Category: Your View

I believe that the Select Board made a mistake when it voted (3-to-2) on Sept. 16 to reorganize to oust Mr. [Kevin] Canty as chair. The stated basis for the majority’s vote was “dissatisfaction with how Canty was running meetings.” As Mr. Canty candidly acknowledged during the board’s discussion, “I can be too rigid on […]

The Sept. 12 article by Dave Kindy on the Great Fire of 1900 in Plymouth was very interesting and informative. It is fascinating to read personal stories of acts of survival and heroism by local people over 125 years ago. The wildfires in the Western U.S. and Canada bring similar stories to our attention. The […]

Editor’s note: This letter was addressed to the Plymouth Select Board and sent to the Independent. I am worried about Plymouth and how what was once a welcoming destination for visitors, tourists, and families is now a place to avoid, as it is terrorized by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operatives invading our waterfront, […]

Mr. Thys’s recent article (“Sixty-six people appointed to town committees failed to get sworn in”) could be interpreted as blaming those 66 volunteers. Plymouth town government depends heavily on volunteers and the volunteers in question very likely had not read the town bylaws, didn’t know they needed to be sworn in, or were just confused […]

The recent Select Board meeting brought to light a concerning number. A total of 66 appointments to town boards and committees have been invalidated because the appointees never took their oath of office. This is a legitimate problem that speaks to a breakdown in process and communication, and it’s a conversation our town needs to […]

Although certainly well intentioned, I believe it would be a mistake for Town Meeting to enact a moratorium (for 11 ½ months) on the issuance of zoning permits and special permits for earth removal. I believe that the moratorium would be both (1) ineffective and (2) injurious. I was a member of the committee that […]

As a follow-up to Andrew Karmen’s Sept. 5 letter [on] lack of coverage foranti-Trump/ Pro-democracy rallies in Plymouth, I not only fully support his comments but would like to add to them. First, where are our local elected officials? To date, my wife and I have attended most of the rallies at Plymouth Rock but, […]

Recent articles in the Plymouth Independent have documented delinquencies in the payment of meals taxes to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and probably to Plymouth by the owners of multiple Plymouth restaurants and bars. These monies were collected from and paid by patrons of these establishments. These monies legally belong to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and are to […]

Strip mining of sand has been the scourge of Plymouth’s natural landscape for decades. This industry has had a pronounced impact on the landscape of southeastern Massachusetts. Areas that have been mined resemble deserts or moonscapes when viewed on satellite imagery. Plymouth, Carver, Wareham, and neighboring towns, because of their large amounts of glacial sediment […]

I was disappointed to discover that our hometown newspaper did not cover a protest rally at the rock on Labor Day. Several hundred people showed up on a major holiday to voice their anger about the creeping authoritarianism embedded in many of the policies of the Trump administration. As one demonstrator’s sign put it, “Speak […]