I don’t know if the direct connection T. Elijah Hawkes moots (commentary, June 23) between Becca Balint reluctantly voting “yes” on the debt ceiling (a vote with which I respectfully disagree) and several hundred Vermonters being evicted from emergency shelter in motel rooms throughout the state the day after that vote is a valid one. But I doubt it.
His immediate ire would be far better directed at whoever in Montpelier was responsible for allowing motel owners to name their own price for housing the unhoused and, in so doing, to burn through the federal grants that subsidized that program rather more quickly than need have been.
Mr. Hawkes notes, “Balint is new, with habits still forming.” A little patronizing to my ear, but who’s to say? Perhaps he might apply for an advisory position on Rep. Balint’s staff and offer the benefit of his political acumen to her in D.C. in person.
Victor Ialeggio
Winooski
