To the editor:
The Cheshire County delegation’s decision to expand and refurbish the Maplewood Nursing Home in Westmoreland has been characterized as far from final. Unfortunately, that’s true. The project cannot move forward until the county commissioners draw up a bond proposal. It has been suggested that, at best, the proposal will be ready in May.
As a member of the delegation’s Maplewood Subcommittee, I attended all of our meetings, field trips and hearings. All of this took about 18 months and over that time I drew a number of conclusions. Unhappily, one of them is that County Commission Chairman Stillman Rogers fought, and I suspect continues to fight, tooth and nail to move the nursing home to Keene. In the days leading up to the delegation’s vote, one of my fellow subcommittee members observed that Commissioner Rogers’ obsession with moving the nursing home to Keene reminded him of Captain Ahab’s pursuit of Moby Dick.
I believe that as long as Commissioner Rogers remains in office any progress toward refurbishing and expanding Maplewood in Westmoreland will be either slow or nonexistent.
If you share my desire to see Maplewood refurbished and expanded, please vote for Joe Cartwright for county commissioner. Joe Cartwright is a tree-farm owner, a 28-year resident of Alstead, has a degree in electrical engineering, was a USAF pilot in Vietnam, retired as an American Airlines pilot and is currently a 10-year member of Alstead’s Zoning Board.
James W. McConnell
state representative, Cheshire District 12