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Readers' Views

Law enforcement urges vote for Draheim and Olson To the Editor: Minnesota’s largest police association, representing over 10,000 rank and file law enforcement officers, enthusiastically supports Sen. Rich Draheim and Rep. Bjorn Olson for re-election. They will always promote public safety proposals that keep communities safe. Rising crime is a statewide problem, and we MUST restore public safety in our communities. That starts with respecting police as partners and holding violent criminals accountable. These legislators will make sure our public safety officials have the support, ...

Et. Cetera

Fun event serves as fundraiser Last weekend, Project 1590’s Kids Just Want to Have Fun committee hosted a mother-son event in Fairmont. What a great, annual event that allows for positive interactions between mothers and sons. The group is responsible for several popular attractions and we thank them for working toward making our community better. Charter Commission members question actions Several members of the Charter Commission who acted alone should have went before the whole commission for approval on the content and cost of an ad that ran this week in the Photo Press. The ...

Readers' Views

Keep Fairmont functional Dear Editor: We now have the opportunity to vote on the Fairmont City Charter questions. If adopted, these amendments will reduce the city’s ability to meet our ongoing needs. Why? Because they all have serious unintended consequences. These potential adverse consequences include: increasing the city’s cost of each election with 9 more paid election officials and a new polling place (Q1), limiting the city council’s ability to select the best candidate for the job by placing a detailed job description and contract in the charter (Q5-7), giving the city ...

Readers' Views

No on Charter Commission amendments To the Editor: This letter is in response to the front page article in the Photo Press regarding the amendments proposed by the Fairmont Charter Commission. I am a member of the commission, but am not in favor of these amendments and was very unhappy to see my name listed below the article indicating my support. The amendments were voted down by the City Council, but some members of the Charter Commission decided to not abide by this decision and put it on the ballot. There are several of us that did not agree, and we are encouraging citizens to ...

Readers' Views

Bait and/or switch and/or maybe and/or not To the Editor: Disregarding the ambiguous wording on the initial ballot to install a 1/2 percent sales tax in Fairmont. How did the $15,000,000, printed plainly in black and white, suddenly morph into a carte blanche deal for $20,000,000, $35,000,000, $50,000,000 for construction costs? (Never mind the ongoing operation and maintenance dollars.) No honest and/or ethical reason I can think of. Roger Hendrickson Fairmont

Readers' Views

Martha’s Vineyard not prepared To the Editor: In a letter to the Sentinel recently, a reader commented about the immigrants that were flown from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard. She described Martha’s Vineyard as, “one of the most exclusive places to reside in America.” Maybe yes and maybe no. The island has a year-round population of about 15,000 souls, who make on average about 71 percent of the wages of workers in the entire state of Massachusetts. They are just average, like you and me, serving the island in all the usual occupations. It is likely that these were the ones ...