Can We Talk?

At the first Ashfield Town Meeting I attended, seventeen years ago, one of the warrant items was to appropriate funds to purchase a new fire truck. Several people questioned the need for it, and Chief Field explained what this truck could do that the others couldn’t. In the end, the town voted to spend the money.

I remember this after all these years because I was deeply impressed with the quality of the debate. It grew a little intense at times, but it was always cordial and respectful. It was the first time I saw town meeting democracy at work, and I thought it was a thing of beauty.

By contrast, when I made a factual error in a blog posting a little more than a month ago, I received an anonymous letter correcting me. The writer of the letter was invited on the blog to come forward but refused, presumably out of fear.

I can understand the fear. For years now, Ashfield has been run by people who treated those who disagreed with them as enemies to be destroyed, usually through vitriolic verbal attacks designed to bully and intimidate. Since just last summer, I’ve been called part of an ignorant mob, a liar, a propagandist with no moral center, and most recently a subversive. I’ve been accused of a ham-handed entrapment scheme and of planning to hound town employees out of their jobs. And I’ve seen e-mails in which others in town have been treated far worse.

According to rumor, those of us trying to change the way the town is run form a tightly-knit, well-organized group with a clear agenda we plan to ram down the town’s throat. Actually, we’re not that formally organized -- we haven’t even been able to come up with a decent secret handshake – and have a fairly wide range of opinions. Because of this, I certainly can’t claim to speak for anyone in town but myself.

But the main reason I’m involved in town politics is to get rid of the fear. I’d like to get back to a time when you could talk with the people who disagreed with you without worrying about having your character demolished . The town is facing serious issues, and we need to look at them from all sides to come up with the best solutions. We can’t do that if we’re afraid to talk to one another.

So let’s try it.

One issue that’s come up recently is how open the select board should be to input from the town. I feel that select boards in recent years have treated voters with contempt (the “ignorant mob” comment I mentioned earlier) and sometimes tried to work behind the scenes in violation of the open meeting law. In short, the town hasn’t been listened to. I feel Ted correctly worked to remedy this by opening up meetings briefly, as time allows, for public comment. Others, I know, feel the select board was elected to run the town and should be left alone to do so, with dissatisfaction expressed at the ballot box rather than at board meetings.

What do you think?

Any comment, from anyone in town, will post on this blog as long as it’s both civil and signed. If you comment, you will be treated respectfully. We may disagree, and the debate may even grow intense at times, but there will be no attempt to either shout you down or attack you behind your back.

I know the comment system on Blogspot can be a pain to use. You need a Google account or something similar to make it work, and most comments have to be submitted twice before they post. But Google accounts are free and easy to sign up for, and comments do eventually make it through. Or you can send a new post by following the instructions at the top right of this page. As long as it’s signed and civil, it will go up.

This is a small town. We’ve all got to live with each other. We should be talking to each other.

Try it. It’s a beautiful thing.

David King