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Everyone Wants a Solution

In the Aug. 2 Selectman’s Desk column titled “For a Fair Vote, Get Things Moving,” First Selectman Tom Banisch takes credit for having “pushed to get the Academy project moving,” blames others for delay in finding a solution, and justifies his recent attempt to gut the charge of the newly appointed Academy Guidance Committee (AGC) on a well-intentioned desire for a “fair vote,” which Banisch equates with a (potentially) high voter turn-out at the Nov. 6 referendum.

I beg to differ.

Scores of elected officials, town leaders, and members of the public have been pushing to find a solution for Academy for years. The notion that the public, advocacy groups, and the newly appointed AGC are allowing Academy to languish and preventing a solution is unfair and misleading.

The truth is that strong public outcry against Banisch’s proposed high-density development of Academy and five acres of town-owned land in the heart of our historic district led the Board of Selectmen to open the process to consideration of other options and allow the public a voice in the preferred path forward. The new AGC was appointed to bring viable options to poll and gauge public interest in a solution that can be supported by most.

Process is important. In the case of Academy, it may be as important as outcome. For any proposal to succeed at referendum it must have support of the public. A fair vote is a vote that follows a transparent, open, and inclusive process; one in which residents are informed of viable options and given reliable cost estimates for each.

Everyone wants to find a solution for Academy. There’s still time to get it right. The AGC must be allowed to do its work, thoroughly and independently, not under the weight of a self-imposed deadline.

Kathryn L. Hunter

Madison