To the Editor:

Last Thursday morning, huge sonic booms shook the northern Adirondacks, this time from the Massachusetts National Guard, who have now joined the Vermont National Guard F-35 jets that fly over us twice a week. These flyovers and sonic booms frighten wildlife, especially during nesting seasons and disturb the peace of our lovely, wilderness-based.

What can we do to stop this or reduce the number of government jets rumbling above us?

Well, don’t bother calling Elise Stefanik. Around two months ago, I called her office to ask for her help with reducing or ending these flyovers. In response, I received a generic, platitude-filled letter about the environment. A few weeks later, I contacted the office again, for the same reason. No response. Three weeks later, I reached out by email. Again: nothing, nada, zilch. On Friday, I called her office for a fourth time. We’ll see what happens.

Clearly, responding to a constituent’s concern is not Elise’s highest priority. She’s shown us what her priorities are: interviews on Fox News; fawning on Trump and issuing sycophantic statements about how great he is; endearing herself to the extreme right wing of the GOP by supporting their fringe issues. She’s raised her profile so high that Forbes magazine even speculated that Trump might drop Pence from the ticket and run with Elise instead. (1)

I’ve had enough.

We need a FRESH FACE in Washington, someone who is NOT beholden to D.C. power mongers. Tedra Cobb is such a person. She has been a citizen of the North Country for over 30 years. Tedra’s worked her entire career to help people who cannot afford health care services, get them. Tedra’s a small businessperson herself and opposes burdensome regulations and immigration policies that affect the farming and tourism industries of the North Country. Tedra will support the EPA, an agency that is essential to preserving the unique environment of the North Country. In addition, Tedra is a true independent; as a St. Lawrence County legislator, she worked across the aisle for ethics reform.

Tedra has been involved in our communities as a firefighter and an AIDS educator; as the founder of a health care agency to provide and expand services to those who could not afford them. Tedra’s not in this race to build a career – she only wants to serve, something she’s been doing her whole life.

I had the pleasure of hearing Tedra deliver a sermon last year at our local AUUC congregation. She spoke about cultivating humility within herself and how best to engage with others thoughtfully and respectfully. She shares my values.

It’s definitely time for a change — TEDRA COBB in November. I invite you to visit her website for more information about who she is and what she stands for.

Tedra will work for us; she’ll defend us and our precious environment. And, she’ll always return home – to us. This is where her roots are.

Ann Mullen

Saranac Lake

(1) https://www.forbes.com/sites/sethcohen/2020/06/20/elise-stefanik-vp-tryout/#45de8085cba7

(Editor’s note: In a story in Saturday’s Enterprise, spokespeople from military installations in New York, Vermont and Massachusetts have denied their jets were the cause of the noise.)