Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Hi folks, this is Alex Torpy, your town manager here. And in this episode, I'm basically going to read out the letter to the editor that I submitted to the Valley News about a week ago that was in response to our town meeting and the Valley news coverage of it.
[00:00:18] I am writing this letter to offer a contrasting perspective to the Valley news headline coverage of Hanover's town meeting in which they exaggerated conflict and downplayed civility. Now, the town manager's role in preparing for annual town meeting is pretty significant, but during the meeting itself, it's a little bit more advisory. So alongside our finance director, I was happy to answer some questions, such as providing information about the importance of our new multi year contracts for our unions, some context for the hole that we are digging out of with how we understand community needs, build that into a more transparent budget, and then implement and measure. And by the way, thank you, Hanover, for your consideration and support, especially on behalf of our unions and all of our hardworking town employees. But also, during town meeting, I have a lot of time to look, listen and learn as things are unfolding. And you know, one of the things that I noticed, Hanover residents, for the most part, are pretty darn civil. Now, notwithstanding whatever my personal opinion is on some of the questions raised or the topic of the petition warrant article, I left the meeting not just being glad that a bunch of important town business was improved. Thank you all again, but impressed with the civility of nearly everyone in attendance. It sounded like there was one brief, regrettable verbal incident between two people that I heard that our clerk and moderator handled well.
[00:01:46] And although I hate to say the bar is relatively and unfortunately low with how many people talk to each other these days at large, especially about issues they're passionate about, I think many Hanover town and student residents provided a model of how to do it. People shared really passionate statements and really passionate perspectives. But ultimately, everyone basically seemed to recognize that we're all human beings, we're all community members, and we're all people who are passionate about a more just and a better world. So, personally, I wanted to extend a thank you to all who participated and to encourage people to continue engaging in human centered, empathetic ways, which is not always easy to do. But it is inspiring to watch. And I think that you all should be congratulated and thanked, not maligned. Lastly, I want to thank the many dedicated officials, staff and volunteers who make town meeting possible. So that was the content of the letter to the editor that was submitted to the Valley News, and I wanted to share it here on the podcast as well. Thank you for listening.
