We received the following article:
I have lived in Ashland many years and have never, and I mean
never seen residents act the way you people do. So what if there are mistakes in
the union contract, it can be corrected. No big deal!!!
You act life selfish brats with nothing better to do
than to find fault with everything everyone else does except yourselves. Please
grow up and don't act this way. The town is more important. Stop your pettiness
and start putting more positive things on
the website like the many hours the selectmen spend
working and doing what is best for the town of
Ashland. The many hours the office staff puts in. Take your website down, the
majority of the
townspeople do not even want to go on it. GROW UP GROW UP GROW UP!!!!!!
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your response. I'm not sure why you think printing a factual article about documented problems with a union contract makes us "selfish brats." I'm also not sure why you mention the many hours the Select Board puts in since our article does not concern the Select Board.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that there are numerous discrepancies in the new union contract is of concern to many people in the town. Lee Nichols and Kendall L. Hughes have brought up the subject at Select Board Meetings. The discrepancies affect the union members, the people in the town who must manage employees according to the contract, and the townspeople who pay the taxes that pay for salaries and benefits.
I, too, am hoping that the problems can be corrected. But, there should not have been problems with the contract in the first place, and there should not be different copies of the signed contract circulating around town. Once a contract is signed, it should not be changed unless it is officially amended by the parties involved. That is what needs to happen.
I'm sorry that you think our concern is childish. As a long time resident of the town, I would think you have a vested interest the town's welfare. We do. That's why we took the time to study the contracts and make sure that what we wrote was correct. You will also note that we did not attack anyone personally, as you did. We simply want to see the problems resolved for everyone's sake. We invite your constructive comments on this and all other issues.
I have a few thoughts on this "Grow Up" response. As the Coalition response indicated, the author is, as always, invited to make constructive comments. I find "grow up" to be rather non-specific. I'm not exactly sure what that particular suggestion means and would love to see some concrete examples of just how that looks. Perhaps the author feels that his/her response exemplifies maturity. The author says "the majority of townspeople don't even want to go on it" [the website]. I would like to see the data on that claim. And of course, if the author finds the website disgusting, he or she is NOT required to read it. Interesting and perhaps little known fact about the Internet is that opening up a particular web page is optional. Finally, I challenge the author to post his/her suggestions/comments with a name. It's difficult to follow up with Anonymous to seek clarification. Perhaps we can sit down and have a conversation and find the best way to communicate and learn from each other.
ReplyDelete