By Scott Smyers
At the November 20, 2023 Select Board meeting, a citizen requested placing a Menorah somewhere on Town Property. This preliminary discussion was followed up later in the same meeting with input from the Town Counsel and the public.
How did this discussion go on so long without being on the agenda even though Town Counsel was at the meeting contributing to this discussion? Is this another violation of the open meeting laws? Former Select Board member, Mike Gowing pointed this out to the Chair at least two times.
Looking back, on June 6, 2022 the Acton Select Board signed an antisemitism proclamation.
This proclamation not only acknowledges several components of antisemitism, it requires action,
…it demands from us the courage to protect the persecuted and speak out against bigotry and hatred; and … we commit ourselves in Acton to combating the global rise in antisemitism.
Considering what occurred on October 7 (murderous rampage and kidnapping of civilians in Israel) combined with the unrelenting push for acknowledging and assisting marginalized individuals and families from within OUR community, it seems like an obvious and easy way for Acton to publicly and symbolically support our Jewish friends and neighbors.
The Select Board discussion on the Menorah included the boundaries of the Town Common and restrictions associated with the cemetery. There seemed to be plenty of options, but in the end there was no official approval. It didn’t sound like the Board was eager to approve anything in time for Hanukkah. The Board was concerned about unidentified controversy that didn’t make sense.
Partly due to the lengthy discussion on the Menorah (about 30 minutes), the other meetings went later and the Chair abbreviated one presentation and cut public comments off whenever possible. For example, the presentation AND discussion on the leaf blowers was abbreviated in spite the attendance by citizens who were there to discuss the topic. These people attended the meeting in person and left without being able to fully contribute their opinions. Although comments were not cut off, the library trustees saga remains confusing and unresolved.
As predicted, the final topic regarding a discussion with Mr. Benson regarding the recent records release was left to the end in what seems to be an effort to bury the evidence as much as possible. The discussion is informative and worth watching to see how most of the members of the Board avoid the topic.
It is interesting that in the very first public comment of the meeting, the topic included a demand for ceasefire in Gaza and a general interest in the public records request system. Ms. Friedrichs explains she may not stick around until the end of the meeting but says,
. . . it would be fun to watch you guys squirm – just kidding.
This comment demonstrates how the Board is losing credibility from both citizens occupying both ends of the political spectrum.
With the looming local budget problems upon us, we need more discussion from knowledgeable people (like we heard from the Finance Committee at this meeting), not less. The discussion on the Menorah revealed that the DEI movement was never intended to include Jews and this is a problem to many supporters of BLM and DEI.
The Chair lost control of this last meeting and should go back to following the agenda, allow less restricted public comments, and provide answers to lingering questions. Without shifting back to these norms, public trust will continue to erode.
There are many topics and not enough citizen journalists to cover them all. If you want to help your fellow citizens by keeping them informed through actonforum.com, please email actonforum2@gmail.com.
Two weeks later on December 4, 2023, there was another Select Board meeting. The recording can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InKQBpZFIJQ
On the agenda were twelve items of new business. The first was “Approve Seasonal Holiday Display on Public Property Policy”. The second was “Approve Request from Eva Chenail to Install Menorah on Lawn at 468 Main Street”.
During the prior two weeks, the Assistant Town Manager and a Select Board Member had drafted a policy. The draft policy was discussed, edits were made, resident input was obtained, and the policy was approved unanimously. (See timestamp 0:56:43.)
Having approved the newly-created policy, the request to install the menorah was discussed and the request was approved unanimously, including waiving the 30 day notice requirement. (See timestamp 1:07:25.)
Regarding potential dissenters and the Board’s position thereof, when it was time to hear resident input, the Chair said “Unless there are people who would like to speak AGAINST the notion of having this menorah, I’d be happy to move to a vote now.” (See timestamp 1:07:01). No resident rose in response. During the post-meeting retrospective, a Member complimented the Chair on how handled that. See timestamp 5:06:50.
Regarding the rationale for the Board not taking action at the previous November 20th, 2023 meeting to approve a menorah, a Member addressed that. See timestamp 0:34:24.
The menorah was installed on town property at 468 Main Street, the “Red House”, in time for the start of Hanukkah 2023.
I’m not sure I fully understand why a Menorah needs to be placed on town property. The Christmas Tree mentioned in the discussion is on private property. Is there a reason the same couldn’t be done for a Menorah?
The problem with the town starting to sponsor religions is that they are then bound to treat everyone equally. Some registered religions are a lot more controversial than others. We saw this kind of problem play out in North Andover. First an Israeli flag was flown, that was swiftly followed by a request to fly a Palestinian flag. That was granted and everyone was up in arms.
Yep, the meeting was way too long. Can the town meeting get rid of all the library trustees and replace them with something functional? A single body for both libraries.
I was glad the continual whinging of Marty Benson was left to the end. At this point, it seems he just likes to harbor a grievance. If he really wanted to bring the matter to a conclusion he’d have taken the town to court a long time ago. I’ve done it and I believe you’ve done it. It’s likely to get a result one way or the other, whereas turning up to every SelectBoard meeting to deliver a monologue achieves absolutely nothing.
That meeting was a mess. The ONLY topic they refused to allow comment pertained to a leaf blower ban. As unimportant as this topic may seem to many, it is just this type of government interference in how we run our lives (and for some, their businesses) that drives people crazy. One gentlemen sat there through HOURS of discussion on other topics, including the aforementioned menorah discussion, only to learn at 11 pm that he would not be allowed to speak on an issue he found important. Then they went on to discuss the stupid library thing AGAIN, chewing up another 30 minutes!! Shut the stinking place down if it’s going to cause nothing but drama. The agenda item pertaining to the public records request was placed at the very end of the agenda and left ambiguity as to what would be discussed. That unnecessarily led to further confusion and heated discussion. Five hours of my life I can’t get back.