Governing wannabe

Date: 8/7/2013

In your front-page story about the Longmeadow Select Board/School Committee rapprochement, you referred to the participants as, “governing bodies.” That implies that the Board and the Committee are co-equal parts of town government. In point of fact, the Longmeadow Charter stipulates that the Select Board is the only governing body in the town of Longmeadow.

In recent years, it has become painfully obvious that the School Committee is a governing wannabe, with considerable success. They have demonstrated that the majority they command at town meetings will overcome any opposition to any issue they wish to pursue.

For its part, the Select Board has offered precious little resistance to the ongoing assault on its powers by the maverick School Committee. Its members seem to be content with relinquishing their authority and sliding into irrelevance to avoid confrontation.

It has been said that some are born to greatness and some have it thrust upon them. At the moment, no one on the Longmeadow Select Board seems to be born to greatness. And, all of the members seem to be adept at dodging any thrusting toward greatness that may, inadvertently, come their way.

Philip Fregeau

Longmeadow