By Guy Page
A member of the Central Vermont Regional Planning Commission (CVRPC) has resigned because, she says, the organization’s policies restrict human access to transportation, the woods, and even the air we breathe. Disagreement is censored and ignored, Amy Hornblas says.
Hornblas, of Marshfield, delivered her resignation letter at the commission’s October meeting. The CVRPC serves 23 municipalities in Washington and Orange Counties, “working on their behalf to build strong and resilient communities, foster economic prosperity, and promote a high quality of life in an equitable and sustainable manner” through planning and community development assistance to municipal governments, the CVRPC website says.
Although little-known to most residents of those towns, the state’s 11 regional planning commissions help develop and implement local and regional plans – mandated by state legislation – overseeing development, water use, housing, energy, and other quality of life issues. Each RPC has a town representative, some of whom sit on the Executive Committee. The CVRPC Executive Committee includes Steve Lotspeich, Chair – Waterbury, Gerry D’Amico, Vice Chair – Roxbury, Janet Shatney, Secretary/Treasurer – Barre City, Michael Gray – Woodbury, Lee Cattaneo – Orange, Peter Carbee – Washington, and Laura Hill-Eubanks – Northfield. Hill-Eubanks is a candidate for the House of Representatives in the General Election next Tuesday.
According to Hornblas – an outspken opponent of masking during the pandemic – the RPCs oversee a “public process that creates an illusion of public input.” Research is required to conform to policy, and not the other way around. A dangerous Groupthink better known in fascist and communist bureaucracies has taken hold, she says.
The letter in full is published below:
Dear Central Vermont Regional Planning Commissioners, Thank you. My name is Amy Hornblas and since 2017 I’ve been the Board of Commissioners representative for Cabot. I’ve also served as the Chair of the Clean Water Advisory Council. I’m here tonight because it appears that Central Vermont Regional Planning Commission’s mask policy, relevant OSHA standards, and poor supervision of the mask use is not something that the Director or the Executive Committee are willing to discuss. Instead, they have sent me to you, the Board of Commissioners. That’s why I’m speaking to you tonight. Thank you, to my fellow commissioners.
You see, we, the Board of Commissioners, are ultimately responsible for CVRPC’s policies and procedures, whether we had any part in writing them or not. We are bureaucrats, basically, who’ve been appointed to represent our towns, and therefore we are responsible for giving the public’s approval to the planning and implementation of the policies and regulations that affect our region.
If I step back and consider the plans, policies, and regulations that we’ve been asked to weigh in on in my time on the board, I see a clear pattern. First of all, all of these plans and procedures restrict our access to the natural world and the resources that we need to survive, such as the roads we travel on, the wood we use to build and heat our homes, the farms where we grow our food, the natural landscape, the forests and rivers (where we belong), and now, the very air we breathe.
The second clear pattern that I see is that any dissent, such as any disagreement with the proposed policies, any concerns that the costs of these policies will outweigh the benefits, is censored or ignored. I think back to discussions we had about not being able to protect small farms, we have to treat them equally as large farms. Not being able to limit wind towers because we’d also have to limit farm silos. Renewable energy issues… all of those things.
In the end, it appears that what we have is a public process that creates an illusion of public input. I value all of your time and expertise, fellow commissioners. I’ve learned so much from each of you, from your unique perspective on all these issues. However, all of the wisdom you share in these meetings is falling on deaf ears. They are like the monkeys that see no evil, hear no evil, say no evil. Nothing that opposes the policy is going to influence the policy. It’s like the Centers for Disease Control when they “peer review” the papers that they print; they peer review them to make sure that the research conforms with the policy, not the other way around. Their policy does not conform with the research, the research must conform with the policy.
I’ve spoken with several of you privately over the past few years and I know that, like most people, many of you see the harms of masks clearly, and you can see that they clearly outweigh the benefits. However, in this current climate of fear, censorship, and intimidation (that this organization, unfortunately, is participating in) it’s similar to living under Communism or Fascism or some other dictatorial regime. Unfortunately, in those conditions, mob mentality tends to rule. People become willing to sacrifice their long-term safety, and their own integrity, in order to belong, and avoid being cast out of the group by speaking the truth.
Well, I’m willing to say it. The Emperor literally has no clothes. None of these policies are based on actual real-world science, and they are actually abusive. Silencing people, ignoring their suffering, and with-holding their basic needs is abusive. Remember, in all the areas that we’ve discussed as Commissioners- the natural and human resources that we serve on this board to protect- have all been worsening by our efforts, not improving. I, personally, am no longer going to participate in this illusion of public process. With all due respect, and love, and compassion to each and every one of you, I resign.
I thank you for your time. Sincerely,
Amy Hornblas