Sir: Re: “Residents defend cenotaph” in The Chatham Voice, June 18. Mayor Randy Hope says he’s “trying to have a wholesome discussion about the cenotaph,” yet the first I hear of it is when I open The Chatham Voice. Not much of a discussion.
Mayor Hope says those questioning his respect for veterans are out of line; this may be true, however, he can and should be questioned on what are his motives for moving the cenotaph.
Despite the red herring Mayor Hope throws the community that the only reasons he wants to move the cenotaph are for more prominence and better respect, I think the only real reason Mayor Hope wants to move the cenotaph as part of the $1 million in federal funding the municipality has applied for to renovate, rehabilitate and expand the existing community infrastructure, is for development.
In other words, Mayor Hope and the developers who have his ear want to see the cenotaph moved. Any “concern” about the cenotaph are secondary.
Mayor Hope may not be an idiot, but his political doublespeak is hardly “wholesome.”
Chris Black
Chatham
