Kudos to the VNRC for taking a stand against the F-35 basing in South Burlington.  They have sent a letter to Mayor Weinberger and the City Council to that effect.

It’s tough to do, given our usually reliable DC delegation’s unanimous support for the siting;  but it is the right thing to do.

To their credit, the folks at the VNRC took a long considered look at the proposal before taking that position; and, in their statement,  they skipped the endless debate over sound-levels and went straight to the heart of the matter: sustainable communities, and what we must sometimes be prepared to do to protect them.  

We don’t need a fly-over to appreciate the impact of abandoned houses, where vandalism is the only sign of life.

Sometimes we forget that sustainable communities are natural systems as surely as those of fish, wildlife and the environmental building blocks that the VNRC is most often called upon to defend.

The VNRC argument focusses on the impact on affordable housing in the area and, in so doing, directs attention to the fundamental needs of the least among us.

Chittenden county can ill afford to sacrifice affordable housing; and those who would present the matter as a choice between job creation/job retention and affordable housing are playing at the same nasty game as the governor when he suggested raiding the earned income tax credit in order to fund early childhood education.

There are other options.  There are always other options.  Often they involve sacrifices by those who can most afford to make them but have the greatest opportunity to avoid the sacrifice.

Let’s see what you’ve got up the other sleeve, Gentlemen.