Selectmen Votes and the Egremont Taxpayers Association

There's an election on Tuesday, and I know who I'm voting for because I know where the candidates stand on the issues I care about. I can't imagine an office holder or candidate refusing to disclose his or her position on an issue if asked about it (although I know there may be a lot of wishy-washyness in that position).

Do you think Egremonters are entitled to know the positions of the selectmen on important issues? I do. One important issue is the library. But when I asked the selectmen to state their positions on the library at the informational meeting last Saturday, the response was some gobbledygook about how the selectmen were entitled to keep their views to themselves just like other voters. But they're not just other voters, they're elected officials whose positions we voters are entitled to know.

This is a good example of why the new effort to form an Egremont Taxpayers Association will hopefully be successful. One of that Association's objectives is to hold candidates' forums at which voters can find out what the candidates' positions are. The old Egremont Civic Association used to do that, but, alas, it died several years ago. If you're interested in the Egremont Taxpayers Association, send an email to Frank Penglase at penglase@verizon.net.