To the editor:

Is the Tiverton Taxpayers Association (TTA) getting sloppy? First they harp on “protecting the FTR” and “control your taxes” for Charter Review Commission, and now their behind the scenes behavior is exposed. We’ll get to that in a minute.

But first what is the TTA? Well the TTA leader, Justin Katz, is the product of an extreme right wing “think tank." All are welcome to visit his blogs, writings, and wisdom on Tivertonfactcheck.org or oceanstatecurrent.com. Something you will see in the menu is “transparency." In other words one could look up information that they feel is important.

But these same people — that make claims for “good government” and transparency — are the first to work in secret. By now you have all read the exposed emails. In response, via tivertonfactcheck.org, Mr. Katz claims “the Committee tried a new method of distributing documents." So why then claim that the emails were stolen? Is Mrs. Janick not part of the budget committee (BC)? Oh wait, that’s right, she is not TTA!

In addition to the disgusting nature of the emails, they include two non-budget committee members. One of them (Perkins) is the husband of a BC member, and the other is newly elected CRC member Robert Coulter. Might I point out that Mr. Coulter contributed $500 to the TTA and Mr. Perkins $150 (and his wife, Mrs. Driggs $150 also). What is transparent about including non-BC members that contribute financially to the TTA being included in back room discussions on our budget? Why weren’t the other non TTA BC members included in the emails “meant for the BC”? What’s this secret talk of “repurposing the library” in those emails?

Now for the charter review. All you heard from the TTA was scare tactics about taxes. Really? And 975 (and less) of 2003 voters fell for that? Where was the substance that the other candidates spoke of? Updating and upgrading the CRC was the platform of the TTA opposition. Real changes and real improvements.

Now we see more of the TTA's true colors. In Jeff Caron's own words, the TTA wants to take away the Town Council's power to negotiate and to handle charter review complaints. They want to choke off the library and repurpose it. They want to take away management rights to handle their departments. They want to take away the financial future of Tiverton by dumping every penny of the casino money into the control of the BC and potential petitioners (TTA). They want to limit the school committee power and have turnover in the Superintendent's office. They want control by creating instability and to drive this Town into a fee-based system. Ironically the same “elderly” and “taxpayers” they claim to want to protect will suffer with more cuts to services we all depend on. You use it, you pay for it.

Go ahead Joe Sousa…flap your gums on the comment section now.

David J Paull

Tiverton