When one elected official calls it out

How to protect people in public life, and still respect the First Amendment?

Last week’s column, "Stop assuming the worst," promised a part two, to showcase a local political leader who takes a stand against a destructive mentality spreading cancer in our public bodies.

What follows is that stand, taken by John Wolf, chair of the Wellfleet selectboard, at a public meeting December 17, 2024.

Wellfleet is a great community whose government and public dialogue has been hijacked and undermined by a small, paranoid, conspiracy-minded group, as Wolf notes. Good people at every level of town public affairs, employed and volunteer, have been attacked, even driven out of public service.

After yet another example of what Wolf sees as harassment, this time targeting the Department of Public Works because of help it offered the town’s shellfish propagation program, he decided enough was enough.

Here are his comments, pretty much verbatim, a few edits here and there.

Moments like these deserve applause, case studies for how to confront a poisonous atmosphere in our communities:

A statement by Wellfleet Selectboard Chair John Wolf:

The point raised in Shellfish Warden (Nancy) Civetta’s statement, that the constant drumbeat of e-mail harassment of DPW Director Jay Norton in relation to his providing drayage for shellfish cultch on behalf of the Shellfish Department has resulted in that department having to forgo essentially free drayage and pay $1250 per load, is merely the tip of the iceberg as to what the campaign of harassment waged by one individual has cost the Town of Wellfleet, financially and in other potentially more harmful ways.

The aforementioned harassment has not only taken the form of needless, pointless pestering of department heads and town employees. It is also exercised in the form of a literally endless stream of Open Meeting Law complaints and Public Records Requests.

(Wolf reported about $40,000 billed by town counsel last year to handle repeated records requests which he maintains were mainly misguided fishing expeditions, implying or alleging nefarious activity or corruption.)

It may not seem like much, but this amount could mean a vehicle replacement; a part- time teaching assistant at our elementary school; replacement of worn-out firefighters’ or police officers’ gear; new computers for the library or the school; or any number of other far more worthwhile uses for that money.

Then what must be considered is the overall tone of this kind of correspondence. It is one thing to question an expenditure, a policy, or some other aspect of government, or to ask for a record. When it is done in an accusatory fashion, calling into question the dedication or integrity of the recipient, over a period of time it creates an atmosphere of distrust, suspicion, and fear. It corrodes morale.

This brings us to another, potentially more damaging expense. For some time, Wellfleet had an unenviable reputation as an unpleasant place to work, and our high rate of turnover of town department heads, administration and employees became the stuff of legend. Truth to tell, this was not solely a product of the activities of one individual, and the Selectboard is not without blame, at the very least for failing to stand behind our town staff and employees.

We have turned a much-needed corner in this regard; we now have outstanding leadership in our town departments and a happy, high-functioning town hall. People actually want to come to work here — witness the speed with which we were able to fill vacancies at our marina.

In particular, our DPW, the subject of the e-mail diatribes resulting in the trucking fiasco mentioned earlier, has been an example of cooperation, dedication and hard work. Thanks to them, the marina didn’t miss a beat when the former Harbormaster resigned and two top staffers quit without warning in the middle of a busy boating weekend.

I have NO INTENTION of allowing conditions to persist which threaten to return us to an era of low morale and resultant high turnover, to the extent that I have the power to prevent it.

The harassment and nastiness not only exacts a toll on town employees, but also on the volunteer boards and committees which are so critical to the functioning of town government. In case anyone wonders why there are so many vacancies listed in the town committee vacancy report, ask yourself why anyone would want to voluntarily subject themselves to such unreasoning abuse; indeed, it’s a wonder people still do volunteer, and my hat’s off to them.

This situation needs to stop.

We are told, more or less, that the person (mainly) responsible for this ongoing campaign of vitriol is simply trying to improve the functioning of government, increase transparency, etc. Anyone can sit on the sidelines and snipe at those who are actively trying to do their best. Anyone can hurl baseless accusations, insults, insinuations of incompetence, dishonesty, and worse, and claim the protection of the First Amendment.

It is far more demanding to actually join in, volunteer to serve on a committee, run for office, and in general do the heavy lifting that some of us do every day for little or no remuneration.

I am a dedicated supporter of our Constitution and its Bill of Rights — every single one of them. However, I am also aware that the freedoms these documents underwrite are accompanied by responsibility for how those freedoms and rights are exercised. Freedom exercised without a sense of responsibility isn’t really freedom. It is merely license.

Just as this Selectboard has made it crystal clear that we will not consider freedom of speech as a reason to tolerate disruption of the meeting process, so I am declaring that as long as I am Chair of this Board, the days of tolerance of the harassment, bullying and threats to our town employees, department heads and board members is over. To that end, we have a list of recommendations from Town Counsel as to how to handle some of these issues.

For years now, Wellfleet has endured what amounts to a verbal reign of terror, and has not pushed back. Administrators, department heads, and employees, as well as our dedicated volunteers, deserve and require the support of this board, and as long as I am the Chair they will have it.

I will do whatever I can within the law to ensure that they have it, and if anyone takes issue with how I go about undertaking this responsibility, they are more than welcome to bring their concerns to the attention of the Attorney General’s office, and I can be counted upon to stand for it.

I am done with this state of affairs, and I am determined to ensure that this “reign of terror” is over.

Respectfully, John A. Wolf

---

As video, here is Shellfish Constable Nancy Civetta’s initial statement, and the chair’s comments:

https://reflect-townofwellfleet.cablecast.tv/CablecastPublicSite/show/6603?site=1

Civetta takes up the issue of the DPW and cultch collection at -3:47.

Public comment ends, then Wolf invokes privilege to read a statement (the board is not supposed to engage in comment during public session, or take votes on those issues). He begins at around -3:42.

Specific steps Wolf says will be implemented include ways to buffer public officials from barrages of what he sees as harassing emails and purposely onerous documentation requests.

It will be interesting to see if such tactics are successful without impinging on First Amendment rights.

---

Not a paid subscriber yet? With all due respect, why not?

Support real local journalism. In return you’ll receive enterprising reporting, nuanced writing, strong perspectives, unique Cape Cod takes every week — you’re seeing some of the proof. All that for far less than a cup of coffee.

So please, subscribe, keep me going:

https://sethrolbein.substack.com/welcome

And if you are into Instagram, want to see some additional material, maybe share the work, here you go:

Cape Cod Voice Instagram