Colarusso Unfairly Bullied By Fellow Select Board Members

A Letter to the Editor from Cheryl Nahas:

I have been a resident of Stoneham for 18 years. I have been in the field of healthcare for over 35 years professionally as a master’s level psychotherapist, a mental health clinician, and a social worker. In my many years I have worked in private practice and in outpatient clinics, emergency room settings and have also worked as part of a multidisciplinary team in hospital settings. I have been a consultant, a program developer and a program manager and have facilitated groups as a group leader. I have also mentored and supervised many ‘greenback’ enthusiastic students and peers in the field on efforts and goals of clear communication and team support so as to
best benefit the individual in need.

Why am I here sharing my professional background and expertise? I wanted to lay the foundation for why I felt compelled to share with you my thoughts but most importantly my concerns. I was invited to come listen as part of the public forum for the first time the Stoneham Select Board Meeting on March 5th. In a nutshell I was appalled and ‘shell shocked’ to see is this how our local government officials communicate and react? … in fact, it dawned on me how much this is a microcosm of our larger national problem.

First of all, though being a newcomer to watching this long litany political agenda ‘dialogue’ that lasted 3 ½ hours, I thought I would be watching a debate that had fairness and balance with all of the ‘checks and balances’ in place. Under the so-called guise of exclaiming “Our responsibility is to represent the people of the town of Stoneham who voted for us and therefore this is where we stand.”, I felt I had walked into a room where the dice was thrown and the stakes were unfairly matched and lopsided and there was no equalizer facilitation from a leadership approach. I believe in fairness, respect and not being judgmental; however, most importantly, at this meeting
between Board members, there should have been the skill of attentively listening and not just half-heartedly ‘hearing’.

It was painful to sit there and watch how Selectwoman Caroline Colarusso was defending her political stance with calmness and dignity and respect, all the while with one hand tied behind her back. Barely given a chance for equal time to be thought provoking and truly explore the underbelly of an important issue in terms of its consequences or opposing side, she was browbeaten and ignored by her colleagues on the Board on several key issues. I saw her
being harassed by one of the male selectmen and also challenged to step outside from another female selectwoman. I jumped when the gavel pounded down once so loud and harshly on Ms. Colarusso by the Board leader as to hush her up and 'move on' when she was merely making an opposing viewpoint comment regarding the question of abortion being submitted as a human right yet not as a violation of the human rights policy. Outvoted, it was clear of their collusion and that their minds were made up long before the formal session started. More importantly, I am very concerned that the ‘voice of the people’ that she supports and was solely representing was being squelched as she was, in tandem, by being unfairly bullied and outnumbered by her
opponents.

I personally believe in speaking up for the moral truths. Political correctness where one walks on eggshells to not offend anyone is one thing … My mantra has been ‘We can agree to disagree.’ But to not look at all sides with a spirit of openness while being respectfully attentive is downright wrong and unconscionable.

I appreciated more the public speakers who took the mike at the podium to share their views and concerns on three of the issues as they discussed in a fair and balanced way while being politically respectful. In fact, it’s quite a sad statement of observation to make when we cannot get a fair representation on a town board.

Caroline Colarusso has been a solid and long-standing representative of those who have voted for her fair and square for the town of Stoneham. She deserves respect and appreciation as we do in our thoughts, concerns and beliefs.

Thank you.

Cheryl Nahas, Central St.