Letter: Recall Is Unjustified And Wrong Focus For Our Town

READING, MA — The following letter was submitted by Reading resident Mark Dockser.

To the Editor:

I want to share why I am voting AGAINST THE RECALL. A recall is both unjustified and the
wrong focus for our town.

Here are 3 things that I ask you to think about:

1. I have known Vanessa Alvarado, the person being attacked by the proponents of the
recall, for more than 5 years. We served together on the Finance Committee as well as
on the Select Board. I know Vanessa to be a good person, a person of integrity, a good
board member and a good neighbor. She listens to constituents needs, stands up for
those in need of support, and makes good, sound decisions. She solicits, listens to and
respects different points of view and incorporates them into her decisions. She is
exactly the kind of person that a town would want as a volunteer on the Select Board,
willing to roll up her sleeves and work hard FOR the community, and always making a
positive difference.

2. The recall is not about wrongdoing…it is about politics. The nation is politically
polarized. For some reason, Reading is toward the high end of nasty political discourse.
Folks that do not like the outcome of Vanessa’s election 2+ years ago, are trying to
reverse it. The lead proponent of the recall effort is the person that Vanessa defeated in
that election, John Arena. Rather than support and applaud a system that listens to and
discusses different points of view, many of the proponents of the recall are using
disparaging comments and bullying to try to achieve their political goals. That is not
right.

3. Elected town board members, volunteers willing to serve the residents of the town, are
elected to serve a 3-year term. Each year, at least one seat is up for election on each
board, by design. This is the essence of democracy. To try to achieve political change by
forcing additional elections comes at a cost to both democracy and to taxpayers.
Managing an additional election costs the town $20,000-$30,000 according to the Town
Clerk. And what message do we send to our volunteer elected officials if they need to
fear that advocates of a position may seek to remove them from office at any time if
they don’t agree with them? If you don’t want to vote for someone in the next regularly
scheduled election, you are free to vote for someone else. Forcing a special election for
a political end, especially just months from the regular election, is not the best use of
town resources in my opinion.

At the end of the day, all of this is a distraction from what is really important. If the Covid
pandemic has taught us anything it is that we need to refocus and take care of each other. We
should be helping our neighbors deal with the stress from Covid, social isolation, the recession,
high unemployment and unprecedented school disruption. Neighbors should be helping
neighbors. We need to get back to respecting differences of opinion and having civil
discussions, even while wearing masks and keeping a safe social distance.

What can you do about this situation? VOTE AGAINST THE RECALL ON SEPTEMBER 1. You can
request a mail-in ballot (as I have) or vote early or vote in person. But please vote and vote
safely.

Mark Dockser
Beaver Road