Analytically Speaking - Study. Call. Demand Question. Vote.
Study. Call. Demand Question. Vote.
Next week is the final step of the SB2 process – the March 13th vote. For many, this is the culmination of hours spent in preparing, defending and examining budgets, and crafting Warrant Articles. However, others are just ramping up their activities for their issues or as candidates for the Town's elected offices in marshaling their supporters, ordering and setting up signs, and getting their messages out both in real world and in cyberspace.
And there are a lot of positions to fill. It is surprising how many in Town volunteer their time and effort to make Gilford a better place to live. In all, there are over seventy elected positions on the various boards with nineteen slots open for this year's elections: Selectman, Treasurer, Welfare Director, Trustee of Trust Funds, Trustee of Public Library (2), Budget Committee (3), Board of Fire Engineers, Conservation Committee (3), Planning Board, Recreation Commission (2), Zoning Board of Adjustment (2), and the Historic District / Heritage Commission. No matter their reasons, political leanings, philosophical outlooks of the people who give of their time, they should be thanked.
When March 13th arrives, responses will differ. For some, it's a yawner, just another day with no differences between it and any other. For others, it is the day to vote, but done with a sense of civic duty driving them rather than any particular interest in issues or people. However, for the town activists that enjoy local politics and process, this is the highlight of the year. Regardless, politics is the way that things get decided or done when groups of people have to figure out amongst themselves how they will live with each other and agree to be governed. March 13th is a major closure point for a year.
However...
...it is incumbent upon the voters to know for what and for whom they are voting. Do you know what the issues are, and what the candidates are saying how they will meet these challenges? Are you an informed voter (or care to be)? After all, it was a relatively small number of folks that showed up for the two Deliberative sessions compared to the number of registered voters. According to the most recent checklist, there are 6,015 registered Gilford voters. If 300 voters showed up for each session (reasonable estimates and many attendees attended both meetings), that means that only 5% of the Town voters spoke about and made important decisions on what the other 95% will vote on. This is something that the advocates for getting rid of SB2 point to in denigrating the SB2 process....the “uninformed” voter. That said, however, paper ballot voting has resulted in a larger number of voters – better overall representation. And, to be a totally informed voter, one would have to attend every meeting of every board to fulfill this requirement.
However, residents now have many more media outlets than in years past to go to that list, print, or discuss the issues so as to become that educated voter. Use them. Find out what the real issues are as opposed to campaign / perceived ones. Become knowledgeable about what the Town will be facing over the next few years. Study candidate stances that have been reported in the print or radio media or on websites / blogs and see if they match up to the Town's needs on spending and issues. Call them if there are none, call them and ask. Demand that the candidates tell you how they stand. Question their answers if seemingly evasive, both to further understand how they will vote on the issues and to make sure they answer the questions truthfully, honestly, and fully to your satisfaction (even at this level, it is still called politics). Vote for the person and issues that best fits your outlook on the direction that Gilford should be taking in the next few years.
Examples: increasing healthcare costs, a new roof for the Elementary School, a new Fire Engine this year and another soon, renegotiating the teachers contract, a new Police Station, and now plans for the development of the Meadows. Millions of dollars that could be spent by a town of only 7,400. At a rounded $32 million ($10M Town, $22M School) the proposed Budgets will cost $4,325 / person in town just this year. Ask yourself: enough, not enough, or too much?
Where do the candidates stand? What are their philosophies with respect to taxes and government - smaller, stable, or growing? How do the Warrants stand in relationship to your idea of what Gilford should be?
Where do you stand on the candidates and the issues? Find out. You get to decide on March 13. For Gilford.
