues. Clear
communication leads
to understanding—and
that’s something we
wholeheartedly endorse.
BSL982_MediaMentoringAd.indd 1 8/21/07 9:18:34 AM