Amending Groton minutes was correct

A very one sided view was presented in the article, “Democratic Groton Town Council removes praise of Republican legislator from meeting minutes,” (Feb. 7).

Consider this: a Republican mayor credited Groton’s Republican senator for something Groton’s entire delegation of state legislators accomplished (but the two Democrats weren’t credited). His comment was entered into the minutes. It didn’t have to be. Many things said at meetings aren’t in the minutes. Only actions and votes have to be in the minutes.

Is there anything so surprising about a new council removing that comment? Not at all. Approving the minutes of the previous meeting was the first item on their first agenda. Minutes are routinely amended. In this case, something inappropriate was removed from the minutes. Why inappropriate? Because minutes are the public record. They should not be used for partisan purposes.

If anything was unusual I would argue it was the former mayor using his position and the public record for partisan purposes. In my 12 years in elected office, and 20 years of involvement, I’ve never seen anything quite like it. Local elected officials are usually quite careful to avoid this.

I applaud the integrity and backbone it took to correct this impropriety.

Natalie Burfoot Billing Mystic