This Plaistow blog has been very supportive of us throughout our first year, and we respectfully check out their site daily. Here is a post from the Plaistow Town Crier, that is very relevant to us, here at the Atkinson Reporter.
You can find a link to the Town Crier on the right side of the page.
"A Word Of Truth" The latest from atkinson-reporter.blogspot.com
I'm not a resident of Atkinson. I just have friends over there. And I would never post a message on their board directly as it would not be appropriate. However, I am a little concerned over their new-found civility. It sounds like a gesture to the politically squeamish. I myself wouldn't bother. But, maybe it make a little sense. Elections will be coming up fast and there's nothing more useless and tragic than a turned-off former voter.
All the neighboring towns are watching you folks with keen interest. We have elected and appointed officials in our towns too and we're all comparing notes. Do our Selectmen resemble this patriarchial and paternalistic tribe that's running your town? Do our Chiefs of Police confront residents on their own private property, at board meetings and on the streets, then harrass these same residents while they're trying to run their daily lives?
From here it looks like town officials and the blog have been drawn to a precipice and after looking over the edge, the blog drew back and blinked. I hope this isn't the case for some of you have now lost a major mouthpiece. I've been following the blog from its inception and I haven't seen even one comment that's been a turn-off for me. You've got it all wrong. It's the town officials that need to blink, again and again and again. Keep the pressure on. If they won't publish your comments over on the blogspot, bring 'em over here to "The Crier". We enjoy comments from all the area voters, even the "childish" and "immature" ones. Or not. Don't abandon the fight now, take heart. After a few recent hard-fought victories, maybe the folks running the blogspot just needed a breather and they'll loosen up a little as the 2008 town elections get closer.
Thank you, Mr. Herrick, We can not reveal our identities for obvious reasons. You have seen what our police chief does to people openly critical of him, such as, Mr. Acciard, Mrs. Grant, Mr. Kaye, and many others.
For your information and that of your readers, we have not blinked. We do however wish to have a growing voice, as the election season nears, and we Do wish this to be a place where people can learn that which they will not see at selectmen's meetings. And therefore we wish to keep to the moral high ground, if you will, and leave the open slander, to our selectmen, after all, they are really good at it!
I have seen a couple of iffy comments but all in all good stuff. Sounds like Sapia or Childs or Cos. to me, belittling the voters yet again. We want you out. GET IT?
ReplyDeleteI am the person that wrote the request for civility on the Atkinson Reporter board. I am the one you indirectly called "politically squeamish".
ReplyDeleteI was shocked that the post was chosen to be placed on the front page of the blog, but very grateful as I sincerely want the blog to become a place that all citizens can go to for valuable information about the leaders in our town that have become lost as to their duties and responsibilities.
My post was directed at keeping the posts focused on offering valuable information instead of 4th grade level put-downs. Playground put-downs can be fun, but they don't really offer much in the way of informative information that can help citizens turn things around in our town.
What immature comments CAN accomplish is turning off the majority of people that go to the board looking for a quality exchange of ideas and facts. True change in town won't happen unless there are enough people to support it. Filling a blog that reports on the missteps and corruption of town officials with silly personal slander will only cause people to be turned off to the mission of governmental reform.
In the end, the blog is either about creating an effective destination for people to learn about the malfeasance in town government, or it's about acting like little children and calling people silly names; it can't effectively be both. I'm extremely grateful that the owners of that blog seem to have taken a step towards making sure the board serves the public as a clearinghouse of valuable information that can help "clean up" town government. You might consider doing the same.