Dear Camden Select Board Members:

Unfortunately, the town was not able to discuss the paid parking petition during the April 7 Select Board meeting. However, it was suggested by a board member during the tabling discussion of this matter that she would reject the effort. The suggestion was somewhat disconcerting given there was no public discussion of the issue.  Furthermore, in light of the recent criticism leveled at the Select Board’s handling of the police situation, I find it ironic that a public discussion of the paid parking petition was not eagerly welcomed.  

There were 577 Camden residents who signed a citizen’s petition asking the Select Board to put the paid parking question on the June ballot so it would seem logical that the Select Board would be highly interested in the matter.

There is no doubt that there are many functions that municipal agents, AKA our Select Board members, are tasked with.  We all depend on the sound judgment and vision of our elected officials.  However, this does not give our municipal officers carte blanche to do whatever they so desire because they simply may have the right.  If that were the case, there would be no remedy for residents to challenge municipal actions or other matters of public concern. 

The petition process is just another cog in the system of government.  It is not something that is optional to act upon by the Select Board as perhaps suggested by the town attorney. 

The Select Board can have endless discussions and multiple public hearings on a matter and implement a new policy, but that doesn’t preclude the possibility that that decision can be changed over time or simply be reversed through a citizen action.  Similarly, with regard to the paid parking program, the Select Board chose to implement a plan for its residents and now a petition has been presented to reconsider this plan.  This is a very straightforward situation.  

The Select Board may have the right to implement paid parking, but they do not have the right to implement it unilaterally should the majority of the town seek to eliminate it as a function of a ballot article.  Withholding a valid petition process would violate your duty as our elected municipal officers.

You see, this is how the process works. The Select Board has the power to implement a town policy and the voters have the power to change it. Denying the paid parking petition (ditto for the police petition) from a ballot article would be denying the residents their legal right to make decisions for themselves. 

As Select Board members, your municipal rights as an agent do not mean you are unchecked or that every decision you choose to make must go unchallenged or unchanged because of some perceived procedural or “purview” rationale.

I’ve often heard the following refrain during recent Select Board meetings that the, “Board is only interested in doing what is best for its town and all members are acting with utmost consideration for what’s in Camden’s best interest….”

I don’t doubt that nor do many other concerned Camden citizens.  We all know you only want what is best for your community, too.  However, you must appreciate that a citizen’s petition is not a personal attack on you per se, or your love for our community, but rather it’s an indication of a engaged public, who is passionate about their town. 

All 577 residents who signed the paid parking petition, like you, only want what is best for their town. Perhaps these folks, as well as other residents, have different views than yours and a different vision for our town’s future.  Allowing all voters in your community to make a simple choice about whether they want a paid parking program in their town is all the petition asks for.  

Please do the right thing and approve the ballot article putting the paid parking question to voters in June.  This is how the process works.  Circumventing or disallowing the petition or simply kicking it down the road and delaying would simply bolster the narrative that the Select Board and town manager seemingly want to take things into their own hands and make important decisions for the town without citizen input.  What’s the harm in letting voters decide?

To the Select Board, you have no choice but to move forward with the citizen’s petition to eliminate the paid parking program in Camden and include it on the June ballot.  Please do your job as our municipal officers and remember it’s never the wrong decision to do what the voters ask.

Alex Cohen lives in Camden