Dusting off the ol' crystal ball for Christmas caused a few random "What ifs" to start bouncing around in my head. Keep in mind, I haven't talked to any of these folks and I'm just making wild ass assumptions and guesses which may be completely off-base (not unlike the crap that appears in the local papers!)
What if Kennan and Barrette get fed up and choose not to further contemplate shellfish regulations and "Pay as you Throw", or listen to any more complaints about the School Committee? What if they decide to just stay home on Thursdays and watch "Dog The Bounty Hunter" and "Law and Order" re-runs.
What if Grundman decides to make the not unanticipated switch from BOS to School Committee ?
That would leave a majority of the Board of Selectmen vacant and newbies Pierce & Vitacco as the Senior Members -- at the same time the Town would be facing a potentially major deficit, major lay-offs, and a likely Overide campaign.
What if Susko decides to find a more enjoyable activity --- like pounding her head against the wall -- and doesn't run for reelection?
What if Cahill gets fed up and throws in the towel early to allow him more time to sit in his backyard and talk to the squirrels (not unlike a school committee executive session!)?
What if Marshall finally has an opponent -- or, just calls it quits?
That could leave 2-3 open seats on the School Committee, with Linehan and Killion as the Senior members, at the same time we would be facing a major deficit, potential overide vote, an unsettled teachers contract, a possible new superintendent, two major lawsuits, and 2 principals' contracts up for renewal.
The bottom line is that the Town needs some experienced, professional people to start thinking about stepping up and taking a turn driving the bus -- before somebody else steps up and drives the bus over the cliff. I am sure there is a large group of former elected officials who would be very willing to help bring potential candidates up to speed on some of the issues we are currently facing and warn them about potential pitfalls on the road to local political infamy!
Ponder that with your eggnog!!
9 comments:
How about coming back and bringing your reason and logic to either committee?
Fantasy Sandwich Politics. Why would ANYONE want to run for such a thankless job as a Sandwich representative? Bob knows first hand of the continuous bleep sandwich he had to take a bite of every single day as an elected official. And for what? How about this for a possibility.....empty seats on either or both boards.
try that on for size?
Linell Grundman will not be moving from BOS to School Committee. I have work to do on the BOS and look forward to continuing my second term.
Oh and thanks Bob for bringing this up. We do indeed need good candidates. Leadership is the issue all around. Just this morning I was in a conversation about this very thing. We need people with no personal agendas, but genuine interest in helping solve the problems we face and creating good policy. We need people with time to do the job, even though it is basically a volunteer job. We need people with professional attitudes about the job and with leadership skill sets particularly where communication is concerned.
We also need groups to hold candidate forums so we can really hear these folks give their views and strategies relative to pressing issues facing the schools and the town.
Thanks again Bob. Happy Holidays
The Truth Maker would ask our lady selectman, why do we need a leader that does not have any adgenda? Would it not be appropriate for a leader to be convicted to providing the best education given the present economic conditions of our town?
If the adgenda is positive for the town as a whole, then we have beginning point to address.
We do need a better forum to weed out those who hide behind untruthful comments and are never challenged in public. The present format for canidate night have been a joke for a long time. It is a great show,but nothing is really revealed. The amount of time is another sham of the democratic process. More time needs to be taken to allow questions to be asked that are not prepared. Individuals should be able to stand, identify themselves and then ask a question that is addressed to every canidate, without bias.
If the adgenda we all hold are for a cause, we should be able to determine the worthness as to what actions we consider when voting for that person.
Good leaders are not born that way.
A leader becomes greater when they are trained in the field they so choose to lead.
The quality of leadership is a vast subject matter and goes to understanding delegation of responsiabilty, trust and faith to carry out the mission.
No one is a leader by themselves.
TM, AKA....
I was using the word agenda to say a personal agenda. In truth everyone has their agenda. I just find that agenda driven politics seems to become about sticking to one point of view without benefit of enough of an open mind so as not to waste time and deminish much needed progress. It's not just about the votes. It is about the votes moving us forward not backwards too. Give and take, political capital, not just digging your heals in.
