Letter: The deck was stacked in the schools' favor

To the editor:

In the May 24th 2017 issue of the Barrington Times I asked if all of us would be better represented by eliminating the yearly town financial meeting in its present venue so that everyone in town could vote and be represented at their polling places after having been already informed of the issues via an earlier meeting and other sources.  

There are many people who feel that they are not being represented at these current meetings, that their voices are politely disrespected if they do attend, and at times feel the same way I did at the high school where the larger issue was primarily about the educational finance. The moment I walked in I knew my presence there was useless and that the deck was already stacked. The meeting couldn’t even be held on neutral ground other than the high school?

Besides the fact that one side was clearly more represented in this specialized forum, a motion had been made by a person who did not appear to present that motion. The motion was then read by a person who did not appear to represent the person who made the motion as observed by myself, my husband along with some others including Ann Strong. It was voted on anyway. This one move is how the school budget became even more expensive for the taxpayers. And that is how representative equality was lost if true.

We need a fairer forum, a way of investing more of us in all our future outcomes if the town is deemed to be a Democracy. Democracy lately feels as if it is on shaky grounds. Somewhat like the swampland we are building the new middle school on.

Respectfully,

Barbara Flanders

Barrington