Reply to Suzanne Wright

In her fervor to discredit MaryEllen Fletcher, Suzanne Wright wields a now too-familiar tactic of repeating an accusation, ad infinitum, in the hope it will ring true, and that those among us who are ignorant of local politics, especially of her own family’s infamy within the venue, will endorse her petulance as if it were valid passion. Falsely labeling someone a liar eleven times in a few paragraphs isn’t whistleblowing. It’s libel.

If you want to examine real lying, recall the “Yes!” campaign for the new elementary school, fronted by Ms. Wright and her brother, former Select Board member, Peter Spellios, both of whom claimed the taxpayers would not have to contribute to the project. Lie. How about Ms. Wright’s insistence that no private property would be taken during construction of the rail trail? Again, lie. Check into their history for more lies that cost the residents not only money, but intangibles such as open space and ease of traveling around our three square miles, mostly because Mr. Spellios was rabid for overbuilding the town. Interesting that he’s a developer!

Ms. Wright chastised the other Select Board members who declined, at the April 2, 2025, Select Board meeting, to publicly shame their Chair who had the guts to proclaim her underlying support of the schools, yet abstain from a vote, stating the need to wait for a true accounting – unlike her colleagues who feigned concern for the taxpayer while promising to “fully fund” the schools, using a levy that was to benefit the rest of us and ignoring the need for a serious look behind the line-item headings. Just one example: School Committee member Amy O’Connor let the public know that the incoming superintendent would not be paid the full amount as written on that line item. So, where will the excess be used, and why wasn’t it offered back during negotiations?

How confident can a resident feel in the vote when David Grishman, who was in an obvious rush to make a motion about the school budget, stated that negotiations were “tough to follow”; Doug Thompson was still catching up on the meaning of the numbers; and Director of Finance, Amy Sarro, said it would be “dishonest” for the Select Board to tell members of the upcoming Town Meeting that the town has an extra million in local receipts when we won’t know the actual amount until fall.

All of this matters when the Chair is being singled out as a liar who has a secret agenda. Ms. Fletcher is merely searching for the details discreetly concealed behind line-item headings. Only Ms. Fletcher has more than a decade’s worth of hands-on knowledge about finance and budgets and where people can hide money.

Note that of the forty seven School Committee meetings held so far in 2025, thirty three met in Executive Session, yet I don’t see any related minutes posted on the town website. I hate to jump to conclusions, as Ms. Wright and others often do, by assuming their clandestine nature.

Suzanne Wright owes MaryEllen Fletcher an apology. And, after last night's School Committee meeting, she may owe more than that to the state Ethics Commission.