I am surprised at the easy way in which Mr. Cheveralls ignites the flames of outrage around elected officials and citizens whose views differ from his. In his “Devens issue a fiasco” letter to the editor in the April 4 Harvard Post, he characterizes town counsel’s suggestion that the wording of citizen Articles 30 and 31 was problematic from a legal perspective, as part of an “onslaught of procedural, legal, and technical objections.”
I don’t remember an onslaught, just a simple legal opinion that the petition wasn’t worded in a way that would allow it to have legal standing. He laments “another display of the disingenuous behavior that is increasingly characterizing our elected officials’ treatment of fellow citizens and residents on the Devens issue.”
“Disingenuous” is an inflammatory term and a serious charge. Is Mr. Cheveralls sure that it is accurate to round up all of our elected officials into one identical group, and then charge them with pretending, or not being candid or sincere? The 2B proposal was voted down at Town Meeting two years ago by a significant majority of Harvard’s citizens. Some voiced concern that, despite the time it took to formulate, it contained contradictory assertions and data, and rushed the town into a disposition before people had a chance to consider reliable facts. Is it possible that rather than being “obstructionist,” reflective of “Harvard’s selfishness,” or “reprehensible” in “grabbing the Devens Cash Cow,” instead responsible and honest people at Town Meeting felt that the citizens’ petitions presented an either-or scenario, neither of which represented their views? The effect of Mr. Cheveralls’ letter is to categorize as dishonorable those who felt they could not yet answer the questions of the citizens’ petitions and to portray them as victimizing Devens residents.
I am uncomfortable with this characterization, which seems to me to lack respect for the variety of opinions among citizens and town leaders that are part of the ordinary democratic process.
Holly Rothkopf
Old Boston Turnpike
