Letter: Support Tiverton local voter rights

Posted 4/26/18

Readers of these pages have seen several letters reflecting the ongoing concerns that the Town Council is preparing to block Tiverton voters from voting on charter amendment proposals recommended by …

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Letter: Support Tiverton local voter rights

Posted

Readers of these pages have seen several letters reflecting the ongoing concerns that the Town Council is preparing to block Tiverton voters from voting on charter amendment proposals recommended by their elected representatives on the Charter Review Commission. These concerns only increased with Councilor Patricia Hilton’s most recent letter, bashing the entire nine-member commission, coupled with oversimplified and incomplete legal arguments.

I will not address her inaccuracies tit for tat here, and readers can make their own assessment of an author who last time wrote to you about “slightly increasing” the FTR voter signature requirements, but failed to mention that part of her real plan is to quadruple the requirements from 50 to 200 (i.e. four times the amount needed to run for state General Assembly) among other seemingly nitty-gritty changes that in actuality would severely weaken FTR voter rights.

A few things which I hope can move things forward for Tiverton voters:

First, the Charter Review Commission approved a Voter Protection Resolution and has asked the town council to do the same. The Voter Protection Resolution asks for a shared promise to make sure that Tiverton voters get to vote on the commission’s recommendations.

Second, the Charter Review Commission has released two lengthy memos explaining the legal and practical reasons why the town council should not block the voters from voting on commission proposals, and also why the town council should not block the voters from voting on casino revenue as part of the budget process. These are available to read at www.tivertonfactcheck.org.

Third, I have gathered over 50 supporting signatures and filed an FTR elector petition to have a resolution placed on the May 19 FTR ballot. This resolution complements the Voter Protection Resolution and, if approved by you, tells the government that you want the chance to vote on the Charter Review Commission proposals.

Some charter topics are mundane and “in the weeds,” but there are some very important issues which hang in the balance: To vote on the recommendations of your elected representatives, to vote on how casino money is spent, and to keep all of your rights in a real Financial Town Referendum. I can be reached at 401/525-0469 on any questions about the Voter Protection Resolution or the other work of your elected Charter Review Commission.

Robert Coulter

Tiverton

Robert Coulter is a former town councilor and is currently chairman of the Tiverton Charter Review Commission.

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