To the editor:
I look forward to reading columns by Peter Most, as I usually find them both well reasoned and insightful. Unfortunately, this wasn’t my take on his column criticizing the candidacy of Marybeth Mitts.
The column raised two points. The first is that he doesn’t think Ms. Mitts was honest in describing why she was running as an independent. I fail to see how the technical issue he identifies affects her ability to serve as our representative. I also disagree with his concern that she has registered in the past as Republican, Democrat, and unenrolled. Since 2016, my primary political concern has been the danger posed by Donald Trump. In 2016 and 2020, I was a resident of Florida. In 2016, I changed my registration to Republican so I could vote against Trump in the primary. In 2020, I changed it to Democrat, so I could vote for the Democrat I thought best able to beat Trump. When I became a resident of Massachusetts, I registered as unenrolled, since in Massachusetts, unlike Florida, unenrolled can vote in either primary. I will continue to vote in whichever primary I think is more important. That is not flip-flopping; that is wanting to maximize the value of my vote.
The second point was that if Ms. Mitts wins, as an independent representative, she will have less success in getting earmarks for our area. This is pure speculation. As Mr. Most notes, our current representative, who is both a Democrat and a very capable person, has been able to obtain relatively modest earmarks for our area (although I appreciate very much what he has done). “It is unlikely,” “[d]oes anyone think,” “I don’t need to imagine,” “I know,” and “[w]ithout a doubt” are not the words used in the usual rationale analysis in which Mr. Most deals.
I think Mr Most’s candidate, Ms. Davis, would be a good representative for our district. I think Ms. Mitts would be a better one. That is based on things that have actually happened, rather than on pure speculation. Both candidates currently serve on their respective town’s select board. As Mr. Most has repeatedly pointed out in numerous columns, the Town of Great Barrington, on whose Selectboard Ms. Davis serves, has many serious problems—shut down bridges and a terribly deteriorated high school among them. Of course, this can’t all be blamed on Ms. Davis, but neither can it be ignored that she hasn’t succeeded in addressing these issues. On the other hand, it is hard to find a better run town than the Town of Lenox, on whose Select Board Ms. Mitts sits. Similarly, she doesn’t get all the credit for this, but she has certainly participated and deserves a good share of the credit. In sum, while I am generally happy with the positions taken by both candidates, I would rather have the one with a proven successful track record in her current position representing me, and that is Marybeth Mitts.
Kenneth E. Werner
Lenox
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