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Dear Fellow Reading Residents –
As most of you know, I ran for re-election to the Board of Library Trustees on April 4th. If you have been following the events in our town since the election, you have seen that one of the other candidates, filed a recount petition. This letter is my explanation of why I did not participate in this recount. Before I go any further, I want to state publicly that I support recounts when the vote is tied or is a razor thin margin as it is for the Select Board race. I wish Karen, Carlo and Melissa the best of luck today as they participate in the recount for their very close race.
The library recount will require an additional 11 staff members. Let me emphasize that … 11 ADDITIONAL PAID staff members working for what is expected to be a 12+ hour day to execute the recount (not to mention all the preparation that has had to take place over the past two weeks). If someone is saying, “there was already a recount for Select Board so it is just piggybacking off of that” understand that the piggybacking is not free. The recounts are separate. There are 5 teams of 2 people – one reading and one recording votes cast – in addition to a tally clerk just for the Board of Library Trustee recount. I do not want in any way to support or take part in this gross abuse of our tax dollars.
I was extremely fortunate to have so much support for my campaign through generous donations and tireless volunteers who held signs and spread the word. After paying off my campaign expenses, my plan is to donate the remaining funds to the Reading Food Pantry. If I were to participate in the recount, I would need to use this money to compensate a lawyer. Given that this was not a close race I feel that the money is much better spent supporting the Reading Food Pantry and the neighbors they serve.
I trust our town clerk, Laura Gemme, and the balloting process. I believe that much care is given to training the poll workers and scrutiny given to the process. My not participating in today’s events for the BOLT recount is my way of putting my words into action. I trust the process and that the recount will verify the results of April 4.
I am a library trustee because of my love of the library institution and our public library in particular—it is that simple. The library is not a political platform for me, and I take extreme offense that this election cycle tried to make it into one. I hope that you enjoy our magnificent library in the years to come – attend a program, take out a book, download an audiobook for a long car ride and engage with the best place in Reading.
Monette Verrier
