Coleman should recuse himself on consolidation

Robert S. Smith
Published: February 18, 2008

I found it interesting that Councilman Chip Coleman has already decided that we citizens who signed the petition for the town and county consolidation study will end up costing the town a "lot of money for something that will not pass."

He has also put our money where his mouth is by voting for the town to hire a lawyer independently, despite what would seem to be the reasonable position of the Town/County Interaction Committee to share the cost of a single lawyer and at the same time avoid the potential appearance of a conflict of interest in hiring independent counsel. ("Town hires own lawyer to study consolidation," Feb. 14).

Perhaps Mr. Coleman's intent is to prove his point about wasting a lot of money, but instead his actions and statements provide further justification for the consolidation effort.

As Mr. Coleman has already made up his mind on the matter, one would hope that he would recuse himself from further participation in the process. Unfortunately, to the detriment of all involved, that will not happen.