To the Editor:

Why must certain people always be critical of individuals who are doing a job they themselves can't or won't do? For example, I'm really sick and tired of hearing from the Pay As You Throw (PAYT) Committee in the media. This group has no operating responsibility, no budget responsibility and no elected authority to do anything other than advise the Selectmen. Yet, time after time, when our elected officials make operational or legal determinations that don't happen to coincide with PAYT's recommendations those officials are vilified in the media.

In the interest of full disclosure, I was once a member of PAYT. I am a signatory to the PAYT report of December 2004. I supported the recommendations in that document. However, I never was a signatory (much to the displeasure of my fellow committee members) to any of the press releases and letters that attacked the town's previous administration.

Every two years we have an election. Don't you find it curious that once the voters have determined who is to take on the task of running our community, the same old people (are you listening?) feel compelled to immediately publicly criticize our elected officials in the harshest and most personal terms. Perhaps, it's not our elected officials that are the problem, but the same old broken records that disrupt our Board and Commission meetings diverting time, energy and resources away from the real challenges facing Killingworth.

I'm not suggesting we do away with dissent. People should speak out on issues. Make your opinions on issues known to the town's leaders. Write a letter. Call a Selectman. Come prepared to a Board or Town Meeting, make your point, and sit down. Let's stick to the issues and not personalize our comments.