I certainly was disillusioned and disappointed when the selectmen refused to acknowledge our group on Tuesday night. We were told two weeks ago, justifiably, that they needed additional time to study our letter of concern about the Stop & Shop proposal, but they would revisit it at their next meeting. We assumed that our additional submissions as well as the entry of two weeks ago was confirmation of our group’s listing on the agenda, and we were brought up very short when we were told that the chairman, Jeff Kristal, had opted to withdraw us from their agenda, with neither notification nor the courtesy of telling us before we waited over an hour in the selectmen’s meeting, for them to open discussion. At that point, he waived all opportunities to speak and led the other selectmen into executive session.

If the town is democratic, it hardly seems just to dismiss an agenda item with virtually no warning or explanation, no matter what the opinion of the chairman.

Harriet Barrow
Vineyard Haven