Exhibit A: Canton belongs to all of us

By the time this column is published, the Special Town Meeting will have occurred and hopefully is complete. I have no idea how it will all turn out. What I do know is that we all have to figure out a way to move forward.

Christine Smith

As signs, flyers and advertisements came out in advance of the meeting, many were boiled down to a simple “Vote No” or “Vote Yes.” My question to all of these was … on which question? There were several questions before voters at STM. However, those signs seemed to assume there was one position to take on all the questions. That is certainly not how I saw it.

My recommendation to anyone who would listen was that voters should watch the Finance Committee meetings as they contained some thoughtful discussions; read the warrant and report of the Finance Committee that arrived in our mailboxes; and arrive to the meeting with respect and an open mind. As I heeded that same advice myself, I did consider what I was hearing, not from the loudest voices in the room, but from the thoughtful voices who were trying to find an impartial way forward. I found that I may vote yes on one issue but no on another. As of this writing, I am still considering some of them.

There was also so much misinformation flying around prior to the Special Town Meeting. One line of thought was that if you supported an audit, you did not support the police. That is not necessarily true. Most people I know, regardless of how they voted, do support the men and women of the Canton Police Department. The other idea I read, in a letter right here in this paper, was that the STM and the articles in it were the idea of “leftist activists.” I am not sure where that idea came from, but based on what I know it is completely untrue. In fact, the blogger who some believe started all of this is the opposite of a left-wing activist — in fact, he is pretty far right, as evidenced by his writings and social media posts.

The time period leading up to the meeting was very stressful and concerning, not just because of the misinformation but also because of the hate. On both sides of the issues, I saw nasty language, hateful messages, anonymous letters, and shameful texts. Canton, we need to do better. We need to stop the us-versus-them mentality. I saw one comment online that said, “We need to take back our town!” This seemed to be a pervasive theme. I wondered what this person meant. Take back the town from whom?

Canton, our town, belongs to all of us. Those who have lived here their whole lives, with families going back generations, those who have “only” been here for a decade or two, those who have just moved to Canton, those who rent their home as well as those who own theirs, are all equal members of the town. Canton belongs to all of its residents and all our voices need to be heard.

Special Town Meeting may be over, but Canton will not get past this without being able to have respectful conversations. After having watched all the meetings leading up to Monday’s meeting, I would like to commend the Finance Committee and the Town Moderator Alan Hines, who were very thoughtful in their discussions and in working out a path to move things forward within the boundaries of our current bylaws and governance structure. They have given us all a model of how to have difficult discussions in a respectful manner.

As we get ready to sit down with our neighbors, families and friends to join in a meal of thanksgiving, I hope we can take the time to consider how we in Canton can work together in spite of our differences.

Christine Smith is a mother of three, an attorney and longtime Canton resident. The views expressed in her column are solely her own.

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Posted by Christine Smith on Nov 24 2023. Filed under Featured Content, Opinion. Both comments and pings are currently closed.