Norwich Residents Deserve Better? (Valley News Op-Ed)

To the Editor:

I was appalled by Norwich Selectboard candidate Douglas Hoffman's letter of February 29, 2000, entitled "Norwich Residents Deserve Better." The tone and substance of this letter alone should raise questions in voters' minds regarding Mr. Hoffman's candidacy. While I support his stated goals of more inclusive and transparent town government, I utterly reject the cynical political rhetoric of the letter itself.

At its core, Mr. Hoffman's letter raises an important question: Why does it require a citizen petition and Town-wide vote to "advise" the Selectboard to change their meeting time to a more convenient hour and to record individual members' votes? The answer to this question should tell us a great deal about our Selectboard. But rather than simply pose the question and demand a forthright answer, Mr. Hoffman's letter impugns the character and motives of the current Selectboard with innuendo and rhetorical device: Has the current Norwich Selectboard really "done everything it could to discourage active and informed citizen involvement?" Has it "invested itself in turning a deaf ear to the town and its concerns?" Do Selectboard members truly want to deny Norwich voters "the right to choose from a number of candidates for selectboard?"

Over the years Norwich has seen a number of vigorous debates regarding issues of town and school governance. Mr. Hoffman's letter suggests a nasty turn in the tenor of these debates. It is one thing to disagree with someone's views and vigorously argue the merits of that disagreement. It is quite another to deride one's opponents with suggestions of bad faith, wilful indifference to voters' concerns, and actively conspiring to prevent broader citizen participation. Worse, still, Mr. Hoffman couches these serious accusations in the rhetoric of innuendo. Mr. Hoffman doesn't personally accuse the Selectboard of doing "everything it could to discourage active and informed citizen involvement." He's only "listened to many Norwich residents" who feel that way. He's not forthrightly stating his own opinion that Selectboard members want to deny Norwich voters "the right to choose from a number of candidates for selectboard." He's only suggesting that might be their motive in the form of a rhetorical question.

Near it's end, Mr Hoffman's letter makes much of the need for Selectboard members who will take responsibility for their actions. He would do well to lead by example, cast off this cloak of innuendo, and tell his fellow townspeople simply and forthrightly how he would do things differently and why.