The legendary Bob Fagelson is back, this time to slam Joerg Mayer for resigning. It was printed in today's Reformer and what a doozy it is. Such a doozy that I felt obligated to dash off my own letter, pointing out Bob's biases, slanders and misrepresentations of the truth. Hard to say if the Reformer will print it -- their devotion to balanced discourse seems to have slipped in recent months as demonstrated by the title they gave to his letter ('Political motives subvert Selectboard seat' -- whatever that means). In the event that they don't print it, here is my letter, in it's entirety.
To the editor:
The mean-spiritedness of Bob Fagelson's letter to the editor (Sat. March 5, 2005) truly shocked me. First, he slammed Joerg Mayer for resigning and claimed that Mayer disguised his true reasons for leaving under the cloak of health concerns. This is not true. Mayer actually said that an important reason for his resignation was that the Selectboard 'never rose the level of cohesiveness' that he felt was necessary for an effective governing body, no doubt referring to the frequent 3-2 votes with Chairman Steve Steidle, Greg Worden and Kevin Yeager voting in block against Mayer and Pat DeAngelo. Mayer made it clear that with Steidle re-elected as chair, there was no longer any place for him on that Board. One could argue that the Board effectively forced him out by re-electing Steidle (by a vote of 3-2) to the chairmanship.
Fagelson also slandered the attendees of the swearing-in ceremony as "anti-nuke, anti-development, and anti-growth members of the community." Way to use right-wing labeling as a bludgeon, Bob. Not a lot of nuance there.
Finally, he all but dismisses Audrey Garfield and Harold Dompier, advising them to run again next year. Excuse me, but if the Selectboard has the power to select anyone of their choosing, what's to prevent them from choosing Garfield or Dompier? Are they out of the running because they chose to run, or does Fagelson know something the rest of us don't know -- that the Board majority block (Steidle, Worden and Yeager) have no intention of choosing either one, despite their declared candidacy in the recent elections?
I hope that readers will not be swayed by Fagelson's ugly and disingenous letter. Here in Brattleboro, I like to think that we're better than that.
Lise LePage
Brattelboro, VT