TTA agenda: Dig up the past, keep everything toxic

Posted 2/26/20

To the editor:

Do Donna Cook and the TTA really have the best interest of Tiverton at heart? I don’t think so. Tiverton is a very diverse community with many born and raised here, many aging …

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TTA agenda: Dig up the past, keep everything toxic

Posted

To the editor:

Do Donna Cook and the TTA really have the best interest of Tiverton at heart? I don’t think so. Tiverton is a very diverse community with many born and raised here, many aging here, and also many new young families that left the more expensive Aquidneck Island. It is a fantastic community that has a lot to offer everyone. 

Yet the only people that seem content on digging up the past and keeping the political climate toxic are the members of the TTA. Case in point number 1 is Ms. Cook’s recent letter to the editor. 

Ms. Cook, a retired airline worker (not the school teacher everyone assumed), seems to feel she is an expert on all things Tiverton, including playgrounds. I was one of the driving forces in having the old and unsafe playground torn down. Almost immediately a group formed to plan a new playground. 

Simultaneously, the Recreation Committee was exploring developing a committee and moving forward. This type of project is not simply a $15,000 “jungle gym.” It takes expertise and planning which is exactly what the Town Council approved in Recreation’s Playground Committee, including Ms. Cook. 

Mr  Katz himself had been directly invited to participate in the Playground Committee meetings and do you know how many he attended? Zero. He cares right? It is amazing how history seems to be written to suit a narrative. 

Case in point 2 is the fact that Justin Katz has once again sued the Town of Tiverton. Only this time he seeks to dig up old executive session minutes, which former Solicitor Ciccione said would be very costly. 

Why? Mr. Katz claims “everyone wants to know what’s in them”. By everyone he means himself as to date there has not been a single records request for executive session minutes from anyone except Mr. Katz. 

Why is that? Is he really interested in moving Tiverton forward or is he just trying to throw shade at every angle he gets? Since the successful recall, he has gone on the attack of community members, myself included, and continues to fight the town. 

If you haven’t noticed by now, the TTA has even transitioned from “control your taxes” to attacking anything and everything they have no control of such as recreation. And believe me folks, it is all about control and getting their way. The TTA has contributed nothing of substance to this community and rarely, if ever, supports local functions and events, especially if the town has to pay for it. 

David J. Paull

Tiverton

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A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.