WHATELY — Denouncing recent actions by the federal government, the Selectboard is making a statement: “NOT IN OUR NAME.”
According to Selectboard member Julianna Waggoner, who wrote the message, the initial decision to make a statement as a board began to materialize in response to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents killing Renee Good and Alex Pretti in January, but other federal actions have since “equally outraged” members of the board. As another example, on April 7, President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that, “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again” unless Iran agreed to open the Strait of Hormuz. Waggoner said the threat pushed the message to the meeting floor.
“I’d never heard that kind of threat out of any president of the United States. It certainly was not something that [Selectboard members] felt that we could stand behind, and we were horrified by it,” Waggoner said in a phone interview. “I felt that it was time that, in our roles as leaders of the community, that we stand up and say something when we don’t think something is right.”
The statement that was approved by the Selectboard describes Trump’s post as a threat against international law and a “normalization of vast corruption, the destruction of ideas of truth and reasonableness, and the dismantling of American ideals and practices which have nurtured this country and its people for many years.” It adds that the Selectboard rejects Trump’s threats and “this false vision of ‘America.'”
“It might seem that we as a Selectboard may be just a tiny David, speaking tiny words against a Goliath,” the statement continues. “Although in truth, we are joining a collective voice of millions of people all across America, of all political persuasions, to say: NOT IN OUR NAME.”
Waggoner’s words reflect on the impact of national developments in town, from fears of ICE raids to higher fuel and fertilizer costs for farmers, cuts in education and research funding for residents connected to colleges, Medicare and Medicaid cuts that target seniors and residents with disabilities, and cuts to veterans’ services.
To close, the letter makes a promise to Whately residents.
“As the Whately Selectboard, no matter what is happening on a national level, we will continue to work to support our residents, to find ways to communicate with and understand each other, to work together for a better and more just future, and for a vision of America that supports equality, kindness, schools and universities, health care, access to healthy food, child care, national parks and lands, environmental protection, and the unique right of each human being here to live freely, and with liberty and justice for all,” the statement concludes.
“We wanted to, as I said, not just say something about what we were upset about, angry about, horrified by, dismayed by, but say something about what we as leaders of the town actually believe and hope for and work for, and it’s far different than what the federal government is doing right now,” Waggoner explained.
Administrative Assistant Jessica Murphy sent the letter to state legislators and Selectboards of nearby towns. As a leader in Whately, Waggoner said she felt a “responsibility” to speak up and spread the message.
“When we see things happening on a national level that change how people see the United States, that change how people see us as Americans, that damage our reputation as Americans, that hurt people living in the United States in one way or another — all the way from taking away child care, Medicare … to threatening as a country to destroy another country — it’s important that from the smallest levels of government,” Waggoner said, “we stand up and say, ‘No.'”
