Dear Anonymous

The opinions I express here are my own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of other members of the Board

On Thursday I received an anonymous letter in the mail that began with “Dear Low-information Voter”. I could have thrown it in my recycle bin but instead I thought I would use this opportunity as a teachable moment. The letter contained a variety of derogatory remarks in reference to a political sign that I have on my lawn. While I am an enrolled democrat I embrace bi-partisanism and support civil discourse. However, I do not support hate, prejudice, or ignorance and unfortunately the letter contained a number of statements that fall into these categories. Since the letter wasn’t signed I wasn’t afforded the opportunity to discuss the accusations directly with the person who lacked the fortitude to have a mature discussion about the issues. I am sharing this message publicly with the hope that it reaches my anonymous messenger.

Dear Anonymous,

As an employee of the Commonwealth, the legislature and having spent my entire career in public service I would not classify myself, or anyone else who takes the time to exercise their right to vote, as a low information voter whether or not I agree with their choice. As far as legislative pay raises go, there was an independent study done to support them and while it’s uncomfortable to have to vote to give yourself a raise, at least Senator Jason Lewis had the courage to vote yes unlike almost every Republican that voted no but took the raise anyway. I would also like to clarify that it wasn’t a raise of their base salary or for all legislators but rather a stipend increase for the members based on additional workload. Since you ignorantly likened the pay raises to the state breast feeding off of middle class citizens like myself you are clearly unaware that taxpayers incurred no additional expense.

In regards to the alleged two billion being spent by the Commonwealth in benefits to “illegals”, this is rhetoric being spewed by folks who are either too ignorant or too lazy to check their facts. This is a blatant mistruth that has been pandered to encourage those who harbor prejudice.

In regards to the “millionaires tax” being a way to, as you said, “no doubt trickle down to dumb putzes” like myself, I support education funding and transportation funding. I will gladly pay my share long after my children have graduated from school to ensure that we have an educated populous. According to a report by the Pew Foundation “The most recent PISA results, from 2015, placed the U.S. an unimpressive 38th out of 71 countries in math and 24th in science.” We can and should do more to support education and to maintain and improve our transportation infrastructure.

Finally, as for the accusation that I am a lemming, you are entitled to your opinion. Despite the repulsive nature of your comments, I appreciate that you took the time to write to me on paper, place a stamp on the envelope and utilized our US Postal Service to deliver your message. I’m disheartened only by the fact that you weren’t confident enough to sign your name to it because then we might have been able to find common ground off of which we could have had meaningful discussion. As Theodore Roosevelt once said, “The most practical kind of politics is the politics of decency.” Despite the fact that you displayed none, instead of changing my mind you created exactly the opposite effect resulting in more requests for lawn signs for the candidate you so “eloquently” but anonymously denounced.

Sincerely,

Shelly MacNeill

Selectwoman

1159 Franklin St

Stoneham, MA 02180