Bradford
What does Vermont mean to you?:
A New England state that offered varied seasons with wonderful, local characters to entertain us all while remaining self supporting individuals. Today it means, high taxes, too much government, poor education, social services that are out of control run by people who moved here to have the old Vermont and changed it.
What common values do Vermonters share?:
True Vermonters appreciate individuality. They are kind to their neighbors, tend to their own business, invest countless hours in their community and never gossip.
What challenges and opportunities do we see for our communities and state?:
The need to clearly define what is productivity - not attending a meeting - and reducing all groups - government, non profits etc. that are funded by tax dollars to ones that can demonstrate how the funds are used and that the funds provide benefits which are not duplicated in other programs and reach lots of citizens.
What should our priorities be as we work together to prepare Vermont for the future?:
<To make Vermont a State where all can live and work with a decent income. Giving money to the poor hasn't worked. Find a way to bring back pride to the poor, provide them with the same education the 'good' people get and reduce government so new businesses will offer reasonable jobs.
How do your thoughts about Vermont's values, future challenges and priority issues apply to YOUR community?:
Our community has approximately twice the state average for free and reduced lunches - in a self study more than twice the state average of 8th graders ours stated they use alcohol - the social services provided in our community run up $100,000s of thousands of dollars of expenses every year and for what - the systems aren't working and they need to be repaired.
