Perhaps the most important role our town newspaper has served through the years has been in providing space for our residents to opine; and they have responded to that opportunity prolifically, with 385 people penning opinions from 1978 to the present.

There was initial reluctance on the part of the citizenry to submit an opinion to the Gazette, in spite of a plea from the original board: “when issues are controversial, the Gazette must report them objectively, but the Gazette does have room for opinion – yours.” But in 1980, the issue of “the bank”, the Savings Institute’s proposal to locate a branch in Hampton, sparked enough controversy for residents to debate the matter on the pages of the town newspaper. The “hot topics” that followed:  the continuation of 1-84 through town, senior housing, developmental education, the gun range, and the methods of disposing of our trash and approving town budgets. Construction projects, such as the town garage and the new elementary school, which were ultimately approved, and a new middle/high school, which ultimately failed, always inspire the expression of viewpoints, and debate over the residential development of Bennett Drive continued for months, with writers raising concerns on changes to the zoning regulations, the environmental impact of industrial mining, sand and gravel excavation, stonewall removal, and the value of subdivisions. Other recurring themes through the decades include our roads – pot holes, snow removal, speeding vehicles, traffic hazards, litter, and unleashed dogs; and issues related to land use – residential growth, open space, business zones, and the plan of conservation and development.

The Gazette has occasionally penned its own opinions, beginning with its first editorial entitled “Eternal Vigilance is the Price of Liberty” which encouraged attendance at Town Meeting, to the most recent, an editorial critical of certain campaign tactics in the last municipal election.  In between, editorials have centered on governance – asking “What’s Going on at Town Hall?”, and a few months later, “What’s Going On in Hampton?” – and school budgets – “A Time to Listen” identified the reasons the budget wasn’t approved until October, and a few years later, “Here We Go Again”, reiterated those recurring budgetary themes. We’ve also reminded readers of the importance of the first amendment, of exercising their right to free speech in “The Price of Liberty”, and in reporting the news even when it’s controversial in “Don’t Shoot the Messenger.”

Political ink appears to be dependent on contests, particularly when there’s a race for First Selectman as there was last year and in 2011, which produced a dozen editorials, and in 2009, which split its two dozen between candidates and district dissolution. A few municipal primaries have also proved contentious, specifically with a couple of Republican races for the Office of Tax Collector, and a contest for the Democratic Registrar of Voters. Those were not the only examples of strife within the political parties. In 2005, publicized divisions in the Republican Party culminated with Hampton’s one and only Town Committee Primary; and two years later, editorials ran for months on the issue of cross endorsement after a Democratic Caucus nominated Republican candidates rather than their own, leaving the municipal ballot devoid of choice.

Not surprisingly, budgets have generated a lot of letters to the editor, particularly when they linger, which was the case when the elementary school budget was subjected to five referenda before it was finally approved. No budget debate, however, has ever proven as contentious as the forum we employ to vote on them. From 1991 to 1997, multiple letters from citizens finally convinced officials to send budget proposals to referenda rather than voting for them at the Annual Town Meeting. Generally, our citizenry has responded with high rates of voter participation.

But the subject that has fueled the most controversy is the fate of Regional District #11, breaking the record in 2004 for the number of letters to the editor submitted in a single month – exactly nine in favor of, and nine against, building a new high school.  Subsequent issues surrounding RD#11 – Scotland’s withdrawal from the district, returning grades 7 and 8 to the elementary schools, dissolving the district, building a cooperative school with neighboring Brooklyn, fully regionalizing the district, and whether or not we should study matters regarding the district – generated many editorials – thirty in the last decade alone.

Mostly, though, townsfolk have written to us with thanks. As one resident wrote of the anonymous gift of firewood: “This extraordinary gesture is one of the reasons I love living in Hampton”.