To the Editor:
Make the Island great again.
This is the year that we can come together and, together, make the Vineyard great again.
Affordable housing — there has always been the summer shuffle, but now the housing situation is desperate. Kindness and compassion would go a long way toward renting out rooms or homes that are not used in the winter to people who could use a break.
Landlord protection — there could be some kindness in the courts for landlords who find themselves with truly bad tenants. Compassion for tenants is not something that should create an imbalance so severe that no one dares to rent.
Make the dumps great again. Some of our most treasured finds are from the dumps. When I saw a dumpster full of perfectly good 6-inch-wide cedar boards one inch thick with no knots, I knew that this was a completely berserk rule. Damn, we have windows, a Stickley rocker, restaurant-grade pots and pans — all from the dump. Please. Be kind again.
Island cars. A case in point. Why do all vehicles that reside on Island have to be new SUVs? What happened to the tradition of island cars — old beaters — sometimes old convertibles, old Jeeps, cool stuff that said, “I might have money, but I can fit in.”
Oh, and of course, give us nice sidewalks, protect the shade trees and property owners on Beach Road, give us a kind, beautiful, symmetrical road instead of a dangerous SUP and intersection that is just going to be an accident magnet.
Well, that’s it for now. Feel free to add to the list.
Happy New Year.
Frank Brunelle
Vineyard Haven
