To the editor,

Tiverton Town Councilor Donna Cook, in her letter to the editor, described  the April 25 Tiverton Board of Canvassers meeting as a circus where an angry yelling  mob, supported by Councilors Hilton and deMedeiros, were dismissive, rude and uncivil. 

Whoa, I was at that meeting.  How did I miss the yelling, the rude, dismissive, uncivil behavior and … the angry mob.  Were Councilor Cook and I at the same meeting?  Just to make sure I watched the video of the Board of Canvassers meeting on Youtube.  I suggest you watch it to see for yourself. 

There was no circus, no angry mob, no yelling.  In fact, the mood of the meeting was calm.  There were no fiery outbursts.  There were several  questions regarding the town solicitor’s math acumen.  The Board of Canvassers did their job with respect and dignity, listened to the input of the town solicitor and audience members.  They followed the guidance of the Tiverton Town Charter and, after almost two hours of discussion, the Board of Canvassers voted to certify the petitioners budget.  Thank heaven for recorded videos of public meetings.

I suspect  Councillor Cook’s letter is an unveiling of the TTA’s new smear campaign, just before the Financial Town Referendum, to characterize and dismiss those who don’t agree with them as an angry, yelling, out of control mob.  Likely they will use the term mob rule again and again to demonize citizens who speak out and express  concern about how their government is run.  

This smear campaign is just another tactic used by the Gang of Four to silence their growing number of critics. 

Barbara Martin

Tiverton