An open letter to Attleboro Mayor Kevin Dumas

As you know, I have served as a member of the Attleboro Redevelopment authority approaching 10 years, first appointed by then-Mayor Judith Robbins and then re-appointed by you. For the most part, it has been a real pleasure, trying to enlarge the business and industrial base for the community as well as using the various funding sources available to to us to re-invigorate the downtown and to convert brownfield sites to new business uses.

I truly believe that the downtown will not turn around until we entice residential development in the center, and that is one of the important goals for the Intermodal Transportation Center. I thought that you shared these goals. I also know that in 2008 you demanded that we replace our director, and you changed spending priorities, using what we depended on for operating funds to pay for projects near City Hall.

These actions, especially the denial of operating funds to the ARA and the change in priorities, had consequences, including stalling progress for now over 20 months for the business park. Later, you did agree to provide those funds to us, once HUD was satisfied as to their concerns about job creation, and you insisted on being the person dealing directly with HUD.

Unbeknownst to the ARA, you sent HUD your task force report which, though deeply flawed, nevertheless concluded that the park should be liquidated rather than developed, guaranteeing that HUD would never be satisfied with our detailed information, and thereby preventing the ARA from ever receiving operating funds from the city. When we were told of your actions, I realized that the ARA's efforts to develop the business park had come to an end. As a consequence, obviously, I have lost faith in your trustworthiness. In addition, more recently, you have not agreed with the authority's proposed funding going forward for the ITC and, as a result, I believe that the project will be set back until an agreement is reached with your office. It appears that this action on your part was designed to stop all funding for the ARA from whatever source. For all these reasons, it is now clear to me that I can no longer fulfill a useful role as a member of the ARA, so therefore I submit my resignation as a member of the ARA. As I said, it has been very satisfying to serve the city, and I certainly wish the city well in the future. Looking back to 1991, when I helped organize FAIR, created to generate revitalization in our city, we have come a long way. I hope that your actions over the last 20 months will not change our city's commitment to economic and social development and growth.

Max Volterra is a former Attleboro city solicitor, city councilman and state representative and former legal counsel to then Gov. Michael Dukakis.