Orleans-Caledonia district needs balance

Today, I am writing to express my support of Katherine Sims of Craftsbury and hope that you will join me in supporting her. Sims is incredibly hard working, organized, creative and caring and I know that she will serve us well. I first came to know Sims as the executive director and founder of Green Mountain Farm To School.

This organization fulfills an incredibly important service to the community, both by providing healthy food for kids in our schools and by giving farmers a market for their produce. I more recently saw her in action in her role as the executive director of Northeast Kingdom Collaborative, where she organized several summits on broadband connectivity — these summits led to the formation of the NEK Communications Union District, which 30 towns in our area voted to join this town meeting.

This is going to be an important tool for improving our telecom infrastructure in the NEK. This kind of organizing on many issues will serve the NEK well for years to come.

For the last 10 years Vicki Strong and I have represented this area in the House, and while we have agreed on issues that affect the district, such as Act 46 or landfill expansion, we disagree strongly on social issues such as cannabis decriminalization and reproductive rights.

Our district is pretty evenly split politically, and it has worked out in an interesting way, where our constituents contact the representative who they feel more closely represents their politics. I bring this up because over the past decade, the other Republican nominee Jeannine A. Young (no relation) has written to me consistently and almost exclusively about her opposition to giving women access to family planning and abortion.

As I firmly believe in the separation of church and state, I find Jeannine Young’s views deeply troubling. Everyone has the right to their religious beliefs, but not the right to force their religious views on others. I find it ridiculous that we are still debating a matter that was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973, but that decision has been something that the religious right has made its priority to overturn.

Personally, I would rather my representative focus on broader issues of improving the economy and supporting the needy and vulnerable, rather than forcing Vermonters into reproductive choices against their will.

Considering the political diversity of our district, and assuming incumbent Vicki Strong will hold onto her seat (as well as her conservative beliefs), Katherine Sims will provide a strong and balanced representation of our district and the character of its people.

Rep. Sam Young

Greensboro