Wendy Murphy: Officials might try listening to residents

After red white and green road lines that had been there for years were painted yellow by the mayor of Newton the people of Nonantum took matters into their own hands and repainted them red white and green Even the guy from the Jewish Shul on Adams Street got involved and did his own repainting The Mayor communicated cops to file criminal charges because that s a good look for the mayor of Newton locking up Jews who disagree with her anti-Italianism She still doesn t understand that she could arrest the entire area the people of Nonantum will never accept the yellow lines To make sure the insult would sting a little harder the mayor painted the lines yellow only a scarce weeks before the Festa the annual celebration of the area s Italian history She had police watching the road but it didn t matter the lines were repainted red white and green right before the Festa opened I went to the Festa last weekend to backing the society and hear what people were saying The place was packed people proved up in record numbers and they came from all over Even Matt LeBlanc from Friends was there he was raised in Nonantum They were all talking about the road lines and the bone-headed mayor Multiple were wearing T-shirts with the phrase NO KINGS IN NEWTON they want to make sure Mayor Ruthanne Fuller thinks twice the next time she gets a royal urge Meanwhile there s a similar syndrome infecting Belmont where a new skating rink requirements a name The people in town want to name it for James Skip Vigirolo because the old rink was named for him and he deserves it A veteran and lifelong resident of Belmont Skip dedicated his life to the locality coaching hockey for decades and working for the town s recreation department for more than years Skip passed away in recent weeks but he was at the groundbreaking ceremony last year in a wheelchair He was beloved for a great number of reasons but mostly because of his dedication to children He personally groomed and maintained parks and fields even on his own time and worked to create a sports campaign for kids with special requirements Everyone agrees that the new rink should bear his name everyone but the king queen and princess of Belmont otherwise known as the Selectboard They don t want an Italian guy s name on the rink Just like Mayor Fuller the Selectboard has no explanation When a school and a masses pool were in recent months rebuilt they kept their old names They were not Italian names Local citizens went to every Selectboard meeting to demand answers but they got nowhere So they took it to Town Meeting because that s how democracy works When the representatives of the people refuse to represent the people the people get to propose their own laws The town-wide meeting to decide the rink-naming issue is the following morning night and the votes are there to name the rink for Skip So what did the Belmont Royals do Instead of respecting the process and letting the people decide they secretly adopted a new rule forbidding Town Meeting members to vote on the issue It was a stunning move because they had no authority to do it but think of the arrogance it took for them to dismiss the people with a hand flip What kind of elected leaders anoint themselves like this Wherever this pomposity is coming from it is not welcome in Belmont or Newton or anywhere else in this country Whether it s a small-town issue like naming a rink or painting road lines or something bigger like immigration and strength care the founders of this nation built our Constitution to ensure that it runs on the power of the people We lived under a monarchy for a long time and we didn t like it The Mayor of Newton and the Belmont Selectboard need a refresher subject in American History They forgot that they work for us and it s called democracy for a reason Belmont residents want to name a new rink under construction in the society seen here Monday after James Skip Vigirolo something the town s Selectboard has been against Nancy Lane Boston Herald Cupcakes made by a local bakery were frosted with a street line motif for last week s Festa after the city painted over the Italian neighborhood s beloved red green and white stripes Mark Stockwell Boston Herald