Letter: Who is running the town?

To the editor:

Since the demise of traditional town meeting, the government of Peterborough has become remoter from its citizens. Ignoring public input, it has made some odd blunders: spending good money on a parking lot that may be unusable in winter and will shed road salt into the river; rezoning to create excessive density in the village, making that land far more valuable and precluding the erection of affordable housing; wasting taxpayer funds by foolishly suing the MacDowell Colony over its tax status.

Now the town is suing two citizens for daring to engage in the democratic process by proposing a zoning amendment to ameliorate some of the worst-case scenarios that might emerge from our present zoning code. Where did this suit originate? The select board may have signed off on it, but whose idea was it?  On whose behalf was it filed? Who would suggest such crude legal bullying, and why? Loretta Laurenitis asks, “Who is actually running the town?” We wish we knew. The town manager? The town attorney? Surely not – these are not elected officials but merely town employees. What of the developers and realtors who stand to benefit from a greatly increased village density? Surely the town doesn’t operate merely to further fatten their wallets.

How can we answer Loretta’s question, “How Can We Trust Our Town Government?” when it seems so difficult to locate that government? But this is for sure: the town government, whoever that is, has no business suing its own citizens for trying to participate. That’s not what democracy is about. I hope the citizens of Peterborough are paying attention and will vote accordingly when the time comes—that is, if the town government doesn’t sue us for voting.

Carole and William Doreski

Peterborough