It is important for the residents of Canton to attend the town meeting on Feb. 26. The town’s selectmen have decided that the townspeople didn’t know what they were doing or didn’t act in the town’s best interest when it was voted (269-171) to elect a candidate for the position of fire chief before the annual town meeting. This new procedure would begin this year.

The selectmen, without any input from townspeople (or even involving the town’s Planning Board), have come up with some proposed ordinances that are difficult to believe.

Basically, the selectmen want to rescind the November vote and to either appoint the chief every five years or have him nominated and elected from the floor at the town meeting every three years.

Another ordinance change would, in essence, strip all approval powers for building permits from the Planning Board, and bypass them by making approval up to the code enforcement officer.

I don’t believe those actions were ever discussed at any “legal” meeting.

Chris Dailey, Canton