Robert Gotti's Statement to Community on His Decision to Resign from Westwood's Select Board

By Robert Gotti

Despite how it will ultimately be portrayed, this was not a decision I came to lightly. It was not emotionally driven, but born of pragmatism. The same pragmatism you’ve seen me display consistently on any number of town issues during my tenure.

I got into Town politics at a time when divisiveness was growing across our nation. My hope and intent was keep that out of Westwood by keeping the conversation sane and grounded in facts and reason, choosing to focus my efforts on the art of the possible and finding solutions to challenges as opposed to sewing mistrust and placing blame.

Alas, it is difficult for one person to swim against such a strong and destructive riptide.

I don’t likely know much more than 5% of the community very well personally. I doubt anyone does. So that means the vast majority know very little about me, my upbringing, my beliefs, or my character and integrity. They form perceptions and judgments based on what they hear and the limited amount they see.

As I said, I got into public service after a long history of volunteering in other capacities in town. My goal was to do the job by being Positive, Productive, & Pragmatic in order to get important things accomplished for our community.

I dedicated between 1,200-1,500 hours of time each year in fulfilling my Select Board obligations by doing the work to thoroughly research issues so I could ask informed, thoughtful questions in seeking to better understand issues.

I’ve had countless hours of conversations with residents during my morning or evening commute to my real job. (Note to anyone who thinks the Select Board is a paid gig - a $2,000 per year stipend the amounts to $0.75/hr before taxes.)

I distinctly remember one conversation with a resident who was upset about something and started the conversation like a hurricane. For 45 minutes I listened carefully, asked some probing questions that slowly took down the temperature, and then said I’d look into their request. They were stunned and asked “How do you do this? You remained so calm throughout this conversation. I wouldn’t want to take calls like this from someone like me.” I chuckled and said, “Well, at least you’re self aware.” We both laughed and went on our way and I helped facilitate a resolution.

Over the past 12 months, the campaign of sewing mistrust has come to feel like my involvement seems to bring out more opponents than supporters.

Westwood has enormous issues to tackle ahead. It was with those important topics in mind that I weighed out my calculus.

If my involvement was somehow undermining the success of the very things we sought to accomplish, then continuing to dedicate my most precious resources (time and energy) would be the very definition of insanity.

Thus, I deemed this the right time to step back for both the good of the community and my own wellbeing.

With respect to personal/family/health issues I cited as my reasons, I tried to never let anything going on in my personal life show up in fulfilling my responsibilities of the elected position.

As an example, in my first term, just days after taking the chairmanship responsibility, my 57 year old brother-in-law was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Six short weeks later my father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Both lasted 11-months and both were gone from this earth before I turned the chair over to Marianne. Like a swan gliding across the water, I kept any of that below the water line, invisible to the community standing on the shore line.

I offer that story more as a reminder that we should all be much quicker to grant grace for we never know what others may be going through.

It is why Claire and I teach our children (now twenty-something’s) to seek to understand and think critically before rushing to judgment.

I often begin conversations with them as what do you think you know and why do you think you know it? I then listen to their answers and ask follow up questions to teach them to expand possibilities and deeper understanding by assuming positive intent.

Our message to them is we must begin putting the Unity back in Community.

I am choosing to move forward focusing my energy towards peace and love for those among us who seek to understand and come up with neighborly solutions, for as Dr. King said “We must live together as brothers (and sisters) or perish together as fools.”

I am very much at peace with that decision and with my record of service to the Westwood community.

I wish whoever bravely steps into the breach much success. I will offer that person an open line to consultation just as I did to my former colleagues Marianne and Joe, just as those who served before me made themselves available to me when I sought their counsel.

Change brings new opportunities. I wish you all well.

Thanks to Robert Gotti for sharing his statement with Westwood Minute.

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