Letter: Votes should have taken place at polls, not high school gym

Posted 6/22/17

To the editor:

Pam Lauria wrote, “Surely Mr. Fuller is aware that Mr. Douglas did not 'gain' a seat on the committee on appropriations but was rather voted onto the committee of …

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Letter: Votes should have taken place at polls, not high school gym

Posted

To the editor:

Pam Lauria wrote, “Surely Mr. Fuller is aware that Mr. Douglas did not 'gain' a seat on the committee on appropriations but was rather voted onto the committee of appropriations.”

Are you kidding! Consider who voted and where the voting took place. I was there. The folks who wanted to restore the 1.2 million dollars for the schools outnumbered anyone else in part because of the location. And there should have been some thought as to how these decisions would affect everyone in the town and things that the town as a whole might need, not just one segment. 

Votes should have been held at the polls after everyone in Barrington was informed of what was going to be voted on and who was running for seats on committees perhaps done in a town meeting where no decisions would be made. Mr. Douglas and Mrs. Douglas will be on committees who will be making budget choices for the whole town. This feels somewhat unbalanced. What is this town coming to if we ignore equality, if we ignore the right of every person in the town to have their voices heard and taken into account? These decisions affect every member of a community not just a few. Is this a democracy now after all these decisions have been finalized?

And as for the town government saying it is fine that Mr. Douglas will serve on the appropriations committee even though his wife serves on the school committee, it gives the town government the appearance of possibly being impervious to the better good for all of its citizens.

“These are perilous times for men and women of good will and intellectual honesty who are charged with enforcing our laws and running the government. The government should not be terrifying. But it must be fair and transparent. And it must always enjoy the consent of the governed. For without that consent it is illegitimate.” — Andrew P. Napolitano (Former Judge of the Supreme Court of New Jersey)

Barbara Flanders

Barrington

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