To the editor:

Smooth operator!  Ya gotta hand it to Justin Katz, the TTA’s smooth operator.  His recent letter here is nearly angelic in tone.  But we’ve seen this play before.  What this town needs is seven councilors working in lockstep and beholden to a TTA vision statement?!  Common sense indicates that some diversity of viewpoint is essential for good government.  

As a moderate Democrat, I am saddened that our Senate majority, for example, does not count among their members moderate Republicans.  It is from the great center of our parties that comity, coordination, and compromise can emerge.  I call upon Republicans to repudiate Trump and Trumpism.  Eschew voter suppression and calling opponents your enemies.  We are neighbors and need to act like it.

Here in Tiverton, a place that can be a laboratory for good government in tough times, we need more labor and less oratory.  We need to praise our teachers, back our police, and involve our citizens in forging policies and practices that balance our rights and our duties.

Will Newman

Tiverton