Positive ways to fix a problem with public comments at Hilton Head Town Hall | Letters
Skip Hoagland reached out to me by phone last week as to my previous letter to the editor. We had a pleasant and lengthy conversation.
I see two issues that need to be addressed.
One, the salary of the president and CEO of the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce. That concern could go away quickly if taxpayer funds are not involved. If the salary is covered by member dues, this becomes a chamber issue.
Two, transparency. Town of Hilton Head Island leaders can modify the new marketing contract with the chamber to better address concerns. Reasonable oversight by a nonpartisan group would be a step in the right direction.
Councilman Tom Lennox is shining a bright light on Skip with non-residency concerns and gun charges. He is actively looking for a solution to an ongoing problem.
Public comment was never meant to be a free-for-all. Skip has violated reasonable rules on a number of occasions. The upcoming meeting with Sheriff P.J. Tanner and multiple town leaders will likely lead to a long overdue solution.
Bruce Bartow
Hilton Head Island
Racism and health care
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that black women are 32 times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white women. Black babies are nearly four times as likely as white babies to die before their first birthday.
This cuts across economic and educational lines, as pregnant black women with a college degree die at five times the rate of their white counterparts.
Causes include a lack of diversity in the medical profession and implicit bias in the way providers treat patients. Maternal health disparities and structural and institutional racism contribute to and exacerbate these biases.
In a survey of 2,700 women of all races, 22.5% of black women reported being mistreated by a health care provider during pregnancy or childbirth (negligible for white women).
Separate studies show that blacks are under-treated for pain in America.
Postpartum hemorrhaging is one of the leading causes of pregnancy-related death in the U.S., and black women who experience it are at higher risk of serious injury or death than their white counterparts.
A study of white medical students found that half believed there were biological differences between blacks and whites. If black women don’t trust the health care system, then they are not going to seek preventive care because they fear mistreatment, judgment, or misdiagnosis.
What to do? Introduce into medical training programs on how to work with a diverse patient population, provide information dispelling biases and increasing awareness of population needs, have more internships in inner cities and increase diversity in medical schools.
Richard Hammes
Hilton Head Island
Plant-based food: Its time has come
The end-of-year/New Year holidays seem to whiplash us from one extreme to the other: eat, drink and be merry vs. the customary New Year’s resolutions: reduce social media, reduce weight, and embrace a plant-based diet.
One third of consumers already report reducing their consumption of animal foods. Hundreds of school, college, hospital, and corporate cafeterias have embraced “Meatless Monday.” Even fast-food chains Chipotle, Denny’s, Panera, Subway, Taco Bell and White Castle are rolling out plant-based options.
A dozen start-ups, led by Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, are creating healthy, eco-friendly, compassionate, convenient, delicious plant-based meat and dairy alternatives. Meat industry giants Tyson Foods, Cargill, and Canada’s Maple Leaf Foods have invested heavily in plant-based meat development. So have a number of Microsoft, Google, Twitter, and PayPal pioneers.
According to Plant-Based Foods Association, plant-based food sales have grown by 20% in recent years, 10 times the growth rate of all foods. Sales of plant-based cheeses, creamers, butter, yogurts, and ice creams are exploding at a 50% growth rate. Plant-based milks now account for 15% of the milk market.
The plant-based New Year’s resolution requires no sweat or deprivation — just some fun exploration of your favorite supermarket, restaurants, and food websites.
Ivan Petersen
Hilton Head Island
Trump subverts the Constitution
The most appalling and ignorant defense of President Donald Trump is that he did nothing wrong. Actually, Trump’s entire business and personal life is littered with wrongs.
In politics, his lie that President Barack Obama was born outside the USA was wrong factually and ethically. During Trump’s presidential campaign, his encouragement to Russia to interfere in the election was wrong. When Congress mandated an investigation into Russian interference, Trump’s obstruction of justice was wrong. A proclamation signed by over 700 prosecutors says any other citizen would have been indicted for what Trump did.
Most recently, Trump violated his oath of office by withholding the congressional appropriation of aid to Ukraine. We know from Trump’s own words in the transcript of the telephone call that he demanded a favor in return for releasing that aid. That favor was to smear Joe Biden. Compounding that wrong is Trump’s defiance of congressional subpoenas, another clear obstruction of justice, one that strikes at the foundation of our Constitution.
Professional historians study the abuse of power and the rise of dictators. Now, more than 2,000 historians, myself included, have signed a public letter explaining why Trump should be impeached and removed from office. Along with an exposition of the case, the letter says Trump “has violated his oath to ‘faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States’ and to ‘preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.’ His attempts to subvert the Constitution ... urgently and justly require his impeachment.”
Raymond Dominick
Bluffton
Joe Cunningham unbelievable
U.S. Rep. Joe Cunningham would have us believe that President Donald Trump “abused the power of his office by coercing a foreign government into investigating his political rival,” notwithstanding our knowledge that the allegedly coerced action never happened and that the allegedly coerced party, the Ukrainian president, has publicly stated on several occasions that there was no “pressure” or “blackmail” from the U.S. to start an investigation.
Belief in the Easter Bunny should come more easily than the belief the congressman demands of us.
The congressman also writes, “By refusing to cooperate with Congress, the president also clearly obstructed Congress.” Clearly? As noted by the Wall Street Journal on Dec. 19, 2019: “The second article – resisting Congressional subpoenas – boils down to impeaching Mr. Trump because he has gone to court to protect the powers of his office. Every modern president has done that on some issue, including Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.”
Further, the Wall Street Journal on May 22, 2019 noted that the previous six administrations had taken the position that “Congress cannot compel the appearance of a close advisor to the president,” a judgment “backed by numerous legal memos from the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel.”
In March 2019, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told The Washington Post, “Impeachment is so divisive to the country that unless there’s something so compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan, I don’t think we should go down that path.”
Unfortunately, our congressman has chosen, along with Pelosi, to be an agent of that predicted divisiveness.
George Loud
Hilton Head Island
Questons about Hilton Head Town Council transparency
Hilton Head Island Town Councilman Tom Lennox attacks a problematic citizen regarding Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce accommodations tax transparency.
The chamber refuses to be completely transparent to Town Council.
Town Council turns a blind eye to this.
How do global periodical travel magazines work? What’s a “Participation Rebate”? Is there a price you can pay for a certain designation?
Why aren’t the mayor and Town Council more concerned about transparency?
Just asking.
Lyn Piwko Bullard
Hilton Head Island