"We should be grateful that anyone even wants to run." [editor's note: Heard from a citizen in this community last Sunday, referring to the upcoming election Tuesday 6-8-10.]
Well, yes. Citizens in any municipality should always be grateful when another citizen is willing to do something extra. An individual's time is valuable, and should always be treated with respect.
But that does not mandate a free ride for anything like a personal agenda. We saw how that worked out last June 2009 ( newly elected officials made a disastrous decision that changed this town, as well as the lives of several individuals, for the foreseeable future);
...and November 2009 (1500 Paris voters put a new recall ordinance into place) ;
...and February 2010 (over 600 Paris voters, in two elections, recalled 2 of the 3 officials who made the disastrous decision in June 09, and prevented the recall of 2 other officials put on the chopping block by whim of game players).
This is not to say that either candidate for selectman on Tuesday's ballot is arriving with a personal agenda. And arriving it will be, since there is no contest for either seating, and the election will be a done deal for each of the two open seats. While uncontested in itself does not portend a negative, it does raise the stakes. Three years can be a long time if a decision turned out not to be for the best.
Voters are looking for a candidate who, in the elected role of insuring proper running of this town:
* is his or her own person;
* is not easily intimidated, but is able to listen and learn;
* is willing to find out facts for himself or herself.
Tuesday's ballot lists one new potential selectman, and another selectman running for re-election. Our one new selectman will make himself known in short measure.
And our one returning selectman, who finished out a term for a selectman removed by recall.... While bringing some hard questions into several board discussions on town matters, an observer might wonder if, during those 3 months, there were times this selectman forgot to remove his former Attorney for the Town of Paris hat...?
During the last 2 years, Geoff Hole, of Bernstein Shur, has been the practicing town attorney for Paris, and is so currently. There have been words of open antagonism toward Atty. Hole from this selectman . This selectman also seems to have brought the appearance of a directive energy to the board re. the current law suit, Town of Paris vs. Jackson, with a general aura of "I know what's best here." Do we have a battle of the attorneys? Of ego? Never mind the facts? Or the people?
In addressing the town manager at meetings, when this selectman uses phrases like "You and I have talked about this, and..." are frequently folded in, and the manager responds "Yes, we talked about this...." , one cannot help but wonder just what was discussed? And how often does this go on? Do we have a self-appointed advisor here?
This particular selectman has not hesitated to point out the importance of appearance in the behavior of public officials to his selectboard peers....
We do need 2 capable and willing Paris citizens to fill 2 seats on the Paris selectboard. We will be grateful for their time, their expertise, their willingness to listen. It is important to hold all of our elected officials to the highest standard we can.
