Danicilc Chescbr?c?fj??) f. (yak/Tamer?

Afferspedking in person wiTh Commissioner O'Shounndsey This week, 05 well 05 engoging
wiTh people who hove served wiTh him, I supporT him finishing his finol yeor of service on
This boord. i ask ThoT people offend The Board of Police Commissioners meeTing on
SepTember iOTh and conTinue To engage going forword To geT To know more obouT This
mon, 05 well as oTher volunTeers on This Boord.

The online deboTe over The Focebook posTings of Commissioner hove
furTher Cl poldrizing divide. People I deeply respecT hove voiced opinions
on opposing sides of This deboTe end I?m lefT believing social media is 0 core pan of
This problem.

In Mdy, The STreeT Journol reledsed findings from on inTernol Focebook probe seT To
onswer criTicol quesTion? does chebook polorionion Tribdl behavior?
They found The company?s olgoriThms weren'T bringing people TogeTher, They were
driving people (upon. The olgoriThms were seT To exploiT The broin?s To
divisiveness in on efforT To gain user oTTenTion increose Time on The pldeorm.

Beyond olgoriThms fdvor divisiveness, Trying To boil down complex issues inTo shorT,
online commenTory is ripe for misundersTondings. People are quick To judge, ond less
open To lisTening.

We will confinue To be divided if we place higher volue on sociol medio Thon reel, in?
depTh discussion.

Engoging Those wiTh differenT views, even Those we may find objecTionoble is how we
con improving The world dround us and I believe OS 0 communiTy in SToningTon, we
dre up for The 

LeT's Toke The opporTuniTy To increase our Toleronce for one dnoTher,
which is someThing we Cill need during This Time.

 

 

CC Dow-ma EM 

When i was younger, was intrigued by a quote from Edgar Allen Poe and it has become a sort
of mantra for me to judge for yourself of what is going on in the world, without trusting

to the gossip of others. Believe nothing you hear, and only one half that you see.?

Today, we are quick to pass judgement based on a shared social media post or newspaper
article without taking the time to talk with or get to know or understand the person. These
non-human contact mechanisms are dividing our community. Here in America we are
fortunate to have First Amendment rights. i appreciate those rights through my own and my
family?s experiences traveling, living, and being deployed in those countries where those rights
do not exist. Every day I hear and read opinions that are contrary to what I personally believe.
But in this country, the First Amendment gives us the right to voice or share those opinions
however, contentious, or divisive they may be. And it is through debate, discussion and
listening to all opinions, notjust the ones we like, that we grow and move forward as a

community.

The 305 has policies and mechanisms to appoint and reappoint and accept resignations but
there is no mechanism or policy to remove or force a resignation. There is no yardstick to judge
others by what they chose to share on their personal social media pages. Over the past couple
days, have met in person with Bob O?Shaughnessy, and I met or talked with others who
have known him and worked with him for years. While I may not agree with what he, or what
others including people I know well chose to post on their social media, I will not judge
someone based solely on that. would encourage people to do the same, come to commission

meetings, ask questions, and get to know the person before rushing to judgement.

As public servants, we do have work to do. I do believe we need to work to make our

commissions and boards more inclusive and more reflective of the nature and diversity ofthe
(agenda
community we serve. But t?sggt to that place will take timejand to move forward and improve
PECQUWE
will?ke personal communication, public engagement, and education not censure.

 

TU n{ S/i?nm 

As per the town charter, The Board of Selectmen have the power to
appoint people to boards and commissions. We have the authority to
accept resignations. We do not have the powers to remove someone
based on a personal facebook repost With respect to a repost of PB,
before judgement is cast, we should take the time to get to know the
person i have known Commissioner 0 ?Shaunassey for n?ar?zo years
as our volunteering paths have crossed More recently, as iiason for
the 805, have gotten to know all Police Commissioners a little bit
better. The comments said about Commissioner O?Shaunaseey do
not represent the person he is. the comments do not represent who he
is as someone who loves this town and all who reside and visit here and
they do not represent who he is as person who believes in giving back
and volunteering, which is what he has done for the past 20 years.
Before judgement is cast, take the time to get to know the person.

A historical moment that has been overlooked remcently .12: the 100 year
anniversary of women gaining the right to vote. igNearly Buyears ago
during the Clarence Thomas and Anita Hi i hearings the pervasiveness
of sexuai harassment became And for the past 30 years, all
have been taught of what sexual harassment is as sensitivity trai ining
was created in an effort to change behaviors. Today. formsiisexua!
harassment still exists and I will give you an example. A dear friend
recently stepped down from a committee she served on for decades.
Her thank you for your service came from came from a member of the
committee who said ?thank you for your many years of blond advice?
an offensive sexist and sarcastic remark. However the person making
the comment did post thi iS comment but rather sent it in a text 
which is not publicgbut sharabie. And by sharingcihi in?ii am no I. ?3

ionger choosing to keep quiet about it.

Someone troiled the commissioner?s facebook page and reposted the
post. The trolling itself is disturbing, but social media is here to stay.

 

 

The social media post and separately, the sexual harassment that still
exists, both bring us opportunity. Change is slow but i believe we can
do better. lfully support creating social media guidelines for all boards
and commissions as well as expanding the application process and
persona! standards to be considered for both. support extensive
sensitivity training and anti-bias training and making both a condition of
appointment and include this for all town employees and elected
officials With input from our town? 5 legal counsel to respect sit
individuals constitutional rights am confident that we will create an
empowered path forward for our entire community.