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Chairman's Letter April 26, 2011 To all residents of Watertown-Oakville: In November, 2009, for the first time in Watertown’s history, the voters elected three Independents to the Town Council and one Independent to the Board of Education. Although we were disappointed not to achieve a majority on the Council, this result was great for a first effort. We were glad to see that many voters liked what we had to say and voted for our candidates. We will try harder this year to get our message out to more voters, and work to get a majority on the Town Council so we can make some meaningful changes and bring about more openness and transparency in our government. When we started in 2008, we said our mission would be a town government based on honesty, integrity, and transparency. We didn’t believe the Republican or Democratic leadership would change their ways. We still don’t. So here we are again. Your current Town Council has failed in many areas: First, their claim to “lower taxes” during the 2009 campaign was an empty promise without a responsible plan to make it happen. Just an empty promise that we know now was false. Second, with one exception (appointments made at the December 20, 2010 meeting), they chose to ignore the results of the election, and failed to appoint nominees from the Independent Party to serve on boards and commissions. Third, the Council established the Charter Revision Commission without any idea of the cost. While the way minority representation is decided needs to be improved, the Charter Revision Commission – as of today - has decided not to deal with this issue. Finally, many Planning and Zoning Commission decisions have ignored the evidence and the experts. Even though the courts must presume the Commission is acting within its authority, three consecutive lawsuits were lost by Planning and Zoning. Many more are pending. While the courts are telling us there is a problem with this commission, the Town Council and Charter Revision Commission have refused to take any action. We can do better. If you give us a majority on the Town Council, we will serve you with honesty, integrity and transparency. We will not make empty promises or deceive you. You can find more information about the many topics we think are important on other pages on this site. Give us your feedback, and please vote for our Independent Party candidates on November 8. Sincerely, Richard Wick |