Public Silenced at Selectmen Meeting

For approximately three hours on Wednesday, the public heard from the Seekonk Board of Selectmen, but the selectmen did not hear from the public. In a move that had many people talking behind the scenes, Community Speaks was excluded from the agenda of the weekly meeting.

Board Chair Francis Cavaco told Attleboro-Seekonk Patch after the meeting that it is up to him whether Community Speaks is included on the agenda, and he decided not to include it this week. Cavaco said this decision was made for no particular reason and he has done this in the past. He said the exclusion of Community Speaks would not become a regular occurrence.

Only two members of the public were in the audience at the end of the meeting, the time when Community Speaks is usually heard. Several people left early, including some of the regulars who address the board during Community Speaks.

Although nobody said anything during the meeting about the exclusion of Community Speaks, several people contacted Attleboro-Seekonk Patch about the omission. A selectman also received several calls about this issue, according to an email submitted to the town administrator that was obtained by Patch.

Nelson Almeida, who regularly addresses the board during Community Speaks, wrote in an email to Patch that this was an example of the board "keeping the residents' voice shut."

"We the people run the town, not the Board of Selectmen," Almeida wrote. "We need to stop this nonsense."