In last week’s Press, Don Ludwig discussed his history of town activities at length, and noted that he “never let any national political opinion enter the way [he] treats and makes decisions for the citizens and employees of Harvard.” This may be correct but is irrelevant; the overwhelmingly negative reaction to Ludwig’s posts is not about “national political opinion;” it is about the nature of his opinions about wide swathes of his fellow town residents.
A letter to the editor endorsing Ludwig’s candidacy for reelection to the Select Board praised his experience and says that he “made a mistake a few weeks ago and has apologized for it.” Similarly, in an earlier letter, Ludwig apologized for making “a mistake.” This is disingenuous at best: Ludwig did not make “a [singular] mistake” “a few weeks ago.” In fact, he made literally hundreds of intentional mistakes of the same kind over many months, a clear, consistent pattern of behavior. Most of his posts were offensive to many of us, but not disqualifying; many, however, were misogynistic, racist, and homophobic. Such posts are beyond offensive; they are disqualifying. Someone with such beliefs simply has no place in town leadership. He should have resigned from the Select Board; he did not, so we must make sure that he is not reelected.
Billy Salter
Elm Street
