League of Women Voters forum review

The League of Women Voters forum was held on Tuesday, May 13 at 7:30pm at the Morse Pond Elementary School.

I enjoyed moderator Ed Dewitt's opening statement, where he said that (and I paraphrase here) 'armchair politics are not enough' and commended those who step up to serve. I certainly have a great deal of respect for anyone running for office - it's not easy.

Blogger, columnist and former selectman Troy Clarkson wrote posted about the forum ("Selectmen Candidates Share Signature Issues"), so there probably isn't too much I can add. However, I did think he mischaracterized my response to a question about the high school override. So I offered a correction.

The Falmouth Enterprise also did an excellent write up of the evening, which included the other contested races.

One topic of discussion was the three overrides, although both incumbents noted that the overrides are debt exclusions. However, as I've said before, it's still a tax increase. Indeed, the state requires that the ballot question use the word "override".

I had said in my opening statement that my signature issue is good government, which I define as open, accountable and fiscally responsible. Regarding the latter, I noted that the town manager's office has $9,000 in it's budget for out-of-state travel, which was explained to town meeting as being conventions. Given that there are eight unfunded positions, I feel that this is fiscally irresponsible; travel to conventions is not required for the town to function. And I said so.

There was also a question about our attendance records. A gentleman asked about the incumbents' attendance at selectmen's meetings and mine at conservation commission meetings. Oddly enough, the incumbents were able to rattle off their answers as though they knew the question was coming. Hmmm...

However, this isn't a figure I had on hand, especially since I left the conservation commission a year ago. I asked him to provide me with his name and number after the forum so I could get back to him with the answer.

His response was a bit startling - he returned to the microphone, seemingly offended and angry at my offer. He wanted it to be a matter of public record, so I stated that I'd put it on my blog for all the world to see.

[An aside...a member of the audience later told me that this person gave a thumbs up to a known supporter of one of the incumbents. Hmmm...]

So for the record, I was speaking with Laura Reckford of the Falmouth Enterprise yesterday when she reminded me that she had asked the attendance question last year. It all served to jog my memory a bit.

I know I missed a meeting here and there during my tenure with the commission, and I've a couple of boxes of minutes to dig through to get the exact numbers. However, late in 2006 there were several events that caused me to miss many meetings - not to mention days of work. The first was the death of my wife's grandmother.

When I first met Irene, she took one look at me and said, "You're too skinny," and proceeded to feed me. Twenty pounds and almost twenty years later, I had known Irene better and longer than I'd known my own grandmothers, so her passing was hard on all of us.

Two months later - to the day - my mother died. Both had succumbed after long battles with cancer, so they had not been instantaneous shocks so much as long struggles. It was a tough couple of months and I missed many days of work and more than a few commission meetings.

I've always believed that family comes first - I hold that value above most others, including public service - so I've no apologies about missing commission meetings because of these events. If someone wants to skewer me for adhering to my values, so be it.

More importantly, in spite of my absences, the selectmen reappointed me to the commission the following spring. It was a unanimous vote - even the two incumbents I'm running against had voted for me.


All that said; let's compare apples to apples. All three candidates - the two incumbents and myself - are town meeting representatives. You can see how our attendance records compare on the Town Meeting page of the town website, but can you compare our town meeting votes?

You can't, because I am the only one of the three to post my town meeting votes.