Truro’s Failures
To the editor:
The Independent has recently reported on matters falling into the black hole of Truro’s town administration for unconscionable periods of time, with consequences for the citizens involved.
There was the failure of the town, despite repeated requests, to issue a death certificate, leaving the resident unable for months to file insurance claims, access bank accounts, and deal with settling the estate of a loved one [“Grief Redoubled by a Death Certificate Delayed,” Sept. 5, front page]. There was the failure of the town for two years to rule on a request to permit a condominium to become a year-round residence [“Condo Owners’ Long Wait for Year-Round OK,” Oct. 3, front page].
And there was the failure to complete the process of taking the property of the eternal scofflaws Delgizzi because town officials can’t figure out who should legally receive the $1.6 million that Truro town meeting authorized in May for compensation [“Truro Select Board Postpones Taking of Truro Motor Inn,” Sept. 5, page A4]. I practiced law for 25 years, and I can say with assurance that that is not a groundbreaking legal question.
There are more such incidents and a pattern in the town’s response: when they are publicized, the administration is embarrassed, the town employees involved explain that they don’t have sufficient staff to handle the workload, and then…?
I believe that it is the job of the town manager, Darrin Tangeman, to be accountable to manage our resources so that the basic work of local government can be done. Let’s start with a special public meeting of the select board where Mr. Tangeman is called upon to indicate what steps have been taken to ensure that we have sufficient staffing with the correct skills to handle the jobs of running the town of Truro.
Ellyn Weiss
Truro and Washington, D.C.
A Model Library
To the editor:
Tricia Ford Gardner is retiring this week after 12 years as director of the Truro Public Library. She built the library into a vibrant hub of the community, working tirelessly to provide excellent service and create opportunities for patrons to experience a wide array of activities throughout the year. It is a model for how a good library should be run.
When I first moved to the Outer Cape to become a library director over nine years ago, Tricia immediately reached out to me. She mentored me in everything and never tired of my endless questions. She assisted me with reports to the state, drove me to my first library consortium meetings, and helped me understand the budgeting process.
I am grateful for her friendship and wise counsel and wish her all the best in this next chapter. She has certainly earned it.
Jennifer Wertkin
Eastham
The writer is director of the Wellfleet Public Library.
Advice on Voting
To the editor:
As the presidential election approaches, I hope and pray that our country’s exhausting and seemingly endless ride on Donald Trump’s cuckoo train of chaos and dysfunction will end on Nov. 5.
Here’s some great advice from the science-fiction writer Octavia Butler: “Choose your leaders with wisdom and forethought. To be led by a coward is to be controlled by all that the coward fears. To be led by a fool is to be led by the opportunists who control the fool. To be led by a thief is to offer up your most precious treasures to be stolen. To be led by a liar is to ask to be told lies. To be led by a tyrant is to sell yourself and those you love into slavery.”
Mike Rice
Wellfleet
Letters to the Editor
The Provincetown Independent welcomes letters from readers on all subjects. They must be signed with the writer’s name, home address, and telephone number (for verification). Letters will be published only if they have been sent exclusively to the Independent. They should be no more than 300 words and may be edited for clarity, accuracy, conciseness, and good taste. Longer pieces (up to 600 words) may be submitted for consideration as op-ed commentary. Send letters to [email protected] or by mail to P.O. Box 1034, Provincetown, MA 02657. The deadline for letters is Monday at noon for each week’s edition.
