Monday, June 22, 2015 8:02 am

We've covered all types of government meetings during a 30-year career in journalism.

We've covered boards of selectmen, county supervisors and city councils.

And we've never ever seen government meetings like they have here in Lebanon, however.

Sometimes it seems more like one of those Japanese parliament donnybrooks than it does a board of selectmen from a sleepy town in southern Maine.

And while some of the acrimony exhibited over the several years I've covered Lebanon politics is often justified, I think we should seek to curb some of the vicious tirades that have erupted recently and in the past as well.

A government meeting needs order to perform its duties to govern the town.

They say chaos often leads to creation; perhaps in art, not in government.

It's all well and good for a citizen to make their point about a certain subject, be it in support or conflict with a particular selectman or group of selectmen. It's also appropriate for them to voice their disagreement or support.

What is extremely off-putting, however, is when a citizen is allowed to rant, saying the same things over and over while berating and belittling them.

Also it's disturbing that at some selectmen's meeting there are those who politely raise their hands and respectfully await to be recognized, while others simply blurt out whatever their thinking and are allowed to continue

The lawyer who ran the town's public hearing wouldn't have allowed such conduct and neither should the board.

One Lebanon resident I spoke to recently said that the way this town is often run does not engender trust in those contemplating buying a home here, even going so far as saying it hurts are property values.

We would submit that chaotic and bile-filled selectmen's meeting don't help either.

A gavel and the commitment to keep order should be high on selectmen's priority list.

• HT