Hanover’s Christie offers thanks

I want to thank Patrick Adrian for his article in the May 11 Valley News covering the Hanover Town Meeting (“Longtime Hanover Selectboard chair gets budget win, but loses seat at Town Meeting”). I think he did a good job capturing the surprise and emotion of the evening.

I also want to thank my fellow Selectboard members for their kind words and for the outpouring of thanks and appreciation that I have received from town staff and the Hanover community at large. It has truly been a privilege and (mostly) fun to have served.

Some say that everything happens for a good reason (except for missed short putts and missed second serves) and I must confess to looking forward to a little time off for other fun. The immediate upside is that I will be spending my first Monday since the election not on town business, but rather on salvaging a long-ignored garden and being with Kathy at our grandson’s baseball game.

Again, many thanks to all.

Go Hanover!

Peter Christie

Etna

Peter Christie was a longtime Selectboard member and chairman in Hanover until he lost his seat in a vote earlier this month.

Hanover vote not so surprising to me

In recent articles and letters to the editor, some Hanover residents expressed shock and surprise that the chairman of the Selectboard Peter Christie was not reelected at the recent Town Meeting. I am not qualified to opine on his tenure, since my involvement in town politics has been limited to attending one Selectboard meeting. Maybe Christie has done a lot of good for the town, but from what I witnessed at that meeting, I can see why people might vote for a change.

I was there to offer public comment in nuanced opposition to the proposed ordinance requiring inspections of rental properties. I naively thought the Selectboard would hear the public comment and then deliberate or schedule a vote for the following meeting. At the very least, the board members could have paused and stroked their chins for a minute or two. Instead, Christie quickly called for a vote and the board voted unanimously in favor.

In retrospect, it was clear that the board had made up its mind and the public comment was just window dressing. Reasonable people can disagree on the merits of the ordinance, which was ultimately approved at Town Meeting. Nevertheless, the manner in which the Selectboard first presented misleading information regarding the need for an across-the-board application of the ordinance, which the town’s attorney then had to disavow, then held a vote without any further deliberation left this cynical observer scratching his head wondering why anyone bothers to get involved in town politics.

Philip Glouchevitch

Hanover

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