To the editor:

It comes as no surprise that a non TTA petitioner budget has come under fire here in Tiverton.

When the TTA took the majority of the Town Council this past November, they quickly “found” a solicitor to replace the former solicitor as he had no intention of sticking around Dodge with the new regime. That solicitor came under heavy fire from many residents as to the working relationship he has with members of the TTA in advancing their agenda.

Fast forward to the Town Council meeting last evening. We now have a solicitor who was forwarded information by a Town Council member, Justin Katz, as to the validity of the petitioner budget by Mr. Sanford Mantell.

There is a whole chunk of irony here as Mr. Katz himself has been the author of several petitioner budgets that, even though they put the town on financial thin ice, were allowed by charter to go on the ballot. Now Mr. Katz, through his hired gun, is claiming there is an error in the petitioner budget! My guess is that it is more a difference of interpretation that the solicitor will put his spin on.

Mr. Katz has already showed his hand in comments on Facebook by stating the Board of Canvassers took the previous solicitor's advice last year when Katz and the TTA attempted to put questionable items on the FTR. In handing the TTA a loss on their legal challenge that followed, the judge ruled that “the Board of Canvassers is a judicial body whose decisions cannot be challenged by this Court”.

When the solicitor was hired the optics were, and still are, horrible and the smell is horrendous. Anyone want to take a guess as to why they chose someone that also supports their agenda? Well you can find out by attending the Board of Canvassers meeting April 25 at 5:30 at Town Hall.

David J Paull

Tiverton