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<DIV>All</DIV>
<DIV>I like it when others "speak out". Many of us do not have the
resources, education, experience to run for public office, but that does not
preclude us from having an opinion and voicing it. This is America,
right?</DIV>
<DIV>If Don wants to invoke his freedom of speech rights, why should he be
accused of "attacking" the status quo?</DIV>
<DIV>From what I have seen, Don does more volunteer work in the town than many
residents and I would call that an active role and not "sitting and
complaining". I would think the governing officials hearing what he thinks
would take that in stride and under advisement and be happy to hear some
feedback and use it their best advantage. Often, they don't know what the
public thinks, so this could be a good thing. There are many ways to let
our officials know what we think or what ideas we have. One, of course is
going to the meetings but it is not the only way and if one chooses to use a
different method they shouldn't be chastised for not going to the meetings. As
long as we keep a civilized tone and a polite manner, there is nothing wrong
with voicing our opinions.</DIV>
<DIV>Audrey</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV>In a message dated 9/2/2009 9:16:38 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
regina@kreger.net writes:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><FONT
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>Don,
it's great that you want to be involved in town governance. You've <BR>got
energy and ideas and a can-do attitude. If you find our elected <BR>officials
complacent, then why don't you run for office? Every race in <BR>town was
uncontested this last time. If your response to elected <BR>officials not
acting to your satisfaction is just to "speak out", to <BR>"point out the lack
of stewardship", it sounds pretty similar to "just <BR>sit and complain". Not
to negate your volunteer service in the town, <BR>it's just that this line of
attack seems singularly unproductive. If <BR>there is something specific you
think town officials should do, suggest <BR>it. Go to work sessions and
advocate for your point of view. If they <BR>don't act to your satisfaction,
try to replace them. That's called <BR>"democracy".<BR><BR>Don Lynch
wrote:<BR>> <div class="moz-text-flowed" style="font-family:
-moz-fixed">Hello,<BR>><BR>> I would like to acquaint everyone with
Melissa and myself.<BR>><BR>> We chose to live here because it seems
that this is one of the last <BR>> places untouched by the corruption of
developers.<BR>><BR>> A bit about my past...<BR>><BR>> My father
fought in WWII and had the misfortune to be captured by the <BR>> German
forces and was a prisoner for eight months. He was forced to <BR>> work in
strategic factories that were daily strafed by allied forces.<BR>><BR>>
Of all the hardships he endured, the one event that stood out in his <BR>>
mind, was what occurred at a soup kitchen line in the prisoner camp. A
<BR>> Russian soldier was given the task of dishing out soup to both
<BR>> Americans and Russians. The German soldiers were not kind to the
<BR>> Russian soldiers , and in this instance, a German soldier shoved the
<BR>> Russian prisoner into the mud while he was serving soup to his fellow
<BR>> prisoners.<BR>><BR>> The Russian soldier picked himself up and
continued to serve the soup…<BR>><BR>> My father survived this ordeal
and came out a Disabled Veteran and <BR>> later was the head of the local
chapter of the DAV in the Washington, <BR>> DC area.<BR>><BR>> He
worked for the Department of the Navy and established many <BR>>
apprenticeship programs within the Navy department.<BR>><BR>> My older
brother was an auto mechanic in High School and my father <BR>> asked the
Montgomery County School system about opportunities for an <BR>>
apprenticeship in auto mechanics, the response was “there isn’t such a
<BR>> program”.<BR>><BR>> Well, my father didn’t like that answer and
so he started an <BR>> apprenticeship program in the Montgomery County
School system.<BR>><BR>> So, when I feel that there are important
occurrences going on in this <BR>> town that should be addressed, I hear my
father’s objection to “it <BR>> can’t be done”.<BR>><BR>> Responses
like “we should just look both ways at railroad crossings”.<BR>><BR>> If
people would just examine the laws, they would realize there is <BR>> much
we can do as a community.<BR>><BR>> There are laws in place that allow a
town to demand a railroad to <BR>> reduce the use of train horns in our
township.<BR>><BR>> Certainly, there is much more in the area of public
safety and 60 mile <BR>> an hour trains roaring through our town at “at
grade” crossings.<BR>><BR>> I’m not one who just sits and just
complains…<BR>><BR>> As some of you know, I have put in many hours of
community service, <BR>> including, the Holiday Festival of Lights, the
ArtsFest, the Memorial <BR>> Day event, and created, along with our
fantastic fire department, a <BR>> new July 4th celebration, in addition to
five months of volunteering <BR>> at the farm market.<BR>><BR>> So, I
can’t sit still when I hear a public official say “ there’s not <BR>> much
I can do”.<BR>><BR>> Everyone in this town can do something about what
is going on.<BR>><BR>> Complacency, well, I won’t stand for it and I
won’t let any elected <BR>> official in our town sit back and do
nothing.<BR>><BR>> I will continue to point out the lack of stewardship
that is essential <BR>> in our leaders of this community.<BR>><BR>>
There are some who will criticize me for speaking out.<BR>><BR>> I will
just pick myself out the mud and continue…<BR>><BR>>
Don<BR>><BR>><BR>>
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