FIXED

New Selectboard
Is a Little Hasty

I would have thought the new majority on the Randolph Selectboard would have let things settle a bit after the election before smacking the voters up side the head over the town hall move.

Stephen Webster could have deferred Chuck Webb's comment without offering an opinion that frankly seems unnecessarily presumptuous and inflammatory. It sounds like he and Joe Voci would have chosen to further stir the pot had not Ken Goss intervened.

Bill Baumann didn't do his firm any public relations favors with his comments either. DuBois and King's contract with the town relative to the town hall is void. To insinuate they would sue over revenue that is merely hoped for rather than contractually obligated is an empty threat and frankly disingenuous. I would have thought that lawyer Webster would have called him on that one.

I am still in favor of the new town hall plan. An advantage of the former Co-op building that is not talked about much is that the town's share of the space can be enlarged by buying out other condo owners. There is built-in room for expansion that would not be there if we renovated the existing building. Could we also consider moving the police over there so we don't have to heat another building?

I'm glad that the Sheriff's contract was extended and that it includes response to calls and not just traffic patrols. I know how Joe Voci feels about rural policing after his petition to try to kill the expansion of the Randolph police district.

Still, I wonder how the people of the village feel about paying for both their coverage plus a sheriff's contract for the rural areas. I think the Selectboard should find a solution for good rural police response in the framework of a tax structure that is fair to all the taxpayers.

I hope that in the future the Selectboard will emulate the general good will and cooperation of the previous board.

Peter Magoon

Randolph Center