Of course no one has say it publicly, but I agree with DV Oakley – many times it can be hard or nearly impossible, to understand the Amherst Town Supervisor when he speaks.
It almost impossible not to bring my own life experiences to defend or clarify what a person is trying to say when they are badly misunderstood.
My parents came to America from the ‘old county’ and were not able to speak the language of their new homeland. They were from farmland areas and school wasn’t a choice. You worked the farm with your family for survival. My father was a laborer and my mom stayed at home and took care of the family. My parents never fully learned to speak English correctly. They tried their best but many times they didn’t understand what others were saying to them and others didn’t understand what they were saying.
My eight brothers and sisters and I understood our parents but we grew up pronouncing certain words incorrectly. That made it difficult for others to understand us and which sometimes caused problems for my parents as well as for us.
There are many people in Amherst whose parents also came from another country and their English was difficult to completely understand. At times misunderstandings were inevitable. This was frustrating to the person speaking and to those trying to understand what was being said. It’s a truth we have come to live with in our individual families.
On a larger scale when our Supervisor speaks many people cannort follow what he is saying. This problem has resulted in errors and confusion which is the main reason many of our Town Board meanings end up being confusing, disruptive, and at times comical.
Now there are several people on the Board who Mohan trusts therefore he should submit his ideas to them before the Town Board meetings begin so they may be read to the public so everyone is on the same page as the Supervisor. This may help our Town Board meetings run smoother and end at decent time of night.
At the last meeting Supervisor Mohan stated the pandering done by some of the Board members, mainly Shelly Schratz and he, must be limited. He sees this unnecessary pandering as a major reason things take so long to happen in Amherst.
It’s only part of the problem.