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Thursday, May 24, 2012  ·  Contact Us Register  ·  Subscribe/Renew  ·  Login
 
ExPRESSions
Blindsided

It’s hard to know what to make of Town Counsel Mark Lanza’s surprise disclosure at Special Town Meeting that the selectmen did not have to abide by a Town Meeting vote against billing for ambulance services. As it turned out, a substantial majority of voters didn’t support Article 1, so they evidently approve of the selectmen’s billing plan. But no matter how they voted, many of those who had listened intently to arguments on both sides of the question couldn’t help feeling that the whole discussion had been some sort of charade. They were under the mistaken impression that a citizens’ petition, followed by a confirming Town Meeting vote, would require the selectmen to revert to a no-billing policy. But Lanza, almost as an afterthought, set them straight about that just before the vote. So if the article had passed, would the selectmen have honored the voters’ sentiments? We’d like to think so, and hearing them say so would have gone a long way toward healing some bruised feelings Tuesday night.

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