Is There a Point Here?

This editorial cartoon, published in the August 7th edition of the Old Colony Memorial, prompted the following letter to the Editor on August 9, 2010:

To the Editor:

The editorial cartoon featured on the Opinion page of Saturday’s edition not only missed the one of the most serious problems facing Town Government, but gave the Pinehills community a gratuitous back-hander by casting its residents as boozing golf fanatics. Mr. Dorn might find it enlightening to discover the impact that Pinehills residents are making on Plymouth, not only through its collective tax revenues, but also through their widespread volunteer efforts on behalf of many public and private local organizations.

More importantly, one of the biggest, non-fiscal, problems facing the Plymouth Town Government is not some vague power grab by a few precincts, but rather a widespread lack of participation by many of our fellow town folk. As David Peck notes in his comments, posted just below the cartoon, some precincts have had trouble in recent elections fielding enough candidates to run for vacant Town Meeting seats. As recently as last Sunday, the Boston Globe reported that the Selectmen are actively seeking volunteers for a number of Town boards and committees. Broad representation is clearly a key driver of Town Government, but it takes an interested and engaged public to make it happen.


John F. Malloy
TMM, Precinct 5

The following reply was received the same day:

John: Managing Editor Scott Smith and I have discussed your letter at length and we have no problem with the majority of it, however....Jon Dorn is one of the Jam session participants, just like all the others except that his contribution is in the form of a cartoon rather then a paragraph of words. Editorial cartoons by their very nature are caricatures - to identify me the cartoon might have a really big nose or funny glasses, for instance.

Also, neither of us think that Jon portrayed all Pinehills residents as booze swilling golf fanatics. The Jammers were all directed to the same story, which explained that the town charter requires the Fin Com be comprised of a member from each of the town's precincts with the only duplicate being from the precinct of the chairman, who does not vote unless there is a tie. Yet, Precinct 5 currently has multiple members on the committee, meaning there are none from some other precincts. You make the point, yourself, that it's difficult to find people to serve in town government.

Questioning whether Jon knows how much the residents of The Pinehills contribute to the town has no connection to the question posed.
Other Jammers also questioned allowing multiple Fin Com members from one precinct, yet you did not challenge them.

We'd be happy to print your letter without the statements we feel misinterpret the opinion solicited from Jon as part of his participation in this forum and the very nature of an editorial cartoon.

Tam Burgess, senior editor
GateHouse Media New England

There are a number of issues here, not the least of which is our concern for the portrayal of the Pinehills Community.

The last paragraph of the editor's reply comes perilously close to offering a quid-pro-quo which would offer to publish the original letter on the condition that certain comments be removed. Perhaps the "Letters to the Editor" section of the newspaper might then be re-named "Edited Letters to the Editor". For the record, we stand by our original version.

Finally, there is at least one point of confusion running throughout this exchange. The Charter Review Committee which has no restrictions on the number of its members from a particular precinct, and the Advisory and Finance Committee which, under current rules, should be made up of at least one member from each precinct. It is the Charter Review Committee that reportedly includes five members from precinct 5.

If you are still reading at this point, you may be want to read, or re-read, the entire August 7th JAM SESSION article including the opinions of the contributors.

How do you feel about the cartoon? Is it insulting to a whole community, or is it an acceptable response to this opinion poll?

Comments to the View are always welcome. You can also email your comments to the OCM editorial staff at ocm@cnc.com. You may, or may not, have your comments printed in the newspaper