To the Editor:
Your editorial on January 24 about the Hamill Rink says the RTM was used as “an instrument of political interference” and called the vote a “premature challenge,” “political posturing,” and a “partisan battleground.”
In fact, the authors of our Town Charter understood that projects can start down a wrong path. They intended the Municipal Improvement process to be an early check before a project gains momentum. In Section 99 and 100, they said there shall be a Town Plan, that such Plan shall be adopted by the RTM, and that any one property owner could ask the RTM to confirm that a proposed project on Town land conforms to the goals of the Town Plan, before any money is spent except for studies and surveys.
You mention that 84% of survey respondents supported the flip, but fail to mention that only 25% supported building a temporary rink on Strazza Field while 58% favored building it on Roger Sherman Baldwin Park. The RTM vote was about building on Strazza Field. The vote was 52 in favor, 136 against, with 6 abstentions. All RTM votes are political, but few if any are partisan. The RTM vote says it wants the Town to find a better path forward.
Peter E. Berg
The writer served on the BET and for 22 years on the RTM including 12 years as chair of the RTM Land Use Committee
