Inspired by fear

Medford’s council members’ recent strategy to exhaust and intimidate residents with regard to their multi-million dollar budget deficit and tax increase referendum was another township effort to evoke fear, ultimately offering three choices for citizens to vote on April 27 — significantly increase our taxes; allow for the Medford Crossings development; or lay-off public workers (threatening our public safety and baseline services).

In addition to their political strategy to play and prey on the emotions of residents to fund their failure (dangling our police and fire members as calculated carrots), it’s been alleged that there is a stronger power influencing our Council members’ signature hands, which has also allowed for certain consultants to (for decades) continue litigating us into the fiscal abyss that we currently face and are now being threatened to subsidize.

I’ve heard it said that fear can do one of two things, imprison or inspire us. I’ve allowed it to inspire my vote against the referendum to increase Medford’s municipal tax. It’s a conscious effort to no longer enable the behavior (and hand), that in my opinion, continues to imprison and oppress Medford’s fiscal future, lacking transparency, responsibility and accountability.

We did pay enough taxes to sustain our budget, it’s just unfortunate that our township officials chose to defer or spend it on other miscellaneous expenditures that were unassociated but legal.

Looking to the near future, I can only hope that the group of residents challenging council’s replacements in June’s primary will improve the chances of “Governing my best interests instead of bargaining and bankrupting them.”

Laura Saunders