To the Editor:

“Same People — Same S@!#”: A political 4-by-8-foot sign along Berne’s Highway 443 screams at me every time I drive by. I can’t help but contemplate the meaning and simultaneously question the designer’s motive in the creation of this billboard.

Voting the same people back into office, including our town clerk, would mean continued stability in our town that has been increasing every year.

Five years of tax cuts is unheard of, yet Kevin Crosier, Anita Clayton, and the Berne Town Board have helped us achieve this. More of the same? Count me in!

Increased services for the elderly, including lunches served right down the road from that sign? I’ll be old soon and would love some additional help in my later years. Wouldn’t you? Count me in!

The town purchased (mostly with grant funding) an incredible piece of property that hosts nature walks, star-gazing, and other educational events that benefit our students and rural families while promoting tourism. Count me in!

A town that is not in debt and, in fact, is very financially sound? Count me in!

A supervisor and town board that has the foresight of promoting agro-tourism for the future economic development of our community and small farms? Count me in!

A town that has a strong liaison with our state and federal government, garnering many hundreds of thousands of grant dollars — due to the hard work of Anita Clayton and Kevin Crosier and our existing town board? Sounds like a match made in heaven! Count me in!

Add to the mix Ron Shultes as the new highway superintendent who is eager to work with our amazing town team and not against them — nothing will stop Berne from being “The Town in the Hilltowns” where everyone wants to be, resulting in higher property values. Count me in!

So I refer back to the sign: “Same People — Same S@!#.” Yes, please keep it coming!

Now we just need to get out and vote!

Emily Vincent

Berne