Amesbury is Not a Community Divided.

The accusation that "Amesbury is a community divided" is, in itself, divisive. It is an accusation that has been used again and again to drive wedges into the community and to silence anyone who dares to take a stand on a issue. The goal of labeling as "divisive " those residents who dare to ask questions and raise alternative points of view is to marginalize and silence those residents. I am sure that it is frustrating to some that this tactic doesn't work with everyone.

Amesbury residents follow what is happening in Town, they ask questions and dare to stand up for their beliefs; these are all good things.

The very nature of a democracy is that there are alternative ideas, thoughts, beliefs and opinions and that they are given equal opportunity to be heard and expressed. As one of my favorite Supreme Court Justices, Oliver Wendell Holmes, wrote "the best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market" (Abrams v. U.S., 250 U.S. 616, 630, 1919). Amesbury needs that market place, it needs people to stand up and present alternative ideas and suggestions, without fear of being labeled as "divisive" just because they have a different perspective.

If there is a "divide", I don't think it is very deep, or very wide. We have had some passionate ballot question campaigns, but underneath it all, the "two sides" have cared about essentially the same things. They just disagreed on a particular proposed solution.

Better leadership in the Mayor's office could have avoided those ballot fights. Better communication and more-open government can prevent them in the future. As Mayor I will bring that leadership to the Mayor's office, by providing transparency, by providing the public with access to information and fair and equal opportunities to express their opinions to their elected officials.

Citizens should not be surprised by their government's decisions. Decisions are supposed to be made in the open, where everybody can see them; and the public is supposed to have an opportunity to be heard, before the decisions are made.

But when the public is surprised, and people disagree with the decision, you end up with a "divide" between the people who have been working hard behind-the-scenes to get something done, and the people who think it is the wrong thing to do.We need to end the "them versus us" mentality. We must welcome differing thoughts and perspectives, because in the end, we all want to do what is best for Amesbury. Diverging opinions should never again be the source of pointless acrimony.