Letter to the editor: Tom White did town a disservice

To the editor 

At the Aug. 31 Middleboro select board meeting, Selectman Tom White engaged in a blatant, small-minded act of political censorship that should embarrass every resident of Middleboro. 

Before I could even voice my perspective on the appointment of the next interim Town Manager, Mr. White weaponized his position to cut me off, publicly indicating that because I am no longer a registered voter in town, my voice does not matter.

This was not just a mean-spirited, petty power trip, it was a direct violation of the law.

For Mr. White’s education, and the education of the public he is failing to serve, Massachusetts Open Meeting Law (M.G.L. c. 30A, § 20(g)) explicitly dictates the rules of public comment. While a chair may maintain order, a public body cannot arbitrarily discriminate against speakers based on residency when a public comment period is opened, especially when that individual is a deeply invested stakeholder.

I am a Middleboro property owner. I am a business owner who has operated a thriving law practice here since 2002. I pay over $10,000 annually in local fees and taxes. To suggest that a person funding this town’s government has no right to speak on how it is managed is both legally indefensible and economically absurd.

Furthermore, Mr. White’s actions tread into a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. By creating an arbitrary class distinction to suppress the speech of a local business and property owner during a public forum, he has exposed his own ignorance of constitutional protections.

The irony here is sickening. Mr. White frequently drapes himself in his veteran status, claiming to have fought for the rights of all citizens. Yet, when given a small shred of local authority, he uses it to strip a citizen of those exact rights.

Let me remind Mr. White of who he tried to silence. I came to Middleboro in 2002 after surviving the horrors of 9/11 in New York City. I spent weeks at Ground Zero, enduring personal injury to help guide rescue and recovery responders in and out of the ruins. Since making Middleboro my professional home, I have dedicated decades to building this community, serving on the Board of Selectmen, chairing the Planning Board, and founding organizations designed to lift this town up.

I have invested my blood, sweat, taxes, and career into Middleboro. For a sitting selectman to use a public microphone to tell me I don’t belong, simply to dodge an opinion he didn't want to hear, is a coward's tactic.

Tom White owes this community, and its business owners, an apology. If he cannot handle public input from the very people who fund this town, he has no business sitting on that board.

Adam Bond