Gosh, Doug Dows certainly sounds like he was particularly cranky when composing his recent letter! (Nov. 7) Perhaps he might have paused for a sandwich. The following addresses his remarks.

The decision, made by Panton voters, to move Town Meeting to a Monday night with an Australian ballot the following day to elect officers and approve a budget was made at a Special Town Meeting on 7/23/2018. For some years town meeting had been poorly attended. Occasionally as few as 15-20 voters were present. The town meeting was even moved to a Saturday, hoping to improve attendance, which it failed to do. Also, I would stress that Panton is no outlier among Vermont towns which elect officers and vote their budgets by Australian ballot. Howard Hall did not ‘orchestrate’ this decision.

Doug Dows’ disparagement of the rest of the selectboard as sycophants is inexcusable. These folks have been re-elected repeatedly. They are volunteers and work hard for the town. He’s entitled to disagree, but his accusations are mean-spirited and rude.

I was appointed internal auditor for Panton in 2009. Doug Dows, who became auditor in 2011, was given to long-winded pontifications at auditor’s meetings, but when it came to actually doing the work, he failed to attend scheduled meetings where the critical task of reviewing and auditing was to be done. As a result, in 2015 I felt compelled to resign, because I was unwilling to submit my work alone as sufficient for a legitimate audit. At the Town Meeting on Monday night, 2/28/23, prior to voting, Bob Groff, Panton’s town auditor, remarked that the auditor was a complex position and that he had been the sole auditor for several years which meant that there was no quorum and he could take no action. On the following day, 3/1/23, Panton voters chose to eliminate the elected position of town auditor.

This hardly qualifies as Howard Hall cancelling the position of internal auditor.

Presently, in response to specific criticisms posed by a well-regarded former town treasurer, Panton has hired an accountant to get the books in order.

For his unfamiliarity with the fine points of government accounting Howard Hall is accused by Doug Dows of malfeasance. Malfeasance implies intent. He makes this malevolent accusation absent any evidence.

Furthermore, his scurrilous rant does nothing to help resolve these problems. He distorts facts and places them in a fabricated, corrupt context. His misrepresentation is a disservice to our town.

Paul Sokal

Panton