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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLynchStatementRobert Lynch Public Hearing Comment Proposed Terms-of-Office Laws July 22, 2020 Good evening. Let’s make one thing clear. The decisions before us tonight are not about choice. They’re about power; raw political power. Say their names. You know them. But to be polite, I’ll say only my own, Councilperson Robert Lynch. The question before us tonight is whether I and my four colleagues can grab as much power as we can, by taking it away from others, namely our constituents. It’s the power to elect the next Town Clerk and Highway Superintendent. Let’s be precise. It’s the power of any three-member majority of us to do so. Why do we seek that power? Because some unnamed members among us don’t like Buddy Rollins or Ellen Woods all that much. We scrap with them at meetings and launch snarky exchanges on Town email. That’s not a good enough reason for me. Elections resolve personality fights like that. Stealing Democracy from the voters does not. I, for one, don’t want more power. As one of five on this legislative body, I’ve got enough power already. I don’t want to rule the excavator, patch the pothole, or sell the dog license. Nor hire the person who does that stuff. Let the voters do the hiring… and the firing, not me. I’ve been told these proposed referendums are about giving the voters a choice. But to me, the argument rings hollow, collapsing on its face through comparison. We can decide lots of things by referendum. Suppose I proposed we abolish the Town of Enfield? It might save money in this pandemic? Split our town right down Route 79. The north goes with Ulysses; the south to Newfield. “You’re crazy, Bob!” most would tell me. “We love our Town. Why did we ever vote for you?” “But I’m only offering you a choice,” I might respond. “We don’t want that choice,” they’d answer. We want Enfield. First, they’d vote down my initiative with near unanimity. Then they’d exact revenge, removing me in the next election with Democracy’s equivalent of a bucket of tar and a basket of feathers. My own term comes up in 2023. I’d like to be re-elected. And I’d like this community’s respect then and now. I would think you, my colleagues, would also want that respect, whether or not you intend to run again. That’s why I will proudly vote “No” tonight on these local laws. I hope you will vote “No” as well. Thank you.