The recent follow-up story about the TideSmart Global sign on Route 1 in Falmouth reported that town councilors spent “45 minutes berating Woods and his company.” That evening, I did not participate. I formally recused myself from the proceedings. As councilors, we try to remove ourselves when there might be a perception of a conflict of interest. As an agent at Clark Insurance, I am grateful to count both TideSmart and Mr. Woods as valued customers. Unfortunately, it appeared from all news reports that the entire council took Mr. Woods to task.
It is challenging for reporters to capture all the details in public proceedings of who did or did not comment. That said, I believe all news organizations would do well to note when an action or opinion was that of an individual, minority, majority or unanimous majority. Often, the actions of legislative bodies are lumped together as one when, in fact, there most often is a dissenting minority or , in some cases, a recusal. Said another way, voters would be well served to know how their elected officials vote and behave. Reporting the yeas, nays and abstentions also could distinguish a news organization and be of great service to the readers, viewers and listeners.
Town Councilor Tony Payne
Falmouth
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.