LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Let's Not Rush to Increase Number of Selectmen

Board of Selectmen Expansion Article 4 at Special Town Meeting  September 24th

A petition article has been placed on the warrant for the September 24th Special Town Meeting to increase the Board of Selectmen (BOS) from three to five members.

We believe that this issue needs some non-partisan study so that Town Meeting voters can make an informed vote. The Sudbury League of Women Voters would be a neutral party to conduct this study, should they agree to undertake this assignment, and report back at the 2013 Annual Town Meeting in May.

Questions to consider:

• Would a BOS expansion slow down the decision making process in Sudbury? 
• How would BOS expansion impact on Town Departments and Committees? What (if any) impediments to the Town’s good governance can be foreseen?
• Is three the most effective number of Selectmen? Five? Seven?

We don’t know the answers to these and other concerns but we can tell you that Sudbury’s three-member BOS has worked well now for hundreds of years, so what’s the rush?

A Special Town Meeting is not the appropriate forum for such a seminal change to the Town’s governance. This matter should be brought before an Annual Town Meeting after careful study by a non-partisan group and not railroaded through a lesser noticed and lesser attended Special Town Meeting by special interest proponents.

The League of Women Voters has a long and successful history of improving good government in Sudbury. It was the League that caused us to change Town Meeting rules to limit motion presenters to 10 minutes and other speakers to 5 minutes, saving time and increasing efficiency. It was the League that worked successfully to end the practice of allowing the Moderator to schedule lists of speakers in advance. We can count on the League to perform a thorough non-partisan examination of this issue and report back to us in several months. 

Please plan to attend this Special Town Meeting on Monday, Sept. 24, 2012 at 7:30 p.m. at the LSRHS and vote with us to refer the issue to the League of Women Voters now for everyone’s informed consideration at the May 2013 Annual Town Meeting.

Respectfully submitted,

Stan Kaplan
98 Victoria Road

Carmine Gentile
33 Surrey Lane