For thirty years Tony Feeherry has served with distinction on the Wenham Zoning Board of Appeals. It would be hard to find another person of his judgment, intelligence, and commitment to fairness leading any town board in the Commonwealth – let alone doing so for three decades. His record of public service is beyond reproach.

Several months ago Mr. Feeherry indicated his willingness to be re-appointed to another term on the ZBA when his term expired on June 30. Yet, inexplicably, the Wenham Board of Selectmen has failed to act on his re-appointment.

As citizens of Wenham, we are urging the Selectmen to re-appoint Mr. Feeherry to the ZBA immediately – at their next scheduled meeting on August 4th if not before under a duly-noticed meeting.

The Selectmen’s decision to delay Mr. Feeherry’s re-appointment already has done damage, preventing the ZBA last week from completing its pending proceedings on the high-profile Recovery Centers of America (RCA) proposal at Penguin Hall. Because of how Massachusetts law works with regard to zoning appeals in progress, the failure to re-appoint Mr. Feeherry means the ZBA will remain powerless to finish its hearing. In short, the Selectmen’s inaction has tied the hands of the ZBA from simply discharging its legal responsibilities on RCA and other matters.

This is wrong and must be corrected immediately. The Selectmen should immediately re-appoint this incredibly well-qualified public servant who has given so much to the Town. There is no excuse for the Selectmen doing anything else.

We don’t know the Selectmen’s motivations – is it petty politics at play, or a desire to throw RCA a lifeline? Again, we do not know. But the Selectmen can clear this up by doing the right thing and re-appointing Mr. Feeherry without further delay. If they fail to do so, they will leave citizens to draw their own negative inferences about the Selectmen’s motivations.

Mr. Feeherry has not asked us to create this petition, nor even knows it’s being sent. As his fellow citizens, we are standing up to urge the Selectmen in the strongest terms that they do the right thing. He of all people doesn’t deserve this shabby treatment. He deserves re-appointment.