Chariho

Time to set aside personal agendas

Keeping the public informed of what we on the Chariho School Committee are doing is fine, and should be done to a certain extent. I believe in transparency, but when a committee is being blamed for something and is trying to resolve it, you should be thankful and maintain your silence, otherwise you are costing the taxpayers money!

All legal expenses come from the budget, so all the taxpayers of the district are paying. And if you think you can say what you want, when you want, the bill continues to go up.

If a complaint was against William Felkner as an individual, and not the committee, and he was paying out of pocket, instead of the taxpayers covering the expense, would he continue to carry on? I doubt it. I believe that his legal counsel would strongly encourage silence until the case was resolved.

It is easy for him to continue to talk about this charge since no one else from the committee will discuss what was talked about in executive session until all litigation is resolved and the committee votes to release the minutes. So he can continue to give his version of what happened with no one to challenge him.

Taxpayers, you pay a stipend to the members of the School Committee. I know when I pay for a job I want to have the job done and done right. How can you do something right when you don’t show up? Mr. Felkner has missed, by my count, somewhere in the vicinity of 10 meetings since being elected. Not too shabby. I hear a lot of complaints about where your tax dollars are going. This is one instance where you are paying for a service and not getting your money’s worth.

Mr. Felkner talks about transparency. Transparency is good. But if you want transparency, then you need to be honest about everything and not just what suits you. He is misleading, he cuts and pastes information that backs his way of thinking and leaves out what doesn’t. He talks about things that go on in meetings that he doesn’t even attend. He blames others for his wrongdoings.

The Chariho School District as a whole needs to let him know it has heard enough negativity and half-truths. He complains, but brings nothing to the table to help with the education of Chariho students.

You are a martyr in you own mind, Mr. Felkner. Let’s get back to the education of the students of the Chariho School District and use a different venue for your personal agendas.

Bob Petit

The writer is a Hopkinton representative to the Chariho School Committee