To the editor:

Having been elected four times in Tiverton over the last decade, I’m now in the odd position of writing as a target in an odd recall process where just 405 voters can vote me out despite over 2,000 voters voting me in just last year. In all this, Mr. McLaughlin’s motivation with his $4M lawsuit is obvious, but as your Town Council president I am more troubled by the false information being spread about the good work being done by your Town Council.

Only halfway through the two-year term, this council has made remarkable progress on multiple fronts. New firefighter and police contracts signed. Decisions made on closing the landfill. Progress on a true long-term financial plan, a new playground, and remediating Bay Street. Personnel issues, such as the last fire chief, and replacing the last solicitor who resigned, have been resolved favorably. Grinnell’s beach re-opened and a new fire rescue was purchased. Taxes have stayed at less than inflation for a decade, and even went down the last two years. And we are releasing all executive session meeting records to further open government. There are many more examples. Of course, no one person or one council deserves all the credit for any one thing, and there is plenty of other work in process, but the real story is that things are going well – quite well, actually – in Tiverton.

Justin Katz and I put in many extra hours on administrative duties to help run the council and work with the town administrator and other officials, but we get just one vote like the other councilors. To those who single out Justin’s or my voting record, did you know that the entire council votes unanimously or 6-1 over 95% of the time? Not counting procedural votes, it’s still over 90%. We disagree from time to time, as we should, but after a lot of research, input from others, and good discussion, the council votes together 9 times out of 10. And we’ve held over 30 meetings and workshops in just a year.

At the end of the day, Tiverton is a small town and Justin and I are just two of your neighbors. Like most everyone volunteering in local government, we juggle work, raising a family, and life’s other demands while doing the best we can for our town. You can always call me at 401-525-0469 and Justin at 401-835-7156.

In closing, two things. First, no matter how you voted last year, please consider making the choice to not participate in this recall process. Voting “yes” or “no” either way would normalize and weaponize a consuming, expensive recall process for political purposes, which is not what recalls were meant for, and guarantee deep division in the town for years to come. Second, please see through the clutter and know your hardworking council has accomplished quite a bit, even just halfway through the term, and things are going well in Tiverton.

Robert Coulter

President, Tiverton Town Council