To the Editor:

Last week two exciting things happened in our town. There was a special town meeting called to vote up or down for an Austrialian ballot that Citizens for Citizens were promoting to remove the pergola from the Bank Park. In good town tradition a vote was taken quickly and with no rancor. We can be proud of how our town is working.

At the same time there was an announcement made by the Vermont Downtown Program that Wilmington received the 2009 Green Mountain Award for the Best Public Space Improvement in Vermont for the Bank Park. Wilmington is the first village center to have ever won this award. I believe this is quite a boon for our town in terms of developing and promoting economic health. Our town officials will know how to handle that, I am sure.

However, there is an aspect of this award that is disturbing to me. Doesn’t this make the Australian ballot a lame or dead duck issue?

What is more disturbing, as far as I am concerned, is that rumors are that there were several people, and I am guessing core workers for Citizens for Citizens, who approached the Vermont Downtown Program to request they revoke this award. I know these people are all, in the words of Shakespeare, “honorable,” but what were they thinking? Are they not proud to have Wilmington receive this award? Don’t they recognize the good will it creates for our town?

I know these people are honorable men and women. Why do I fear them?

Selma Schiffer

Wilmington