Correcting my ConComm record

It seems that some one, at some time, is going to say some thing which needs more detail. Last Friday, a constituent leveled some criticisms against me in one of the local papers. What follows was also published in the Friday, July 3, 2009 edition of the Falmouth Enterprise as a letter titled "Letter Writer 'In Error'".

I would like the opportunity to correct the record. In the Friday, June 26, edition of the Enterprise, Craig A. Martin wrote that I missed “close to half the scheduled meetings” during my tenure on the conservation commission because “it was too time consuming,” and that I resigned well before my term expired. Mr. Martin is in error.

In late 2006, my wife’s grandmother—a woman who was closer to me than my own grandmothers—passed away after a long battle with cancer. Several months later, my mother passed away, also after a long battle with cancer. In-between, I got my first double ear infection in 30 years, which significantly impaired my hearing for several weeks. Altogether, I missed three months of commission meetings because of these events.

My last term on the commission ended June 30, 2007. In May of 2007, I submitted my request to be reappointed to another three year term, but was never notified when this would be considered. By July, I had heard nothing from the selectmen, and finding my schedule to be more demanding than expected, I reconsidered my request. My resignation letter—dated July 12, 2007—apparently did not reach the selectmen before they unanimously voted to reappoint me on July 16.

As for Mr. Martin’s suggestion that the selectmen have “a simpler agenda and the less strenuous thought and research necessary for decisions,” I disagree. Having been there and done that, I can say from experience that being a selectman is more difficult than being a conservation commissioner.

Finally, I agree that Dr. Deegan deserved a more respectful conclusion to her tenure with the commission. The recognition of our volunteers—or lack thereof—is something to which Chairman Mary (Pat) Flynn and I have devoted some effort over the past year. Recent events have highlighted the need to more aggressively address this, and Chairman Flynn and I recently met to do exactly that.

For further clarification, I've attached a couple of letters. The first is my letter of intent, when I requested that the selectmen consider me for a full voting position on the commission. The second is my letter of resignation, referenced above.