BRATTLEBORO — When I was just a young man, an older gent from the West Brattleboro area by the name of Edgar Lawton told it the way he believed was right and said it from his heart. He loved town meetings and Selectboard meetings.
I now think of him quite often because of the way the town is being run:
• I can't believe this town is going through a third round of Town Manager search when Patrick Moreland has been managing the town for over a year and, from all reports, is doing a wonderful job. He did go through a budget session and seems to know the departments under him. I feel he should be given the opportunity to serve.
• I also can't believe the Selectboard members appointed a site committee for the skatepark, ignored their findings, bypassed the Recreation and Parks Department board, and then went out for site visits themselves. They still cannot make a choice. Time is wasted.
• We have a qualified interim chief of police, a local man who knows the department and community, a man who has also served our country with honor, but we still need a search committee to waste more time.
• The new Citizens Bridge on Western Avenue is another Selectboard mess from the past. Is there a sign at or around that bridge that would identify it as the Citizens Bridge, or was that left out in case the name is changed in the future?
I still feel the decision was made unfairly. After it was put out to the public to find a name for the bridge, the rules were suddenly changed and the name was chosen by the Selectboard with no further consideration of the suggestions provided by the public.
I still feel it should have been been named for Capt. Frederick J. Giroux, who served in World War ll and the Korean War and lost his life fighting for our country, dying in a North Korean prisoner of war camp.
For those of you who can still remember Edgar Lawton, you can see where my thoughts are coming from.