An Important Choice is Yours THIS Sat. Apr. 5th!

The following has been reprinted with the permission of the author.

The Letter: Sears or Selissen for Moderator

Why is Selectman Sears running for Moderator? "No one was running for Moderator" and the work of Selectmen and Town Officials "can be undone at the Town Meeting" was quoted as said by Mr. Sears concerning a discussion he had with Selectman Gay and the Town Manager.

From a newspaper report: Sears restated his long held concern that town meeting not be "Hijacked" by special interest groups. Are the residents for the full time opening of the South Tewksbury Fire Station or against the slots considered special interest groups by Mr. Sears? Apparently Mr. Sears does not know that the budget presented at town meeting is only the proposed budget and the budget as passed by the voters is the actual budget.

"Those trying to dominate town meeting from the floor will be reminded of their proper place" (suggested as how "Doug" "will keep decorum") in a Sears for Moderator Letter to the Editor. Do Mr. Sears and his supporters believe that a speaker who disagrees with one line item in a $90,000,000 budget is trying to dominate the meeting when the majority of the voters in attendance support the change? Which is a better way to run our town, on the floor at an open town meeting or at a discussion by two selectmen and the Town Manager?

From the same Letter of Support, "Doug has a reputation of being a bit unorthodox". An area of agreement as Mr. Sears is the only speaker, within recent memory, to be escorted from Town Meeting by the Police Dept. after the Moderator warned him about continually disrupting the meeting and failing to cease speaking after being put on notice. How can an individual present himself as the best candidate for an office that he has disrespected?

For the past 26 years, there have been only three Moderators elected at the Annual Elections, Jim Coakley, Warren Layne and Keith Rauseo. All served the town with distinction, respected the voters and were respected by the voters in return. In my view and in the opinion of most, all satisfied the requirements of the office very well. Two of these Moderators are publicly supporting Mr. Selissen in the upcoming election (as is the former Town Clerk of 27 years, Liz Carey).

Since the voters overwhelmingly rejected a Charter change to a Council Form of government, they have made it clear that they do not want the Town Manager and Board of Selectmen to run the town without the approval of Town Meeting and certainly do not want a Moderator pre-ordained by these officials.

There is only one good reason to vote for Doug Sears and that is because you think he will make a good Moderator. I will be voting for Jerry Selissen.

Respectfully, Warren R. Carey