Letters to the Editor: April 3

Public safety in Vermont requires rebalancing priorities

To the Editor:

Last fall, Vermonters delivered a clear message: They want meaningful change on the issues impacting their daily lives: property taxes, education, housing and affordability. One common concern unites all these challenges: the need to ensure the safety of our communities, downtowns, neighborhoods and personal property.

I have spent nearly 35 years living and working in Vermont — not only as your commissioner of Public Safety but also as a mother, coach, neighbor, police officer and policy advisor. My commitment to vibrant, attractive and safe communities runs deep. Yet many of our communities face significant public health and safety challenges that threaten our shared way of life.

When I reflect on what I’m hearing and seeing across the state, I think about a pendulum that has swung too far in one direction and needs to be rebalanced. On one end is an overly punitive system that can overlook the potential for rehabilitation and the rights of individuals. On the other end is an approach so lenient that repeat offenders aren’t held accountable for the harm they inflict on our communities. Today, our policies have drifted too far toward leniency, and the damage — measured in undermined trust, diminished social cohesion and degraded public spaces — can no longer be ignored.

Governor Scott’s proposed omnibus public safety bill takes a commonsense, measured approach to restoring balance. It recognizes the close ties between public health and public safety and tackles substance use, mental health and community well-being all at once. Healthy individuals build stronger families, and strong families support thriving schools. Safe neighborhoods attract residents and visitors, fueling local businesses and energizing our downtowns. In short, these efforts create a foundation for a robust, resilient community.

Over the past two years, we’ve worked productively with the Legislature to address persistent problems. Now, we must build on that partnership by providing the right tools to hold a small number of individuals accountable — those whose repeated actions disproportionately damage local businesses, neighborhoods and public spaces. Our proposals include commonsense reforms:

Enhanced accountability: Bail revocation for repeat offenders and improved pre-trial supervision ensure that those who repeatedly harm our communities face timely and proportionate consequences. 

Fair treatment for adults: Repealing policies like “raise the age” reaffirms that adults must be held to the full standards of accountability under our laws. 

Balanced intervention: Ending “catch-and-release” practices and improving access to recovery and mental health services at critical intervention points ensure that our measures are both just and effective.

These reforms are essential at a time when Vermont is facing rising drug trafficking, increased violent crime and the resultant uptick in gun violence and homicides. When serious offenders perceive our state as a soft target, our communities bear the cost — and that must stop.

At the heart of these reforms lies our shared social contract. This contract is the unspoken agreement that binds us as Vermonters. It represents our mutual commitment to support one another, hold each other accountable and ensure that our rights come with responsibilities. It promises that our communities will be safe havens where every individual — whether a resident, a visitor or someone seeking help — can thrive. Our proposed measures aim to renew that contract. They are not merely punitive steps but a balanced response that combines accountability with compassion, enforcement with opportunities for rehabilitation.

By reaffirming our commitment to the social contract, we are pledging to safeguard our parks, neighborhoods and downtowns — not only as spaces of economic opportunity but as symbols of our collective trust and responsibility. When every individual knows that their actions have consequences and that our community will stand by those in need, we create a foundation for a safer, healthier and more vibrant Vermont.

We owe Vermonters our best efforts to uphold this promise. By enacting these measures, we can recalibrate our approach to public safety and renew the social contract that underpins our shared quality of life. Together, let’s create a Vermont where every corner of our state reflects the security, respect and opportunity we all deserve.

Jennifer Morrison
Waterbury

(Jennifer Morrison is the commissioner of the Vermont Department of Public Safety.)

Climate initiatives are investments in Vermont’s farmers and future 

To the Editor:

I want you to imagine standing in a field surrounded by 9,000 beautiful, healthy Brussels sprout plants, months of careful planning, hard work and abundance growing from the soil. But then, in a matter of days, relentless rain pounds the earth, drowning the roots, rotting the harvest and washing away not just my crops but also my livelihood.

This was the reality for many farmers in the summer of 2023 when an otherwise ordinary storm swept through Vermont. It wasn’t a hurricane or some historic, once-in-a-lifetime storm—it was just another rainstorm in Vermont—except now, even “normal” storms are devastating.

I’ve been an organic farmer for 16 years, with the mission to grow nutritious food to feed my community. I cared for the soil, nurtured biodiversity and worked in rhythm with the land. But no amount of careful stewardship can hold back the rising tide of climate change. When extreme weather wipes away farmers’ harvests, when climate change fuels extreme storms, small-scale farmers, especially small growers working in harmony with the land, face devastating losses. They lose their incomes and often bear the financial risk alone with little safety net.

When crops fail, local healthy products don’t reach markets, and neighbors and families lose access to fresh, local food. Rural economies shrink if small farms go under, and good agricultural jobs disappear. We risk losing much of what makes Vermont a wonderful place to live.

If we do not address these vulnerabilities, work to reduce emissions and set up safeguards now, we will have a food system dominated by large-scale industrial farming. The only farms that will survive will be those that depend on chemicals and excessive tillage and produce emissions that harm ecosystems and human health. This will intensify climate feedback loops until these farms can no longer survive in extreme climate conditions, and our entire food system will collapse. 

How we farm, protect our land and respond to climate change directly impacts the social determinants of health — the conditions that shape how we live, work and thrive. Food, in my opinion, is the most essential determinant of all and begins with how we protect our environment. If we ignore the climate crisis, our farms and communities will deteriorate. We have an obligation, and an opportunity, to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and move our state to more clean, local, energy-independent resources. In doing so, we must do our part to mitigate the high cost and deeply consequential risks of ongoing, insufficient efforts to cut planet-destabilizing pollution.

We need a government of compassion, not austerity. We need lawmakers and Governor Scott to be forward-thinking and recognize what is at stake. We need real solutions, not rhetorical support. The well-being of Vermont’s farmers, families and future generations is on the line.  

Vermont committed to climate resilience with the Global Warming Solutions Act, a landmark law that holds the state accountable for reducing carbon emissions and protecting communities from climate impacts in a just and cost-effective way. This law is critical to ensuring a future where farmers can withstand extreme weather; local food systems remain strong; and we all do our part to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. 

We do not need Bill H.289, which has been introduced in the Vermont House of Representatives and seeks to reverse our climate progress and gut the Global Warming Solutions Act, essentially continuing to punt on essential climate solutions. If Vermont retreats on climate action, when state leadership is more critical than ever as President Trump doubles down on fossil fuels, the result will be failed crops and increased economic instability. That reality directly threatens the health of every Vermonter who relies on clean air, stable weather and a secure food system. We must not let that happen; far too much is at stake. We must protect our farms, food, families and future.

That is why I am calling on legislators to reject this harmful bill and instead focus on building a regenerative food system and renewable energy economy.

Jaiel Pulskamp
Worcester

(Jaiel Pulskamp has been an organic farmer for over 15 years and is an appointed member of the Vermont Climate Council, representing the agriculture sector.)