From Town Tribune, September 29, 2016 To the Editor:

“I have not had a chance to read the July minutes yet”
– Clay Cope

Yes, this is what Clay Cope really said on record at the
September BOS meeting when the other two selectman began to discuss the minutes of a meeting that had occurred a mere TWO MONTHS earlier.  To audible groans and visible grimaces from the audience this simple and basic agenda item had to be tabled for yet another month due to Mr. Cope’s apparent lack of dedication to the job the Sherman taxpayers>hired him to do.

But, beyond that, late Friday afternoon the other two selectman found themselves summoned by Mr. Cope to an “emergency meeting” of the Board of Selectman on Saturday morning.  This ill-conceived meeting, that failed to meet the minimum requirement of 24 hours notice to the general public, was called because apparently Mr. Cope “forgot” at Thursday night’s meeting that he needed to appoint a “temporary member” to a vacancy on the Board of Assessment Appeals.  Even better is that the proposed temporary appointee is none other than Cope’s campaign manager (and RTC Chair) George
Linkletter.  Is it really possible that both Mr. Cope and Mr. Linkletter (who was in the audience at Thursday night’s meeting) actually forgot about this appointment?  Or is it more likely that Mr. Cope was looking to push this appointment to a quiet, Saturday morning out of the view of the general public?  Perhaps it’s “merely” a matter of compounded incompetence?  In any case, Sherman citizens should know how their town is being run; we are being ill-served.  We deserve better.

Jane Cohn