To the Editor:

I don’t know how to make this complicated.

It does not matter if it is the Berne Town Board, a university, or any other location where a conversation takes place among citizens of a free nation, if you want to separate the good people from the bad, simply check on which ones set about limiting someone’s free speech.

“Sit down, shut up, and listen to me” is a poor plan, at any level of government.

That appears to be the plan of the present majority on the Berne Town Board.

I realize that we have a representative form of government, but to survive, that form requires input from the town residents. I can tell you from experience that sitting in a room full of upset residents and hearing them out is no party, but leadership requires it.

I learned a lot from listening.

Elected officials should not hide behind imposed silence. President Truman once said, “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.”

Open up the public-comment section of the meeting; there’s lots to learn.

Joe Golden 

East Berne

Editor’s note: Joe Golden formerly served as a Berne town councilman.