Letter: City needs progressive candidates to grow

To the Editor-

All politics start at the local level. We are a generous community. We support each other to create a local government for and by the people to move forward with progressive ideas.

Progressives support keeping open the Portage County Health Care Center, supporting our public school system, legalizing medical cannabis, and yes, creating environmental and family friendly spaces in our neighborhoods and on our streets. This is what a progressive community does.

Progressive candidates support initiatives like affordable residential solar energy and pushing forward with the Green New Deal; a blueprint to rapidly decarbonize the U.S. economy in a decade. The ongoing destruction of our planet by the fossil fuel industry prompted me to switch to a zero-emission electric vehicle. I would love to be able to charge my vehicle with solar energy generated right in my own back yard. We need progressive leadership at the local level willing to listen to and work with constituents to get big things done.

As a Vietnam veteran and a progressive, I back candidates who share progressive values like supporting legalization of medical cannabis. Veterans battling PTSD and other debilitating illnesses could get off addictive opioids with medical cannabis. We’ve seen an explosion in the availability of CBD from industrial hemp. That’s a giant step forward but we need to go further.

Join me in supporting progressive candidates who are willing to listen and champion causes worth fighting for. Vote for Tori Jennings and Meleesa Johnson for Stevens Point Common Council.

Joe Roppe
Stevens Point

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