LETTERS: Hess a breath of fresh air

Kalie Hess

To the editor:

Most if not all of us have had some terrible struggles lately—life has been hard if not downright scary. But we also have reason to hope for better days to come. While the Covid-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on so many folks we care about, it has also helped us see that we cannot afford to let serious unresolved issues ride any longer. We certainly cannot just watch as politicians fail to work together to ensure reasonable access to healthcare for all—especially our most vulnerable. We need them to work together to ensure support for our local businesses, to ensure those struggling have a reasonable opportunity for a living pay check, and to ensure strong educational resources are available so our kids will be ready to be productive citizens in the future.

We need our legislators and other leaders to be ones who are going to work together on these issues—not call each other names, close their minds, and point fingers. But to do this we need them to be knowledgeable, engaged, and—most of all—ready to listen and work together.

I only met Kalie Hess this year, but what a breath of fresh air! With a good education and experience in public health, a mind clearly engaged in current issues, and a voice that doesn’t start preaching but starts with asking questions and listening well, I was impressed. And the more I learn about her, the more I have been impressed. A native Mainer living and working in our community, a person willing to take the plunge into the public arena to have hard discussions (not arguments) and work toward solutions, Kalie is worth looking into.

I sincerely hope you will review the information online about her (kaliehess.com), take (if not make) the opportunity to speak with/contact her, and consider her candidacy for the Maine Senate this fall. We need her energy, her constructive focus, and her caring about her fellow and sister Mainers in our legislature. We need her working for us.

Susan Cottle
South China