Manager Asks For Civility As Wilmington Faces 'Hot Button' Issues

WILMINGTON, MA -- Town Manager Jeffrey Hull used space in the "Town Topics" newsletter to ask residents to be civil as the town confronts a series of hot button issues in the coming months. The biggest, undecided issue dividing the town is the fate of a drug treatment facility before the zoning board of appeals, but Hull alluded to a proposal for a West Street gas station that was eventually withdrawn by the developer.

"In each case, passions ran high and the communications turned hostile," Hull wrote. "Focusing on the facts can be challenging. Attacking someone’s character or motivates can sometimes appear to be the most effective way to make one’s point. But at what cost? Relationships should not dissolve because we cannot agree to disagree."

Hull also included a link to a Sept. 18 Wilmington Library presentation by Dr. Carolyn Lukensmeyer, Executive Director of the National Institute for Civil Discourse, during the library's "Revive Civility."

"As we begin a new year, I hope you will join me in identifying ways to a bit more patient, a bit more tolerant, a bit more understanding, and a bit more forgiving in the moment," Hull said.

In his role as town manager, Hull has occasionally been the target of less-than-civil discourse. In Oct. 2017, as the debate over the drug treatment facility reached a boiling point, Selectman Michael McCoy issued a press release to call Hull a "sneaky little weasel."

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Patch file photo.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).