Recently I published a poem in the CVN as a paid public commentary. It was straight from my heart. It spoke of my love of our town and of my sadness with regard to our latest bout of snarliness.

Snarl: v. (1) To say roughly, say brusquely, say nastily, bark, snap, growl; informal jump down someone’s throat. (2) To complicate, confuse, muddle, jumble; informal mess up.

I had hoped it might help.

Now I would like to speak more directly. I believe in democracy. I have carried a pocket Constitution in my backpack/ purse/ handbag since I was a teenager. I’m an idealist. I expect fairness and justice, kindness and tolerance, truth as a given, morality to be the ultimate law of the land.

This recall effort breaks everything I believe in. I understand that it meets the legal technicalities that allowed it to be pushed through but is it fair or just? Is it kind or tolerant? Are the claims even true? Is there a shred of morality or goodness or decency present? As a community, are we engaging our hard-earned collective wisdom?

For me the answer is a resounding no to all of the above. The folks in question, Heather, Tom and Tresham, are good people who continue to work tirelessly for our community in spite of these baseless personal attacks.

Please, friends, let’s get back to the Haines we all love. Join me in voting NO on the recalls of our neighbors.

Debi Knight Kennedy