Editor:

The Chatham Zoning Board of Appeals’ recent denial of the Meetinghouse Road housing proposal may feel like a victory for some, but it is worth looking past the rhetoric to examine the actual trajectory of our town. As current stewards of Chatham, we are called upon to mitigate the subtle assault we are facing — the beautiful delusion of opulence that treats our community as a luxury commodity rather than a living town.

Look at the stark contrast in our municipal priorities. Luxury estates consume modest year-round homes unabated, reflecting a broader economic trend in which no amount of square footage — 5,000, 6,000, or even 8,000 square feet — seems enough to satisfy a growing leisure class.

Why is there no sustained public outcry or organized response to this relentless expansion that prices local families out of Chatham? Yet, the moment a 100 percent affordable neighborhood is proposed for ordinary year-round residents earning between $30,000 and $120,000, vocal opposition escalates, generating legal and procedural obstacles that threaten to leave working people with nowhere left to live.

Trying to close the door on Meetinghouse Road does not protect Chatham; it surrenders to this delusion and accelerates our erasure. True stewardship means managing our town responsibly — striving with conviction to preserve the living soul of Chatham and ensuring our neighbors always have a place to call home. When

we commit taxpayer money to a losing legal defense against our own housing goals, we aren't defending local control or protecting local character. We are cutting another generational thread that binds our past to our future, becoming complicit in our own dispossession.

Karolyn McClelland
South Chatham
The writer is chair of the Chatham Community Housing Partnership and a member of the Chatham Affordable Housing Trust Board.

Editor:

I just found out that the COP 31 International Conference of Parties on Climate Change is taking place in Turkey. Did you hear about it? Why is this not on our radar? We are a part of this world. We can no longer be the ostrich with our head in the sand while the rest of the world is left to deal with repercussions that our country has played one of the biggest roles in creating!

Please do everything you can to convince our new leaders that we need to be a driving force in mitigating the damage caused by climate change. The whole world is desperately looking to us with a slight glimmer of new hope. Our country can and needs to play a renewed leading role. Please get informed and get involved!

Christine Claireaux
Orleans