Politics & Government

Letter to the Editor: In Defense of Senior Center Director Arleen Kaull

David Lavine responds to a Letter to the Editor penned by Charles Vaillancourt, which criticized Senior Center Executive Director Arleen Kaull for comments made during the Aug. 16 Town Council meeting.

Letter to the Editor:

It is extraordinary that Charles Vaillancourt,  a former councilman, should think it appropriate to attack the Senior Center director (Arleen Kaull) via two letters for stating her opinion on senior center funding. The August 16th discussion of a council resolution, which was civil and factual on the part of the director, was only disruptive after Councilman Ed Silveira made offensive insinuations and then prevented Ms. Kaull from responding to him.

How anyone can imagine that the citizens of the town are not served by an open discussion of fiscal matters in the first place is beyond ordinary understanding. It is particularly odd as Charles Vaillancourt, a councilman in 2005, chaired the Council meeting that approved the policy Arleen Kaull was supporting – a policy passed unanimously in 2005 by the council members, including Ed Silveira.

Of course, an elected member of our town's government should not attack any person who is civilly expressing views. When it is followed by another tirade in two letters makes one wonder what the issue really is that has so excited Messers Vaillancourt and Silveira. Surely it's not just keeping our elderly from getting anything more than they deserve.

David Lavine

 

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Editor's Note: David Lavine chairs the Middletown Democratic Town Committee, for which Arleen Kaull serves as Vice-Chair.


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