One Voter Feels Betrayed and Angry

To the Editor:

Betrayed and angry was the feeling I had when I reviewed the November Town Meeting Warrant and found that the funding for a new cemetery building had been "deleted" from the capital improvement plan.

Values are a paper given to all volunteer board and committee members when they are appointed by the Board of Selectmen to a board or committee. Two of those values are integrity and transparency, apparently the Board of Selectmen feels that this did not apply to them when they "deleted" the funding and not even had the courtesy of notifying the Board of Cemetery Trustees.

One member of the Board of Selectmen continues to refer to boards and committees appointed by them under the Town of Reading Home Rule Charter as "advisory" boards or committees to them. Nothing in the charter states this in fact many have statuary duties as required by state law.

The Board of Selectmen decided without input from any "advisory" board or committee that all DPW functions should be combined with the Town of Wakefield at Camp Curtis Guild. I would point out that none of our "peer" communities that the selectmen often quote have their cemetery equipment stored in their DPW facility, but the "Selectmen know best?"

The current Chairman of the Board of Selectmen and candidate for reelection a number of years ago stated that people should not be in a position for a long time and I agree.

Recently I have sat down with Vanessa Alvarado and although she and I disagree about the need for an override I found we agree that the Board of Selectmen should lead by their values of open and transparency.

On April 3, 2018, I intend to cast my vote for Selectman for Vanessa and would encourage you to do likewise. To the voters of precinct 8 I hope that you will cast one of your 8 votes for Town Meeting Member for me so I can extend my 50 years of serving you.

Sincerely, William C. Brown, Martin Road