SHUTESBURY — Shutesbury’s Select Board is affirming appeals from residents to stand in support of democracy and the Constitution by adopting the “Declaration Defending our Democracy, the U.S. Constitution and the Rule of Law.”
In a 2-1 vote Tuesday, board members approved the resolution that was brought forward by 44 residents in August that outlines numerous concerns with the Trump administration, joining Amherst and Easthampton in passing the measure.
“I think I couldn’t be more in favor of this than if I had to be,” said board member Eric Stocker. “The situation now is dire, and it has to be stopped.”
“Our children, our grandchildren, they’re going to live in a country that is nothing like anything we’ve seen if we don’t stop (it), so it has to be stopped,” Stocker said.
Board member Rita Farrell said she grew up understanding the horrors of World War II from her father, who was present for the liberation of the Buchenwald concentration camp, and worries for the country and its citizens.
“I look now and say, ‘Oh my gosh, is this where we’re heading?” Farrell said. “It’s terrifying, it really is terrifying.”
But Chairwoman Melissa Makepeace O’Neil dissented, explaining that while she supports the Constitution, the First Amendment and the rights of residents to disseminate the resolution, it is overtly political.
“I feel like this particular declaration kind of goes against what the Select Board has done in prior votes,” she said, pointing to rules that banners and flags on town buildings are not to have political messages, and that resolutions should not discriminate against those with different political affiliations.
She said she worries the measure is divisive in a town where some 220 people didn’t vote for Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.
“I don’t feel comfortable, as a representative of all those who vote for me on all sides of the political spectrum, to take a political stance in this way,” Makepeace O’Neil said. She added that she wants to remain non-political to avoid polarization in the community and country, and would feel similarly if another politician were called out in a declaration in a similar way.
Stocker said he would normally sympathize with this viewpoint, but it’s important to break with tradition since it’s “too big a situation.”
Among the residents who initially made their appeal in August and sought action in advance of Constitution Day on Sept. 17, Miriam DeFant said there is a need for leadership and moral clarity, which has intensified in recent weeks, with more people being hurt, dying and disappearing through Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions and attacks on programs like Obamacare and Medicaid.
“We are well beyond what scholars would call a constitutional crisis,” DeFant said. “Federal agents, including military, have entered U.S. cities against the wishes of governors and mayors. Congress remains closed and unwilling to exercise its oversight functions under the Constitution.”
Rob Kibler spoke to a general climate in town in which many parents and grandparents fought in world wars against fascism and monarchies.
‘What would our forebearers think of this town if it were unable to simply endorse democracy,” Kibler said. “My guess is shame. Deep shame.”
Sharon Raymond said she is fearful that the next federal election will be distorted by misinformation, gerrymandering and other efforts to turn the United States into a one-party system.
Anna Heard, a member of the town’s School Committee, expressed appreciation for the measure as more than symbolic.
“Shutesbury may be small, but it is in speaking out that we have power,” Heard said. “We can lead by example so that other towns can feel empowered to speak up.”