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Reading residents I hope you will join me in voting on or before September 1 for the recall.
As a newly elected member, I am learning a lot and I have made some mistakes and am trying my best. However, mistakes happen, and acknowledging and learning from those mistakes is a natural part of life even for elected officials. I will always hold myself accountable and do my best with every decision I make with the information presented as a volunteer elected official. This is what I expect of all of our elected officials.
During the Select Board meeting on February 11, 2020, the community lost faith in its elected officials because former Chair Vanessa Alvarado chose to follow her own version of the Reading Town Charter in relation to the police chief hiring process. That tumultuous evening set the stage for Reading’s first-ever recall because of a growing divide in our community. With many residents for the recall and many against, there comes a lot of comments on social media and many letters to the editor and opinions. We need to pay attention to the facts. We as the highest elected officials need to lead the community by positive example and do what is best for the community.
In 2019 I ran for Selectboard and came up a little short and then prevailed in 2020 because of the great turmoil and lack of confidence and leadership seen during the February 11 Select Board meeting.
There is a lot of anger and frustration out there and most of it is warranted. We want public service from our elected leaders, not self-service. I was saddened to see a Recall Petition was brought forward, however, over 2000 residents felt the need to sign their name and put the wheels in motion. It was more troubling when Select Board member Vanessa Alvarado and her attorney challenged 912 signatures of Reading residents. It was a costly delay tactic and showed a lack of confidence towards the people Alvarado represents. I too would have been very upset if my signature was falsely challenged and my name made public to that fact. The Board of Registrars was tasked with making sure those signatures were genuine, which were and the recall election date was set and the town of Reading is holding the bill for over $35,000.00 as a result of that delay tactic.
The Community expects and deserves accountability from all of its elected officials including former chair Vanessa Alvarado and because they don’t have that confidence they don’t want to wait for her term to end, they want to vote for her recall on September 1, 2020.
Carlo Bacci
