Vindication

Last week, the best show in the county was to be seen on the second floor of the Monticello courthouse, where the case of Alvarez v. Doherty was heard.  

Robert Doherty, chairman of the county legislature, had issued a press release stating that a fellow legislator, Luis Alvarez, had called a county commissioner a vulgarity that cannot be printed in a family newspaper. 

In the end, the jury found Mr. Doherty guilty of defaming Luis Alvarez. 

Citizens of District 1, please do not return Rob Doherty to office as your legislator this November. You deserve better representation than what this scurrilous politician can provide.

Rebekah Creshkoff

Callicoon, NY

A chance to make right an educational wrong

Pennsylvania is at a public education crossroads. Following the ruling of the Commonwealth Court earlier this year that labeled the state’s system of funding public education unconstitutional, the Basic Education Funding Commission (BEFC) is holding several hearings around the state as they undertake an essential task of reviewing the distribution of state funding for basic education among the state’s 500 school districts. 

They are also required to prepare a report of their findings for the General Assembly.

Gov. Shapiro stated in his March budget address, “President Judge Renée Cohn Jubelirer of the Commonwealth Court issued a ruling declaring Pennsylvania’s system for funding public education unconstitutional... Her remedy was for us to come up with a solution that ensures every child has access to a thorough and efficient education... I’m ready to meet you there.”

The BEFC must be the table that Gov. Shapiro referred to.

In its final report this fall, the BEFC should focus on four key priorities stemming from the Commonwealth Court decision. It must establish a meaningful adequacy target for each school district, calculate targets that address unmet needs beyond K-12 basic education funding, ensure fair and equitable distribution of the state’s share of funding and develop a plan, with a reasonable timeline, for the state to meet its share of these targets.

I urge the BEFC to do its job by prioritizing these tasks and ensuring that every student in the state has access to a comprehensive, effective, and modern public education system.

Susan Spicka

Executive director, Education Voters of Pennsylvania

Shippensburg, PA

Take a hard look at the Democratic choice

To all the liberals who opine their snide remarks about Trump and the Republicans,  you should put down your pen and think a little harder. A recent My View piece talks about “totalitarianism strong-man rule or Democracy.”

I ask, what is the executive branch involved in currently? The weaponizing of the DOJ, using the justice system to eliminate an opponent, using political influence to bolster the family coffers?

When Biden gave his State of the Union address with military guards in the background it looked like a scene out of the Kremlin. 

This so-called Democratic Party has taken a turn for the worse. To say the least, this president is incompetent, the vice president is a joke and it makes you wonder who is in charge. But they will be the party’s choice in ‘24. 

God forbid a private citizen, a successful businessman, runs for president and wins. 

Do we really have to keep electing career politicians who were created from the same mold? Say what you want about Trump, for all his faults, his policies were good and he should have been reelected.

Lastly, I am sick of Trump and all of the chaos around him, but as an Independent voter and an independent thinker, for the sake of this country, I will vote for him.

Bob Henderson

Narrowsburg, NY