Reconstruction and the Politics of Self Destruction

Recently Carol Bragg wrote a column calling for the unification and continuity of government in Seekonk. She encouraged voters to vote for Mr. Brady and Mr. Richardson. I will not do that, and here is why.

Over the weekend I received a brochure in the mail from the Brady/Richardson campaign. It was presented as a checklist of supposed accomplishments that they achieved during their respective terms serving on the Board of Selectmen. I did not even make it past the first accomplishment.

The first item on the list was "No 2 1/2 override". Next to it was a check in the "yes" column. While it is true that the override failed I would like to remind the voters that both Mike Brady and Bob Richardson were vocal proponents of the override. Mike Brady was prominently displayed on the "YesforSeekonk" website in favor of the override.

While I have great respect and admiration for Carol Bragg I cannot disagree more with her logic on this matter. Yes Seekonk has a continuity problem and yes there are people in the community who like to bully to achieve their goals. However just as we should reject the politics of fault-finding and scapegoating , we MUST also hold our elected officials to higher standard. Dishonesty cannot be tolerated in any form from our elected officials. I would have more concern for a community who tolerated that, than I would for a community who removes the problem and searches for a better solution.

I think Carol Bragg will find that if our elected officials display honesty and integrity first and foremost, much like her, the voters in town will not react as fervently at the poles. The residents of Seekonk know that there are no easy answers, and they know that sometimes the wrong decisions will be made. But if we perceive that our elected officials are equally engaged in pointing fingers, and are using bullying tactics to pursue only one course of action rather than engaging the community and seeking compromise then we as voters have no other choice than to remove those people from office.

In the end if the only we voice we are given is one in the voting booth, then that is the voice we will use.