Vindictiveness in the Face of Democratic Action

Well, it may not be at quite the level of signing one's own death warrant as the Declaration of Independence, but the recent shenanigans of the government of Tiverton have spurred local action in the form of Tiverton Citizens for Change (TCC), a non-partisan political action committee. The town charter amendment that will appear on the next ballot (after some heated exchanges concerning political theory) to forbid the use of public funds to sway votes might be thought of as the first shot across the bow.

And now the group has experienced its first politically motivated personal repercussions: On Monday, the Town Council did not reappoint (i.e., fired) Cynthia Nebergall — who was vocal at both of the above-linked meetings — to the Tiverton Planning Board. That action spurred both the board's chairman, Noel Berg (letter), and its vice chairman, Rosemary Eva (letter), to resign the following day.

Ms. Eva highlighted "the lack of volunteers for the current vacancies" and enumerated the qualities that made Cynthia a valuable member of the board. Personally, if I were among the powers who be in Tiverton, I'd be trying to keep those qualities occupied on official boards rather than, say, preparing for TCC's first taxpayer meeting, which is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Monday, September 15, at the VFW (17 Shove St.). (Here's the flier for the meeting: PDF.)