To the editor:

In her recent letter to the editor, Eileen Browning makes a great argument for Tiverton residents not to vote in the recall, which is nothing more than a political hit job.

The only reason she gives that people might want to vote is the Town Council’s hiring of a new solicitor almost a year ago, last December. The thing is, nothing she writes is accurate or true.

• We have not pursued any lawsuits against the town since we were elected. Yes, we filed a couple suits against the government before we were on the council, trying to give you a vote on things the former council wanted to block, but we dropped them soon after taking office.

• The ttown solicitor is not a lobbyist for my employer. He’s done some contract work for the nonprofit organization in the past, yes, but since when is experience with somebody’s work a bad thing when hiring him?

• Similarly, Council President Coulter was in the same law school class as one of the assistant solicitors, but he’s not his “personal lawyer.” And again, since when is experience with somebody’s work a bad thing?

• Browning’s biggest whopper is that Rhode Island Ethics Commission said “the town has to hire other lawyers” for our cases. That’s not true. The commission had no problem with the solicitor handling the casesm… and again, our cases have been dropped anyway.

This whole effort is an abuse of the recall process. Recalls should not be based on a big bowl of lies thrown against the wall to see what sticks. They should be about clear and extreme corruption, like in Fall River, where the mayor is under indictment by the FBI.

If this recall has enough votes to count, it will put the town on a dangerous path, where just disagreeing with voters’ choices is enough to force them to vote again. If the recall is a dud, then maybe people will only try it again when there’s an actual reason.

Our terms are only two years, and we’ve only got one left. If we haven’t convinced you that we’re doing good work by then, vote for somebody else at that time. Unlike Ms. Browning, we’ll respect your choice if we lose next November and let the next council do its work, as we prepare for the next election.

Justin Katz

Vice president, Tiverton Town Council