Board of Selectmen Gag Order Concerning

By Doug Fenichel, Orange Resident

I’m deeply concerned about the proposed policy that would control how members of the Board of Selectmen respond to their constituents.

Unlike members of a board solely created to counsel and supervise an executive, such as a board of education, the Orange Board of Selectmen is a legislative body representing residents of the town. Members are obligated to receive communications from those they represent, although they are not obligated to respond.

The right of a citizen to talk to his or her representative is spelled out in the First Amendment of the US Constitution and in Article I, Section 14 of the Connecticut Constitution.

There is, of course, nothing in either document that obliges that representative to reply. Those who fail to reply, however, often find themselves out of a job. Historians often point to the Declaration of Independence, which complains that “our repeated petitions (to King George) have been answered only by repeated injury.”

Barring members of the Orange Board of Selectmen from responding to their constituents will not spark a revolution. But in a representative form of government, citizens not only have a right to communicate with their representatives, they are encouraged to do so. Is it unreasonable to expect a legitimate response? If a representative chooses to reply, don’t they have the same First Amendment rights and protections the rest of us have?

The suggestion by some members of the board that only a single voice can respond is an overreach of authority, an attempt to muzzle those who might disagree with the majority party and an effort to control messaging to constituents. It sets a terrible precedent for an arena where the free exchange of ideas ideally leads to the best solution. Unfortunately, we’ve seen a lot of this type of intimidation and control at the national level. It is a shame that in a small town, where we elect our neighbors to govern, rules could be made that would bar our representatives – our neighbors – from speaking freely with us.

I expect my legislators – federal, state or local – to respond to me when I correspond with them. It’s a reasonable demand that every voter should have. If a legislator or a party is attempting to interfere with that expectation with a gag order, they should be voted out of office.

This letter to the editor originally appeared in the Milford-Orange Times, March 12, 2026.