Opinion

Letter to the editor: Rockport needs to resolve leadership issue — now


Published: November 9, 2009

To the editor:

Rockport, 2009; and we are in the autumn of our discontent.

Chairman Jacques has generated upset on our Board of Selectmen. Let's all act surprised, as if this development just wasn't possible.

Let this be denied: Sandy Jacques ran for the Board of Selectmen out of vengeance. Let this be denied, that he actively sought endorsement and support from two sitting members of the Board of Selectmen who were voted into office to bring about "change" in how Rockport does things. And let us all try to deny the fact that the majority of people who vote in this town weren't disgusted with our Town Hall, its administrator, and a few other things.

Experience as chair of an appointed committee does not equate with being chair of an elected body that should be dedicated to serving the town. Someone who reads the law — yes, the law — as it deals with school choice money, can declare disagreement with that law, and then condemn the law as "not right," in view of an audience attending a meeting of the Board of Selectmen, has some kind of a problem.

I have never agreed that Heinze and Canavan conspired to make Jacques chair of the board. They were correct in how they changed that process. Anticipated change, expected by the electorate, would never have come about if the foolish policy of a round-robin chairmanship hadn't been discarded. Now, it begins to appear as if the automatic elevation might have been smart politics.

Then, after the flak concerning the statement, "I have a town to run," and seeking some kind of public apology for focusing thereon, Mr. Jacques has gone ahead with "my way, by guess, or by God." Witness the recent Times story where Mr. Jacques assumed full responsibility for muffing the health insurance program in negotiating the teachers' acceptance of co-pay; Mr. Jacques apologized, again.

Running a town requires much work and attention to detail and sometimes things fall through the cracks. Well, what are the rest of the selectmen doing that Wendell can't avail himself of the support of those who got him elected?

The Times bears some responsibility for the action before us. Jacques has been constantly quoted at times as if he alone went up the mountain and brought down the commandments. Then, again, Selectmen Heinze and Canavan may have decided it best to go along to get along.

The board whines because it's taxing to serve the people of this town. They have "private lives." Indeed. But there is also an obligation to serve, and you better know where to draw the line before you offer yourselves up to public office and the requirements of service as they evolve.

This town is facing serious business, and there is no time for flawed thinking. Signing a contract with a new town administrator ought to signal that this board is together with a major commitment that involves all of us; and we expect the entire board to work with the orientation and acceptance of the administrator.

If this Board of Selectmen is of an opinion that there should be a change in its leadership, it had better tend to the change now. This isn't a marriage, and it can be put asunder. Six months ago, we had a sense of hope that changes in local government would take place. What we apparently got, was the sense that the "king is dead; long live the king."

The dialogue has already begun concerning who said what to whom, what has been shared versus what has not been shared, or, to put it another context, "Who shot John?"

We don't have time for this. A new administrator has to come on board "clean." Anything else, and the whole process is suspect.

Herb Wescott

Rockport