Lingering Questions: Answers Needed to Avoid Future Problems

Although the Fiesta Carnival has come and gone (and by all indications it was successful and uneventful), the manner in which the carnival suddenly appeared  and the ire it invoked among townspeople require that questions be asked and answers given in order to avoid problems of this nature in the future.

Town Counsel Kopelman and Paige supposedly issued a legal opinion on the matter. However, to our knowledge, neither the specific request for a legal opinion nor the opinion itself ever have been made public.

Further, it never has been made clear under the auspices of which town entity or department the carnival came to town. The Town Council never voted on the issue and to our knowledge, neither did the Recreation Commission.

This is important because if in fact Kopelman and Paige in effect are saying that any town official or department can bring to town an event like the scope of a carnival without obtaining the proper permit as is required under the town by-laws, then obviously the town by-law will need to be revised to ensure that any such future events undergo the required permitting process.

Otherwise, we basically are living in a state of chaos, where any town official can invite any group or business without any sort of scrutiny or public input.