You’ll soon be voting on the Kennebunk Charter revision. The voters had authorized a new commission, focusing on the recall section. Candidate profiles didn’t appear in the newspapers, so voters were left in the dark for their choices. We had no answers as to who they were, when and where they had come from, and what would they bring to the table.

Chris Duffy was appointed to the commission and that was good. Many of us knew candidates Susan Bloomfield and Christopher Babbidge because of their long and positive involvement in local issues and their feel for the town. Please read Susan and Christopher’s Minority Report on the town website. Their strong opposition to changing our historic form of representative town government and their defense of our cherished voting rights, makes it a must-read.

Word soon filtered out that the commission had skipped beyond the original charge — the recall provision, and that they were drastically and unasked-for rewriting our form of local government. The newspapers reported they were also considering disenfranchising our Kennebunk voters, eliminating their right to vote on the annual town budgets, long-term debt proposals and all land-use changes. They were seriously proposing that you, the voters, be fired.

Later, it was reported that a proposal was before the commission, that maybe, if a proposed town budget was 20% or higher, you might be allowed to vote on it. It was lost to them, that with a proposed property tax increase of 20% or more hitting their family budgets, there’d be no need for that concessionary town meeting, because the citizens would be at the gates with pitchforks in hand and nearby buckets of hot tar and feathers handy.

Back in the not-so-good days, even the tyrant George III and later the Commonwealth of Massachusetts recognized our local governing rights, but not everyone had those rights. Then, there were only two local classes: the “Better Sort,” whose wealth, usually land ownership, gave them the sole right to vote and hold office and the “Meaner Sort,” the rest of us. We had no vote, but our property taxes and fees kept those early towns running for the “Better Sort.”

As I follow the current events with our school board, the early enthusiastic support for the loss of our voting rights by the select board, and the controversial deliberations of this Charter Commission, I fear we could be coming full circle back to the days of the “Better Sort” and just the rest of us. Today, though, we call them “The Elites.”

The commission did want input. They turned to the town bureaucracy — our new town manager from Colorado and the department heads. They consulted with cities with town council forms of government. I wonder if that included Colorado and Massachusetts examples as well?

The select board members had their individual input, ironically, on whether their current boss, the voters, should be fired, leaving them the town’s final legislative body. Given their enthusiastic comments at the Sept. 10 public hearing, there’s no doubt what a majority of them opined. One could almost say that this has the feel of a coup to it.

They did open up a survey form so you could share your opinions. The new town council was shot down and you buried the questions which proposed taking away your voting rights. But, I’m sorry to report that the town bureaucracy, the select board members, and the out-of-town town council fans outvoted you. That’s not very democratic is it?

The final process step for this charter rewrite, before it was to be sent on to you, the town voters, was the Sept. 10 public hearing.

It was a farce. Several of the board members, back in May, declared their full support. Several had berated the two commission members, Bloomfield and Babbidge, for not giving in and going along with the others. The two did not bend to the attacks on their integrity and values.

At the hearing, the main supporter of the commission’s proposal was given unlimited time at the microphone, plus additional trips back to it. The citizens who began to speak, addressing with facts, why the board and then the voters should vote no, but then they were shut down. Remember, this hearing was greased because many members had already had gone on record in support of it. Board member Lisa Pratt cut the speakers off at 5 minutes. So much for the voice of the Kennebunk voter anymore, whether it’s before the select board or the school board.

Actually, most of the time during the hearing for the public to comment on the proposal was taken up by the board members themselves, who were almost giddy, overflowing with praise and “thank you” to the commission spokesperson. It was such pure unrestrained enthusiasm, I almost expected them to jump out of their seats and do cartwheels. Remember, they were now one step closer to removing the voters’ final oversight and control on land-use issues. Given the climate issues ahead of the town and decisions to be made in the future for when enough-is-enough on population pressures and growth, it would be a big win for the board. Plus, if you give up your vote on this first issue, you can be sure that they’ll be back in the next few years for your other two voting rights.

As you’ve read about this proposal’s process and journey, if you still don’t have enough reasons to vote no, we hope to bring you another opinion piece about what’s actually in this charter revision.

Your approval of this charter rewrite, call it what it really is, would begin the chipping away of your sacred right to vote. Too many Americans over the centuries have died so you can have that right to vote. Don’t toss it away now.

Tom Murphy is a former teacher, state representative and is a Kennebunk Landing resident. He can be reached at tsmurphy@myfairpoint.net.