My Turn: The High Cost of Institutional Silence — Why the Bridge Committee Must Be Replaced
By John F. Sendelbach. March 18, 2026
Six weeks ago, I published a call to modernize the governance of the Bridge of Flowers. I argued that a publicly owned landmark, owned by the Shelburne Falls Fire District, should not be managed by a private, self-perpetuating subcommittee of a Women’s Club that operates without term limits, open meetings, or public accountability. The response from Chair Annette Szpila and her committee was total radio silence. In civic management, silence is not a neutral act; it is an admission of an indefensible position.
This silence is a continuation of a pattern of performative virtue signaling and institutional betrayal that began in June 2020. At that time, a social media petition—filled with claims that I was “filled with so much hate, racism, disrespect, and ego”—sought the removal of my art from the town. Instead of seeking the truth or defending a long-time contributor, the committee chose a path of public erasure to "honor the spirit" of that petition.
In a June 2020 Recorder article, Annette Szpila stated, “If there was something that we could do that would be even more inclusive than (the bridge) is already, we would like to take that on.” To fulfill this "anti-racism spirit," the committee didn't commission new art; they stapled a milquetoast, laminated photocopy to a wooden fence.
The hypocrisy of this gesture is staggering. This laminated sheet was placed directly above the Pothole Fountain—a piece of art I designed and Paul Forth built. During construction, Paul proposed filling a gap in the pavers with polished Black Stones in the shape of Africa as a tribute to his biracial daughters. As the designer, I approved it. Those stones became a permanent, structural message of inclusion. When the Recorder published the image of the committee’s photocopy, the photograph was tightly cropped to highlight their performative paper while surgically excluding the Black Stones at the base.
This erasure is even more galling given my history of work in this community. In 2002, Paul Forth invited me to assist him in the installation of the Sojourner Truth Memorial in Northampton. My task was the precise alignment and permanent anchoring of the bronze plaques that tell the story of Truth’s fight for abolition and education. I also carved and installed the paving stones at the feet of her statue.
The Bridge Committee and the petitioner claimed that “the black community deserves better.” Yet, the committee contacted the petitioner to "communicate the anti-racism message" while never once contacting the artist who helped anchor the memory of Sojourner Truth to the ground of this valley.
The erasure was completed at the August 2025 ribbon-cutting ceremony. Despite my decades of contribution, I received no invitation to participate. When I finally approached Chair Annette Szpila to seek reconciliation, she denied the public record to my face. She claimed "nothing was written like that" regarding the 2020 articles and insisted the committee had nothing to do with the destruction of my reputation. She then hurried away, choosing evasion over accountability.
On March 17, 2026, Yankee Magazine named Shelburne Falls one of the five best small towns in New England, specifically praising the Bridge of Flowers. While the committee basks in this national spotlight, they continue to hide behind a closed-loop structure where membership is by "nomination and is voted on by the full committee."
The Bridge of Flowers belongs to the public. It is time for the Shelburne Falls Fire District to reclaim its asset and implement:
Professional Stewardship: Management accountable to the public and the Fire District.
Democratic Safeguards: Mandatory open meetings and published minutes.
Term Limits: An end to self-perpetuating, decades-long tenures.
The volunteers should return to the gardens they love. The governance must return to the people. The Black Stones remain on the bridge, and the bronze plaques remain at the Sojourner Truth Memorial—permanent reminders of real inclusion that no amount of editorial cropping, institutional silence, or stapled photocopies can ever erase. When an institution chooses silence over accountability, it is no longer protecting a garden; it is gatekeeping a false narrative while tarnishing legacies.
