The recent resignation of Longmeadow Board of Assessors Chairperson Michael Zeller in his letter to The Reminder raises questions on the rationale and decision by the Select Board which led to Mr. Zeller’s stepping down.
Mr. Zeller who has 15 years of experience on the board made the recommendation to maintain Richard Foster to the Board of Assessors but three Select Board members in the majority voted against him in favor of an inexperienced newcomer. Mr. Foster has served the town admirably in various positions including as a member of the Longmeadow Select Board.
The newcomer for nominee for the board was a neighbor of a Select Board member with no experience as compared to that of Mr. Foster. Nepotism? Back door politics? Was the decision by three members of the Select Board to vote against Mr. Foster retaliatory since he filed an open meeting complaint with the Massachusetts State Attorney General’s office last August based on the selection of a resident for a position on the Board of Registrars who was personally attacked by a select board member.
We have enough drama with elected officials in the Massachusetts State House and in Washington DC. The residents of Longmeadow need certain members of the town Select Board to put their political motivations aside.
Abraham Lincoln said it best We want a “government of the people, by the people, for the people.”
Fran Bogdanowicz
Longmeadow
