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What we witnessed at the March 12 meeting of the Select Board was disturbing. It upset me as I watched it live on RCTV, to see an unruly group of my fellow citizens disrupt the meeting. And my uneasiness has continued since, as I have considered the implications for our town’s democracy, and for our ability to attract people to serve Reading as members of boards and committees, and as employees.
Early in the meeting, many people stood up at the podium and shared their views. I disagreed with the perspectives of many of them, but I appreciated that they showed up to state their opinions, and they expressed them thoughtfully. But then many of these very same people, after being granted the privilege to participate in democracy and in our town’s business, sat in the audience—another privilege—and disrespected our town, the Select Board, and the privilege they had been granted by speaking out of turn, in a menacing way, and disrupting the meeting. They ignored Chair Dockser’s directions and then pleas that they cease and observe the proper decorum for the meeting.
To those people, I must ask—which would you like to do? You cannot enjoy the privilege of participating in our town’s governance at the microphone, and then go back to your seat and act like you’re at a taping of the Jerry Springer Show. Sharing your views respectfully is welcome and protected. Disrupting the meeting with angry words spoken out of turn cannot be tolerated.
I hope this never happens again, but if it does, I hope each and every Board member will support the Chair and state clearly and on the record that this type of behavior is unacceptable and must stop. And I hope every candidate running for Select Board in the special election will inform the electorate of what they plan to do to ensure that our Select Board meetings will not be disrupted by audience members in the future.
David Monahan
Maple Ridge Road
