Date: 10/8/2015
The day after East Longmeadow’s annual town election on April 14, nine people woke up that morning and they were instantly town charter review commissioners. Since there was no competition and subsequently no candidates’ forum scheduled, we never had a chance to interview this group to determine if they had modern business analysis skill sets to take on this project.
Almost four months later on Aug. 6, these commissioners voted unanimously to change our legislative branch by firing Town Meeting voters and replacing you with seven town counselors. Yes, your right to vote at Town Meetings will be taken from you, if you don’t show up at the hearing on Oct. 15 and block this.
It’s not my place to tell anyone how to vote, but if I were a young family with children in the schools, or a retiree on a fixed-income, or any resident who may need to vote on a budget, public safety, zoning change or any other unforeseen matter – you may want to tap the brake pedal on this major change before it is too late. Once you relinquish your right to vote at the Town Meeting, you will never get this leverage back.
Peter J. Cokotis
East Longmeadow
