Wow, July 30 featured two differing viewpoints in the letters to the editor, about the same subject.

I have to side with the gentleman from Mystic. If anyone has the know-how to paint and clean up a property, it should be artists. I lived in Mystic for 25 years, before moving to Preston, and owning that property for 20 years. During the Mystic/Preston years, I also owned a property in New London for eight years, and lived there for three years.

I am presently fixing up an Uncasville home I purchased last year. All of these properties were blighted when I bought them. I have learned that blight happens in increments and usually is unintended. It happens in the country as well as the city, and brings down the neighborhood as well, whether the town or city.

Just as if you stopped cleaning and picking up inside the home, chances are you are neglecting the outside also. There are programs available to help, but you need to inquire. I wish Montville had a blight program, and perhaps someday it might.

By the way, I went to many meetings in Preston when I lived there. There were times when if 20 people showed up to vote, that was a lot. The most I ever saw was during the “Great Theme Park Fiasco.”

Jerri Phillips

Montville