To The Editor:

First I should start with an apology. I should have written this right after the election, but alas did not and for that I apologize to you, Ed.

Ed, I want to thank you for your many years of public service to our Mad River Valley community, including serving on the Fayston Select Board and your latest term as our local representative in the state Legislature. I thought you were a voice of reason and was proud of the fact you were not afraid to vote your conscience, no matter which side of the aisle it aligned with.

I think you were a victim of not having the right letter after your name in the Legislature; if that is the case, I am not only sorry but disappointed. I also felt it was disrespectful to bring national endorsements into our Valley elections – this was a tactic I would expect to see at the national level, not here in our Valley.

In politics, I have always held Vermont and, in particular, our community to a higher standard than that played at the national level. While I look forward to the 2020 national elections and pray we can put some sanity and civility back into our government, I can only hope we have not become so embittered, we have forgotten who we are. We are people of integrity. I hope we don’t lose sight of who we are and always vote our conscience, not party lines. This philosophy may be hard to follow at the national level, but certainly our local politics can do better.

Ed, you are a person of integrity and I was proud to have you as my representative in the Legislature. Thank you for your service.

Rosemarie White

Warren