Working in Government is like any career or business, it is a work in progress. You learn as you go. Especially in municipal government for people coming on board through election or appointment with no experience in government. You have to remain open minded and critically think when you are a policy/decision maker.
But unlike business, when obvious incompentency threatens the mission, you are stuck with that result until and uless better skill sets come on board through election or a miracle occures and people who are "stuck" get out of their own way for the higher good they were elected to protect. No one is perfect but if there is a decent process you can hope for a good outcome. Small town politics is a tough process to bring true professionalism to the table where government is concerned, but it is all we have.
Glad you agree that better forums around election time could help our town avoid more poor leadership.
Can someone explain the BOS position on license renewal with comcast to me. We want them to have an office in town because the long ride to Hyannis is to much to deal with, or arew e this desperate to save another business from leaving us....I would like to know what other cable provider do we have up our sleeve? Sandwich we really need to wake up and realize that this is not the shopping mecca some of us think that it is. Now we can get set for increased cable provider costs( if we can find one) along with everything else this town has to offer. lets rethink our code and start to intice some real commercial development first kids then we might have a barganing chip. I have not visited that Comcasat office in 2 years and they were useless when I did,
The Truth Maker would comment once again to our Lady Selectman.
In goes with out saying that past political forums have not done the town of Sandwich,well.
It would seem that the town needs to put forward a forum that researches where each canidate really stands on every issue concerning the town. This will never be achieved under the present form, in my opinion.
Stop with the questions that do not have any meat behind them. Stop with the chorographic of questions by those conducting the forum.
The last severel forums I attended had questions being asked, after the questions were looked at by those conducted the forum. So in reality a small number of people chose what would be asked. In many cases the moderator did not even understand the question, so how do they know if the question is being answered?
Only the person that took the time to write a question down could answer that.
The time allotment is not sufficent as well, both from those asking the question and answering.
Questions from the floor are the only way to get an honest give and take on many of the issues before any election.
Questions should be addressed by every one on the ballot for that position. Egual time to answer individually.
The moderator should only be monotoring the decorum of those asking the questions.
Each office should have its own public forum, stop with combining different elected town positions all in one night. It is not fair to those being asked the questions and to those that take the time to attend in hopes of getting a hard question answered. It is a good show, on the other hand.
The mission in life we all find a challenge in when we put oursleves out on the political rope is how it affects our family.
How do you balance the need to be a public servant and yet maintain a good family life?
The mission to serve for the public good is not an easy task and many years of such service at the wrong time will result in a more negative family life and that is an observation from my own personal experiences.
A time comes, when we all ask ourselves is the mission really worth the loss of our family?
Can we overcome all the family challenges and continue or step back a little to balance it all out. That line is clearly very thin.
Speaking from experiences I have encountered in my life, I chose to step back a little and let the family heal, but have taken a new tack, that hopefully provides me with the satisfaction that we can make differences in other ways.
Every leader needs to determine how they conduct themselves in public and behind the scenes. Unfortunitly for me I Learned these lessons a little late in life. Time does allow it to heal,if you allow it. The mission continues today, but in a different more thought out manner.
Democracy is worth fighting for, no matter what and if more citizens become involved by only asking questions, we all would be a better place on this earth
The Town is not in charge of candidate forums, nor can it be. The Enterprise is the only group in town sponsoring a forum. Any group could do so.
In recent history, Keeping Sandwich Strong, Sandwich Schools United, and Sandwich Citizens for Quality Schools produced forums for candidates. But those groups no longer exist.
On our local tv. shows such as Jeff Perry's show, "Civic Minded" and "Sandwich Schools" interviewed candidates. There are lots of ways forums can happen.
League of Women Voters can be approached to do a forum but they generally do not focus on local elections.
TM, you have good ideas. I would be happy to help you organize candidate forums this spring, time permiting.
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