People who know me know that I make frequent reference to my parents. They were very decent people who, I have discovered over time, gave me very good advice. One piece of such advice was not to let myself be blinded by grievance — no matter how justified — or let others use grievance to take advantage of me.

The letters to the editor regarding the coming BOS election keep bringing that advice to mind. Westport’s farmers very understandably feel aggrieved by the kind of broad-brush criticism and shrill language that some in town have subjected them to over the Route 177 animal abuse discovery. Two of the candidates, Sherri Mahoney and Sam Mundel have taken that feeling of grievance, linked it to others that lay ready to be exploited, and combined them into a campaign platform that depends solely upon grievance to gain election.

It’s ironic that they note in one of their letters that “in just a few short months all of our worlds have changed.” Their simplistic message has not. When asked to move beyond it to discuss policies they would implement as BOS members, they display none of the transparency they claim they are in favor of.

Mahoney’s business is aiding clients regarding their tax liability. Mundel makes a living buying and selling securities. If this has prepared them to deal with the complicated and peculiar world of municipal finance, they have made no show of it with any specific suggestions about what policies they would implement if elected. When Mundel appeared before the Finance Committee he needed help to understand the relative functions of the branches of town government. Mahoney was unclear about the role that town counsel plays in advising the town. That should have come as no surprise, since they seem to have taken scant opportunity to play roles in town government in past years.

I am second to no one in thinking that our town government is not perfect, that it is not always as transparent as it should be, and that everyone should want to play a role in improving it — even if it is only by criticism. But dividers who encourage us to distrust and dislike each other only undermine societal effort toward improvement. We need, like my parents, to be decent toward each other, see how much we need each other, and work together to deal with what I am afraid is to be a very difficult time in our history.

Buzzy Baron

Westport