On September 11th, the Mountain Top Progressives, a local community activist group, attempted to secure two Public Properties in the hopes of fostering more Democratic Free Expression in the Town of Windham during the current election season. The response from our Town Supervisor was that no public property is available for Political Expression of any kind. Of course, Mr. Hoyt neglected to mention that our town regularly uses public properties to hold public hearings, such as the August 19th Zoning Commission Public Hearing and November 30th, 2023 Zoning Commission, or the July 2024 Public Hearing on the Windham Mountain Club’s “Master Plan”— if these aren’t nonvoting political events held in our community on public property I don’t know what they are then!
Mr. Hoyt is doing everything in his power to stifle free expression that might cause him a political issue. However, we, the People of Windham, are stronger! We, the Residents of Windham, should see this for what it is— local strongman tactics to bolster a weak political position that cannot stand the scrutiny of public debate or public inquiry! We must also, unfortunately, ask why this isn’t a bigger issue in our local Newspaper? The purposeful limitation of the freedom of expression by a specific group of residents is an outrageous overreach of local government and should be made public in our local newspaper.
Are any of us free to express ourselves if one person can limit expression on public property with little or no explanation other than it benefits his continued role in local government? The answer is clearly no.
This is why I am running for a transparent local government that welcomes the public to dissent and question.
Connor R. Exum For Town Supervisor 2025.
