Letter challenges Wells board

York County Coast Star, Letter To The Editor, March 29, 2024

WHY WON’T WELLS SELECT BOARD ACT ON MOODY BEACH STREET SIGNS?

If the elected Wells Select Board thinks hiding behind a lawyer is an acceptable substitute for governing, you are mistaken. If you think the arrogance of this sleight of hand is going unnoticed or that it will cause observers to give up and go away, you are acutely mistaken.

It has been more than 14 weeks since the concern about street signs at Moody Beach first surfaced. The Board has been asked for a very simple thing: add an agenda item to discuss establishing a way to review the accuracy of language on street signs. Yes, it’s that simple. A discussion to explore what might be the best process.

That hardly requires 14 weeks of legal review, nor the associated expense. In fact, scheduling a discussion as an agenda item needs no legal analysis at all.

By the way, when all is said and done, expect to be asked for a detailed accounting of how much you paid a lawyer to “advise” you as to whether or not the Board has the authority to schedule a topic for discussion. With 14 weeks of analysis already, legal costs must be soaring --- unless of course you simply parked the issue with the attorney as a disingenuous delaying tactic.

Fourteen weeks. Every additional day that you enlist the lawyer or town manager to stifle the democratic process is being counted very carefully. As much as you’d like to, you won’t escape scrutiny on this one.

William Langevin, Wells