Letter: Dalton Board Should Not Stop Special Election

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To the Editor:

I would like to comment on the travesty that is taking place in the Town of Dalton. The Selectboard chooses not to set a date for a special election. Even a petition of over 200 voters to have a date scheduled for a special election is not persuading them.

This special election is due to the resignation of a Selectboard member on Oct. 1. This past Tuesday, Nov. 12, the Selectboard voted once again to suppress a date for a special election. In doing so they tried to discredit the procedure used by a dedicated elected public servant, our town clerk. The procedures she followed were through the guidance of a state official and Mass General Laws.

This date should have been set a month ago after the resignation took effect. There should not have been a reason for the petitioners to even have to come forward. This issue should have been the first thing on the agenda for the Selectboard meeting on Oct. 9 that was held prior to the special town meeting. Considering that the letter of resignation was sent in early September.

Please call the Selectboard office, go to the town web site and use contact to reach the Selectboard.

This special election will give us our opportunity to choose our representative. This is a right given to us by the Constitution of the United States of America, bylaws of the town and Mass General Laws.

Peace be with you and God Bless the USA.

William Drosehn
Dalton, Mass.

 

 

 

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Two of 3 Hinsdale Officers Involved in Kauvil Shooting Won't Return

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
HINSDALE, Mass. — Seven months after being placed on leave only one officer involved in the fatal police shooting of 27-year-old Biagio Kauvil in January has returned to duty. 
 
The Select Board accepted Police Chief Shawn Boyne's letter of intention to retire during Wednesday's board meeting.
 
"We've got a lot to do. We've got to build a department again, but we'll survive," board member Raymond Huntoon said in a follow-up. 
 
Two of the three Select Board members were present, with Huntoon serving as chair because the chairman was absent. 
 
Huntoon and Margaret Gregory both voted to accept Boyne's letter of intention to retire. The retirement will not be official until the Berkshire County Retirement Board sets an effective date, Huntoon said later.
 
The board did not read Boyne's retirement letter aloud during Wednesday's meeting and did not discuss the matter further. iBerkshires' request for the letter under public records was rejected with board members saying it contained medical information. 
 
Despite the attention the situation has received online, the meeting was lightly attended, with about a dozen people in attendance.
 
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