Letters: Proactive governance is responsible governance; Respect snakes and their place in nature

Proactive governance is responsible governance

Fear mongering is leading the charge against the Responsible Contractor Ordinance (RCO), a proactive measure of governance that has been brought up for consideration within our Centre County Government. Instead of casting unfounded doubts, let’s focus on responsible governance with our tax dollars: ensuring we have responsible contractors doing our tax funded work instead of our government being forced to potentially award contracts to unethical or ineffective contractors who provide the lowest bid.

This ordinance will protect our county government from having to award contracts to those contractors who violate the law, skirt safety training and precautions, or provide poor quality work. The only way to address such contractors now is to sue them. Suing is a reactive measure that increases the burden of costs to taxpayers through litigation.

We have had contractors within Centre County that were recently held accountable due to their unethical actions against their own workers. We have had five worker deaths at job sites within as many years, many of which would have been prevented with proper training and oversight. We have a problem here in Centre County and it needs to be addressed by taking a proactive measure like the RCO.

The RCO places a set of standards on the bidder of larger contracts, reducing the risk of taxpayer funds being spent haphazardly or going to employers with questionable ethics. Advocating for and ensuring responsible contractors for taxpayer funded projects is ethically and fiscally responsible governance.

Respect snakes and their place in nature

As an environmental educator, I was happy to read a fact-based article about snakes in the June 18 issue of the CDT. Unfortunately, a wealth of inaccurate information about these misunderstood creatures is often circulated online, in person, and sometimes in publications. All of the recommendations in the article were correct, but it omitted information about what not to do when encountering snakes: first, there are no commercial products whatsoever that deter reptiles, including mothballs. Glue traps are horrifically cruel and kill many untargeted wildlife species, including songbirds, which often end up at wildlife rehabilitation centers. Most importantly, do not harass or kill snakes! Several Facebook groups — including “Snake Removal & Relocation National Network”— make it easy for anyone to reach out to people like myself who offer free snake removal. It’s important to remember that despite our fear, all snakes are good snakes. Of the 21 species found throughout Pennsylvania, only three are venomous (the timber rattlesnake, Eastern copperhead and Eastern massasauga) and all will leave humans alone unless disturbed. Snakes are a valuable part of the ecosystem and actually provide many benefits to humans, including pest control, reduction of rodent-borne hantavirus, tick and slug consumption, and even groundbreaking medical research in treating breast cancer. In summary: give snakes the distance they deserve; respect their place in nature; and above all, be teachable. By following these principles, we learn to live in harmony with others, and in doing so, make a better future for ourselves and our wild neighbors.