Why Haven’t I Seen You at Town Meetings?

This is a fair question and I expect I’ll be asked about this more than once. There’s been several factors that have led to me not being a visible presence at town meetings.

The switch to remotely broadcast Commissioner meetings with limited in person attendance made it difficult to have a visible presence. I did take advantage of the broadcast to observe the meetings and keep myself educated about the actions that the town was taking so I could assess their impact on myself and my neighbors.

Another reason why you haven’t seen or heard me at town meetings is that I believe in not stating a view before I’ve had an opportunity to gather the facts pro and con. Only then will I speak on it. As Abraham Lincoln is supposed to have said “Better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt.” Observing the work, meetings, and decisions of the Commissioners over the past several years has let me reach the point where I feel I can offer an opinion and assessments of their actions with a true understanding of the potential consequences of those actions.

There were occasions when I wasn’t able to observe the meetings in real time because of my professional commitments. I did take advantage of the publicly available recordings after the fact. Putting food on the table and keeping a roof over my family’s head is always my first priority and unfortunately my work doesn’t always restrict itself to 9-5.

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