I’m supporting Dina Friedman for Hadley town moderator in the April 10 town election.
She’ll probably be the best town moderator we’ve ever had in Hadley because she’s has the perfect personality for the position. She is honest, fair, impartial, open, transparent, consistent, respectful and committed.
She’ll consistently follow the rules and customs of Hadley Town Meeting, and give people on all sides of an issue a fair chance to present their ideas. She will be open to feedback and suggestions and we can trust her to do a great job.
I’ve had several talks with the current town moderator about how he can avoid both the appearance of bias and appearance of decisions seemingly based on favoritism, both of which I feel have become a problem in recent meetings. Although he is always courteous and thanks me for my unsolicited suggestions, things are not improving.
Even at the recent candidates forum he focused his comments on increasing meeting efficiency rather then on fairness (“Candidates square off at Hadley forum,” April 3). In order to facilitate a good town meeting, all sides of an issue need to trust the objectivity of the moderator and the fairness of the process.
You shouldn’t be able to tell a good moderator’s personal position on any issues discussed in town meeting. It’s a position whose authority is built on trust. The moderator is like an umpire in a baseball game — enforce the rules, call them like you see them, don’t favor one side over another, preside over a good clean game.
In Hadley, Dina for moderator is the best call.
Andy Morris-Friedman
Hadley
The writer and the candidate are not related.