A five member Board of Selectman will not only help to level the playing field of the Town's recent political games but also will bring into the leadership a wealth of fresh intellectual property that does not get taxed. Sudbury is no longer the sleepy little hamlet of yesteryear--this is a bustling suburb with car dealerships, banks, and restaurants galore that has entered the new Millenium with many growing pains. Long standing town officials are not keeping pace with the new reality that is Sudbury and a five member board will allow the conversation and creative process to begin anew. Let's hope the days of "unanimous approval" from our BOS are over. Stagnant water is not safe to drink. We need to creatively address our Town's issues with a variety of ideas and approaches. Working together with the best from all five members will go a long way in bringing Sudbury into a new era of cooperation and growth.

Sudbury is a town greatly divided. The Lavender gang have gone way to far with what they perceive their role to be. It seems the citizen input is not wanted or appreciated. We certainly need 5 Selectmen instead of 3 to prevent the "odd man out" situations we constantly see at Selectmen meetings. The only way this will happen is if people show up at Town Meeting and voice their opinions. Sudbury will continue to be a divided town until significant change happens. That change starts with diversity on our board of selectmen.

This has been voted down everytime it has been proposed in the past. I appreciate your desire to hold elected office and I am sorry you were not able to get enough votes in the last election to do so. I think it is more honorable to win based on your own merits rather than try and change the rules so you don't have to.

And SkimThreePercent,
Why not be a little nicer!? "Moonbat"? What in heaven's sake is a moonbat? Arg!

Your right Siobhan. Dan - please accept my apologies. I do think you are an honorable person and wanted to let you know what you are doing might appear otherwise. @skimthree - you forgot to note that I am also your neighbor and part of the community you live in. Siobhan knows me and yes, I post under my actual name.

@ Skim - Personal and derogatory hits do nothing but limit or remove your own credibility. Post facts not attacks.
Thanks Rick!

Kirsten - If we can get 8 qualified neighbors to do what it takes just to run for the position, I would support expanding the board. Right now we are lucky to get two, one of which is the incumbant, to even run. Being a selectperson is a very demanding job and I think we need to see more people running and showing us they are capable of the job before we start changing rules.

I submitted this petition, on behalf of a pretty big group of people trying to make forward progress without a vastly more divisive recall or censure effort. We truly believe it makes sense for Sudbury - on the merits - and look forward to presenting the case for it to our neighbors and friends.

Thanks for your comments Mr. Semple. You neglected to mention

-non income tax paying

Great point Ed. I recently heard a lot of rumblings around town on that topic so I looked it up on the MA Registry of Deeds. Low and behold it was true.

It is frustrating that we can't have a civil debate without resorting to the slander that continues to pepper the boards here.

Based on facts - I do agree with the board expansion to avoid the deadlocks we've seen, as well as bring Sudbury representation comparable (from a population perspective) to other towns nearby.

You're welcome to agree and disagree with me based on facts, but we need to respect that people will have opinions different than our own. That's going to be the most important thing to help bring the community back together.

I expressed my views earlier on what I thought needed to happen before we expanded the board to five and that was see more qualified people running for the office. The last thing I want for the town is to have our leaders behave like many people on this site. Since then I have been called every name in the book, told that I am somehow connected to every perceived wrong in town, and had someone tell me this proposal is the only option to avoid a recall, etc. Many of you are certainly angry or worse even, but I doubt you are winning many people over to your views behaving like this.

Wait there is more. I actually appreciate everyone who is serving in an elected position, contributing to a committee or board and those who work tirelessly day after day to protect my family, educate them and keep this town running. It doesn't matter if I voted for them or not. I vote no when the town wants to buy property for low income housing but I worry we might be only empowering developers by doing so. Regardless, I still vote no. I am as likely to support an override as not - it depends on how it impacts me. I understand that operating lines always think they need more money but it is up to us to decide if they have made a case for it. I don't find any fault in them for asking. Happens every day in business.

OMG even more! I don't support paying more taxes to help others if there is no asset test. Means + asset are much more reasonable. I don't think we should be in the business of protecting someone’s estate for their heirs. I doubt I am that far away from many of you with these positions but I think we can bring change working together and not attacking each other. Isn't that the honorable thing to do :-)