Recently, there has been much discussion regarding Article 35 of the warrant in front of town meeting. It was defeated during Town Meeting by an overwhelming margin and Town Meeting has been accused, by some, of leaving the foxes in charge of the hen house. The purpose of Article 35 was to limit the ability of the Town Moderator to appoint any person to the finance committee (FINCOM) who had a conflict of interest in that they had a relative(s) working for and being compensated by the town of Billerica.

There have also been questions regarding the Town Moderator selecting members of such important boards in lieu of voter selection. In a sense, every member of that board has been put there via voter choice. The voter chooses the Town Moderator, and if they are unhappy with the composition of the board; then that is where the pressure should go during campaigns and at the polls. Certainly, the Town Moderator has the right to select whomever s/he chooses, but as with any choice, there are consequences – good or bad. For those who see members on that board as bad choices (and I am among them regarding the present composition), they will have a chance to express that opinion the next time the Town Moderator comes up for reelection should the composition remain the same and a viable alternative candidate step in the mix.

Gil has demonstrated great skill in moderating town debates and meetings. He is clear, concise and even handed. He is patient and obviously had a great understanding of town parliamentary procedures and rules. However, that is only part of his duty that he should be judged on when it comes time to either re-elect or replace him. The other, more significant part is written in the narrative he creates through his own appointments. To judge him based upon the appointments of his predecessor would be absurd.

Another factor that many people seems to miss, frequently, is that any person who is a property owner, who has children in the schools and who is paying his/her taxes has “skin in the game”. As the town goes, so go the property values of individual homes and businesses, and the quality of our educational resources. You don’t have to have a child in school to have “skin in the game”; and not all retirees are alike in their thinking, just as every member of any other group does not see the world through the same prism as his/her group peers.

The same can be said of the appointments made by the Board of Selectmen, and to some, they have made many poor choices as well; simply to fill the chairs. I’d rather see boards only partly filled with people qualified to do the appointed job than to see it completely filled with lazy thinkers, incompetents and on the job trainees who care more about their’s and themselves than they do about moving to advance the town as a whole.

People concerned about the composition of FINCOM (or any other board) would be better served sharing their concerns and debating them, publicly via a blog, a bulletin board, or with the appointing authority than by changing by-laws. Anytime something is proposed and/or changed, there is always a potential for unintended, even more harmful consequences. It’s not the by-law that has let down the people of Billerica: it’s the blind voters who view public elections as voting for the king or queen of the prom, it’s the voters who fail to understand the issues and the validity of a candidate’s stated positions by observing his prior statements and behaviors, and it’s the fault of those too lazy to get off of their duffs and spend less than 5 minutes making choices at the polls.

For instance, we all knew before the election that selectmen Rosa and Correnti do not get along, rarely agree on anything other than their perceived obligation to insult, berate and undermine the other; yet, both were re-elected, each with at least 2 terms under their belts during a time when the town’s downhill skid has accelerated. It took less than an hour into the first selectman’s meeting meeting for both of them to exchange immature and inappropriate, publicly witnessed, middle fingers to each other only to vote the same on the issue in the end.

Obviously, this is what the majority of voters wanted, because they know what they would be getting when the darkened their ovals. And now, that’s what the rest of us are left with. As I’ve been living with by-laws that I don’t agree with for every year I’ve lived here, I’ll live with these two clowns for yet another 3 year term. The good news is that I’ll survive, my television has an off button and should I venture to a BOS meeting, I have the right to get up an leave the dance of the sugar-dumb fairies whenever I choose.

We are the ones guarding the hen-house; they (our leaders; elected and appointed) are merely those to whom we’ve given a spare key. The choice we have left?…wake up or stop whining about the bed we’ve made for ourselves. –Rick