‘Like the Hatfields and McCoys’
To the editor:
Due to a terminal case of apathy or just plain not paying attention, Truro voters have managed to elect a select board and a planning board that, at times, seem more like the Hatfields and the McCoys. This leaves one wondering how they possibly could have been chosen by the same voters.
Town meeting on Saturday shot down an attempt to make the planning board an appointed one. But the meeting came pretty darn close to achieving the required two-thirds vote.
Even if the article had passed, there would have been no immediate change. The current planning board members would have been allowed to serve out their terms. The significant majority in favor of the change, however, should at least give the planning board members pause — especially if they decide to run for re-election.
Going forward, one can only hope that more candidates will throw their hats in the ring, that voters will become more energized and attentive, and that Truro will end up with a government that can work together, no matter how the individual members happened to become part of it.
Jim Bisceglia
North Truro
‘Do You Feel Better?’
To the editor:
I am dismayed at the behavior of some at Saturday’s Truro town meeting.
Town affairs will always be political; folks will always disagree. That is part of the democratic process. But booing, jeering, and accusations do nothing to further discussion.
I call on my fellow Truro residents to discuss their opinions in a respectful manner and to check in with themselves about their behavior. Does it help your cause? Do you feel better afterward?
We’re all neighbors, no matter what our beliefs are. Let’s start to act like it. We don’t have to let Truro become a microcosm of what’s happening at the national level.
Please, think nationally, act locally, and be respectful and kind, no matter the topic.
Morgan Clark
Truro
This Year Felt Different
To the editor:
I have loved town meeting ever since I moved here in 2007. It was my first experience with small-town living, and it reminded me of the fictional Stars Hollow from Gilmore Girls. (If you haven’t watched, you should.) Everyone had a voice, there were characters that rivaled my favorites from novels, and things were said that you could not make up. It was genuine, often entertaining, and felt like a pure part of our community’s existence.
I take four to six hours off work and away from my kids to attend town meeting because it makes me feel like I am part of a community and, I hope, part of the solution to our problems.
This year felt different: vitriolic and assaultive, with a complete lack of respect. I parked next to a car peppered with bumper stickers insulting our select board chair, only to find that it belonged to a former planning board member. I watched people heckle speakers, hurl insults at one another, and yell at each other in the name of free speech.
Disagreements are normal. They are healthy. And most important, they are necessary for progress. But this kind of display, so full of poison and unwillingness to listen to the other side, will destroy this community that we love and are so proud to call home.
We need to do better.
Kristen Roberts
Truro
From Parking Lot to Paradise
To the editor:
Park or parking lot? That is a question on the Tuesday, May 10 town election ballot in Provincetown.
It is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create a beautiful waterfront park in Provincetown — to be called Cannery Wharf Park — after three years of planning.
This parcel of land is now paved with broken clam shells. Voters will have the chance to reverse Joni Mitchell’s famous line, “They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.” They can create a beautiful waterfront paradise — a park and picnic area with A.D.A. access to the beach — and a community gathering spot of open space.
The cost of creating Cannery Wharf Park, approved at the April town meeting, pales in comparison to the cost of losing this rare opportunity. Please cast your vote on May 10 at town hall in Provincetown.
Bill Docker
Provincetown
A Walk in the East End
To the editor:
I read with interest Tom Recchio’s obituary of John McDermott (April 21, page A14).
I met John in London, where I live, in the 1970s. On one grey, misty Sunday, I took him on a long walk around the city’s East End, a location with many historical similarities to New York’s Lower East Side. It was a fascinating and hugely enjoyable afternoon, walking the narrow streets and twisting alleys, made more so by John’s erudition and lively interest.
We did make it as far as the River Thames but did not catch any bluefish. But then, they are not common in this part of the world.
Nigel Fountain
London, England
