Inciting discord to sell papers

To the Editor:

What could have possessed you to print that letter from Ed Cowley and print his nasty little small-minded cartoon in The Enterprise?

In this time and in this place, given what is going on in the world today for The Enterprise to support — by giving voice to this man’s drivel — the idea of punishing public servants by subjecting them to public humiliation and possible physical violence, is at the very least  disrespectful and definitely irresponsible.

How The Enterprise is considered the official newspaper of the village of Altamont is beyond me and I would ask the powers that be reconsider that choice as quickly as possible. It is obvious you do not have the best interests of this village in mind.

I’m not sure whether you were just getting your “jollies” out of that letter or whether you, in your misplaced judgement of what is newsworthy and what is not, decided this might “rile the troops a bit” and then you just sat back and watched the “sh—” fly!

We have very concrete evidence in this country today of what happens when people that are in prominent positions passively incite riot and discord. We also have many examples of individuals that follow that direction because they are unable to think on their own.

There is no way to intelligently predict how some people will react. Therefore your lackadaisical and irresponsible handling of the newspaper gives forth the potential for some idiot to think “gee whiz, this might be fun!”

If your role is to educate and inform, you might want to start with the fact that the comprehensive plan is a work of the community to help guide the future. It is not a “constitution”; it is not even a legal document. When in the previous edition of The Enterprise, Mr. Vlahos ignorantly referred to it as “the Constitution of the Village of Altamont” you did nothing to dissuade that idea.

When Mr. Cowley jumped on that bandwagon with his ignorance, again you did nothing to correct that misconception. You just sat back and let it fly.

The village code of Altamont is the legal document that is to be followed. I know, because my husband — as the recently appointed chair of the zoning board of appeals and prior to that a member of that board — refers to it constantly. With his professional background he is an asset that the Village of Altamont is lucky to have.

Never in my life did I think I would wake up one morning and find that the ramblings of an angry Altamontonian in a small town paper that needs to fill their pages, would suggest that public humiliation in the village square might be a good idea. Nor could I imagine that they would think it’s funny.

I don’t appreciate the insinuation that my husband is not doing his best for the people of this village and I definitely don’t appreciate you inciting this discord simply to sell your papers.

Anytime a person writes to The Enterprise to express their thoughts who has a connection to someone who sits in an official capacity for the village of Altamont, you discredit their thoughts with your little “P.S.” notes letting the “public” know this person is “connected” to someone somehow (spouse/partner). Why? Because it suggests that their thoughts are not their own. How insulting!

So let me save you the time and the ink and the space of your little “P.S.”:

I am Maureen Ramirez, wife of Danny J. Ramirez — recently appointed Chair of the Zoning Board of Appeals for the Village of Altamont and these thoughts are my own.

Do you want to know why? Because Danny J. Ramirez decided he would not dignify Mr. Cowley or The Enterprise with the respect of a response.

Maureen G. Ramirez

Altamont

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