To the Editor:

There are a lot of reasons to vote No on the proposed Charter Revision on November 8, but the biggest reason is that we (the public) don’t know what the Commission members know.

By design, and actually legally, the Charter Commission Chair appointed two member work groups to handle initial research and to formulate early-stage recommendations. However, they did not have to notify the public of meetings, submit agendas, open the meetings to the public, and may have never completely reported to the full commission what they discussed.

So, they might recommend getting rid of the Board of Finance, but we will never know exactly why.

This is no way to run a town. No way to serve one’s neighbors. No way to encourage trust in the government.

I am voting NO on the Charter Revision, primarily because of the chairman’s perfectly legal maneuver limiting the number of Charter Commissioners members in workgroup meetings.

Laura Lerman

Newtown