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Friday, July 26, 2002
Dear Editors, Distinguished
Dignitaries,
Roberts Rules of Order: Required
reading of all that intend on being in a political arena, such as
government, have been the guidelines of government assembly for
The House of Representatives, the U. S. Senate, and most political
groups.
Members of Webster’s government,
leave one to wonder how they decided to conduct themselves. I
refer to the last two meetings. Citizens are being denied their
constitutional rights to be heard, and by being threatened with
physical removal, and charged with disturbing a public assembly,
as is the case of one of our citizens. I am a relatively quiet
person, and now I am appalled, enough is enough, I feel compelled
to respond.
When I first moved here there wasn’t
very much to talk about concerning town government. Now as
witnessed by all who dare to watch on public access television of
any of the town government meetings, there is plenty to talk
about. You would be better off not attending as you may be
physically ejected from the meeting if you disagree with the
elected governing body.
Questioning authority and
disagreeing with authority is not necessarily being disrespectful
or disturbing, in fact it is the very fabric of the Bill of
Rights. If you want to be in government (town politics) then be in
government, and drop the intimidating Hitler March to the podium.
There is nothing wrong with a police officer being on the town
government provided that there is no “Abuse of Power”, by
violating the civil rights of the very people that you are a
servant to, this will get you no place. Get used to people not
liking you when you don’t support them. Remember you are the
public servant. It is your responsibility to satisfy all. If you
have a problem with that then you have a misconception of public
service. You have no respect for people in general. Who would ever
think of ejecting a citizen your very own committee leader at that
from a town meeting that is open to the public, and was NOT
disturbing anybody besides you! You can’t just tell somebody to
“shut up, and your all done” because you don’t like what they are
saying when the floor has recognized them. They have the right to
be heard. The freedom of speech (again with the constitional
rights granted to all citizens) also includes talking to you and
the board of selectmen when placed on the agenda. The only person
that was disrespectful was you when you took it upon yourself to
eject somebody, and then have him arrested and charged. The
chairperson select sat and watched which is to say that she
allowed it to happen and is equally responsible for the actions
that took place. The actions that were taken were not pro-active
but rather reactive, and out of control. How will this affect the
finance committee in the future?
The government is run by the people
and for the people, elected and appointed officials to manage the
business of the town for the good of the whole town. There are
growing concerns among the citizens in Webster that we are going
down the wrong road. If you let one town employee in town
government where do you draw the line? Let one more then another
and then what do you have? You loose control. Individuals that
must abstain from voting on issues even if it is only one vote
negates their position. The Chairperson on the Board of Selectmen
states that nobody wants to be on the finance committee so they
took whoever they could get. This is just not true. I know several
people who want to serve on town government including the Finance
Committee.
The issue at hand here is the fact
that there was a legitimate question being asked and it still has
not been answered. The Town Hall was closed on a scheduled day of
business. The question still stands. Where did you get the
authority to grant everyone in Town Hall an extra vacation day?
This is an expense that the tax payers have to bear. The
Chairperson of the Finance Committee was really questioning how
are we going to account for this. The concern here is how are
these decisions being made without proper consideration for the
economics of the issue. Am I to believe that if we had several 90
degree days in a row that the town should shut down for that many
days? No, I don’t think so, yet this is what is being portrayed by
the decision to shut down the Town Hall because it was to hot and
without air conditioning. I sympathize for those who have to
endure these working conditions, however many citizens of Webster
work in these, and even worse conditions every day. This is a lame
excuse. Had there been unsafe conditions then that is a different
issue. This issue can be remedied. A small issue turned into a
situation that got out of control. The leadership to stop the
escalating indifference was not there.
The Town of Webster does not have a
growth plan. Ever since the water and sewer project has been in
place there has been nothing but problems. Permits that are
questionable and several hundred special permit variances have
left the lake with a suddenly over populated area. The school
system is overcrowded, and in need of an overhaul. We just can’t
add 300, 400, or more students to a school system that is already
overcrowded.
The Town of Webster needs a vision
for the future. A plan for controlled growth. If we are going to
grow in population then the town’s infrastructure (schools, roads,
transportation, and recreation facilities) should be able to
handle the burden. As it is now the reality of it all is we are
overcrowded. A building permit moratorium should be voted into
place until a defined growth plan is put into place that can be
supported by our financial budget.
Henry Neeser |
