I ran for supervisor and lost. A gentleman leaving the voting building said, “Tony I liked your idea about making the Industrial Park into a center to help the Veterans.” I asked, “Did you vote for me?” His answer was NO.

Given there are three facilities, including the mother ship, within 45 minutes to an hour away, it seems that access to the services is the issue, not a lack of facilities. This is not just a Veteran’s problem, but an overarching Eastern Shore problem. Try being a child that needs mental health services, and see how that works out for you. There is only one child psychiatrist on the shore and he doesn’t take patients. The only alternative is to make an appointment across the bay (several months waiting lists), and then someone has to take off from work to get them there. Not only access to services, but also being able to get across the bay to access the myriad of employment opportunities, as well as internships and apprentice programs that exist at shipyards is also a big issue. Ultimately, we need to lobby for a Star Transit form of service that affordably gets Eastern Shore residents across the bay. It will never be convenient, but it will be an option, and an opportunity.

Unfortunately, the approach being advocated by Mr. Vaccaro has infected town and county governments here on the shore, and has become so ingrained that there may be no turning back. It seems there is a tendency to flatly misdiagnose the problem, and then attack it with a 700 ton Manitowac crane when all we really needed was a small backhoe. The bloated, expensive staffs, huge debt, and dangerous (egregious) zoning plans are all traceable to process and methodology. Until that is changed, well, get used to more of the same, and remaining stuck here.