To the Editor:

Google Norman Rockwell’s “Freedom of Speech” oil painting, one of the “Four Freedoms” paintings inspired by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941.

Study this famous painting of a lone dissenter to a town selectman’s announced plans. It, and the other three paintings in the series, are a powerful representation of America and its cherished freedoms and ideals, which we are blessed to enjoy every day. The idea behind this particular painting represents the best of America and perhaps its essence.

As stated on the Wikipedia page for this painting: “... the use of a New England town-hall meeting incorporates the ‘long tradition of democratic public debate.’”

The message in this painting persisted in my mind after I attended the Planning and Zoning Commission Public Hearing on the Wharton warehouse proposal on June 2.

A question occurred to me afterwards. What version of his famous work would Norman Rockwell have painted had he ever attended a meeting like this one? The answer deeply disturbed me.

Norman Rockwell would not and could not have painted anything if he had attended such a public hearing because citizens were silenced. Newtown residents in the audience asked, yes pleaded, for an opportunity for the opposing Attorney and attendees to rebut the presentation by Wharton representatives.

The “Freedom of Speech’’ canvas would have been blank because not one Newtown citizen of several hundred attending was permitted to stand up and utter a word in response to a developer’s proposal to build a mega-warehouse in a residential neighborhood.

Newtown’s version of the “Freedom of Speech” canvas would be starkly blank. The imposed silence is deafening.

Ray Bigelis

Newtown

Editor’s Note: The writer is among the five registered intervenors on this matter representing opponents. According to meeting minutes, the P&Z Chairman confirmed at the conclusion of the May 19 hearing continuation that only Wharton representatives would be included in official proceedings at the subsequent June 2 meeting, and that “proceedings by the intervenors and public was over.”