ZOOM OVER!! Well, unless you want it not to be.
The remote participation idea is fabulous, makes it easier for people to join in, weigh in, and tune in. But the Zoom-only requirement got old fast. I don’t know about other towns, but here in Fairhaven the Zoom option was abused by both the Select Board and the Board of Health. Both boards delighted in muting people, shutting people off, and keeping people out of the room.
Now, all of a sudden, Mr. Freitas and Mr. Silvia (6/10/21 issue) say they want to see people in the room. PULEEEZE! How stupid do they think we are? What they really want is to limit the number of people who can participate.
But, guess what? Town Meeting has spoken. Remote participation will now be the law of the town (see page 16). Honestly, they forced voters of this town to do all kinds of things that a simple vote from the board should have done. A reasonable board, that is.
Speaking of which…remember when they (yeah, those same two guys) refused to change the name from “Board of Selectmen” to “Select Board” (2/6/20 issue)*, well Town Meeting did it for them. Thank you Town Meeting!
Our style policy has always been to use “Selectboard,” because I always thought it was ridiculous to use SelectMEN. We will now use “Select Board,” two words, the way TM has voted on it.
Town Meeting also voted to make the Select Board a five member board. Yup. Getting there, one step at a time. Do not…I repeat…do NOT underestimate the people of Fairhaven.
This is also our annual town employee salary issue. Normally it’s the week before TM, but last week was the special grad issue, so we held it a week.
We also have a Select Board meeting (page 3), BPW (4) and a bunch of other cool stuff in here, including our cover story on page 7.
While you’re looking through, be sure to notice who our advertisers are so you can tell them you saw their ads in the Neighb News.
Until next week then..see ya,
*Fixes error from previous versions: Mr. Silvia was not on the board on 2/6/20. He expressed his opinion during the candidates night, 3/19/20 issue.
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Click here to download the entire 6/17/21 issue: 06-17-21 TurfField_REV
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