There comes a time when you cannot be silent anymore and this is it. Like many people on the Island, I would like to live in a place with clean air, clean water, a flourishing natural environment and amiable neighbors who have a respect for each other and for the heritage of the place. As a proud citizen of the United States and the town of Oak Bluffs, I believe these are my basic rights. So when these rights are threatened for myself and others, I must speak up. I am standing up for the roundabout. What follows are my reasons.

As our town counsel Ronald H. Rappaport pointed out at a recent Oak Bluffs selectmen’s meeting, access and use of a town park is not a privilege but a citizen’s right. During the late 1800s and early 1900s, town parks were symbolic of a wider commitment to the public good, citizenship and public well-being. Cottage City, which in 1907 became Oak Bluffs, is one of the first planned communities in the United States. The town planners recognized the importance of parks as open spaces for active and passive recreation.