Karen Sticht

To the editor,

I’m writing to thank the newspapers who published my letter last week, and also the folks who called to say that they agreed with me. I enjoyed the letters with opposite opinions as well — to agree to disagree is a great way to look at all points of view! However, for those who believe that this vote was a “no-brainer” environmentally, what is the current thought about thousands of white Christmas lights adorning the “village” trees year round? Or, traffic piled up, engines running, while pedestrians dribble across the road a mile away? But I digress…

In as much as I appreciated various points of view on the sign ordinance, I did not appreciate the unethical behavior by the Greater Meredith Program, instructing people in Meredith how to vote. Their message appeared last week on the McDonald’s hillside sign, which is located in the state right-of-way. This sign is identical to the one in Hesky Park, in that it says “Welcome to Meredith” on top, but gives the local service group logos on the bottom. Nowhere does it say that it reflects the views of the Greater Meredith Program, a/k/a Main Street Program, or even mentions the group at all; but rather gives the appearance of an official sign for the Town of Meredith.

When I saw the sign on Sunday, its message directed all to “VOTE YES!” at the Special Election on 7/31. It certainly implied that the Town of Meredith was telling people how to vote, and that kind of municipal directive is not only unethical, but also illegal. The director of the Greater Meredith Program, Jeanie Forrester, told me that the Meredith Planning Board asked the Greater Meredith Program for its support in the upcoming special election. The board for the Greater Meredith Program then voted unanimously to put the message on the sign.

When I called the Meredith Planning Board Chair, Herb Vadney, I was given a message that neither he nor anyone on the Planning Board, to his knowledge, asked for help from the Greater Meredith Program on the election. He also knew that it was illegal to tell people how to vote. No one on the Meredith Selectboard evidently saw the sign, or knew anything about it, but agreed that the town can’t dictate how to vote!

I find it strange that town agencies, boards, and citizens know that a municipality can’t tell residents how to vote, but yet our Meredith business leaders evidently missed that chapter of Business Law and Ethics! It is an undergraduate course…and part of the controversy could have been completely avoided by identifying themselves as the sign originators. Making political directives in a state right-of-way might be touchier.

Since neither the Planning Board, nor the Selectboard directly requested the sign, and the Greater Meredith Board unanimously approved it, I wondered who was in that group. Following a link from the Town of Meredith, the 2007 GMP Directors include: Rusty McLear, Pres., Tammy Levesque, VP, Laurie Perry, Steve Gregoire, Chris Williams, Dawn Heiderer, Christine Hodecker-George, Christopher Kelly, Sean Brown, John Cook, Don Jutton, Linda Johnson, Miller Lovett, Chuck Palm, Michelle Ricciuti, Rob Stephens, Bill Vecchio. The ex-officio group is Dr. Phil McCormack, Carol Granfield, John Edgar, Jeanie Forrester, and board buddy, David Freeman-Woolpert.

I hope that the Meredith Selectboard ask for minutes of the meeting to find out who among those folks actually voted on and worded the sign. Perhaps a Monday ethics help workshop could be arranged? In my opinion, the Greater Meredith Program overstepped their bounds, and for a group who takes a lot of money from taxpayers, should have known better-yet they did get away with it for a few days!

Karen Sticht

Meredith