The Lone Gunman

I'm the not biggest fan of Franicis Cavaco. Nothing personal, I just don't think he presents himself all that well. He has picked up on a few key issues, he works hard, but I'm not all that thrilled.

I have thought of running for selectman, but I recognize my intent would be more along the lines of making life as difficult for Mike Brady as possible. At this point in the game I am far to inexperienced in the intricacies of municipal politics to be an effective leader. It's not enough to be good at making waves, or writing angry letters to newspapers in hopes of getting the masses to come around to your point of view. At some point you are going to have to take it further. You are going to have to educate, and present your facts to the public. Furthermore, at some point you will have to compromise, you have to accept the fact that you may lose yourself, or you may be redefined.

To some that can be liberating. To others it can be the equivalent of a panic attack, or a case of identity crisis. Leadership is not easy. We all feel we are qualified to lead, because to say otherwise might suggest a weakness within ourselves. But for some of us, we can be comfortable to sit buy and offer our suggestion, our point of view, and leave it to the bureaucrats to pick it apart and form it into a useful piece of legislation; comfortable in the fact that it may not be exactly what we wanted, but you can still see the vision...the dream is still alive.

Maybe that was Carol Braggs problem. She was a visionary. A philosopher. But maybe she became uncomfortable with the compromises she had to make. Carol was a saint, not a politician. It was not her in her nature to hone the art of double-speak. But inevitably, if you are to be a leader, you have to make a compromise, or fold.

We will see how Mr Cavaco does as our newest selectman. Hopefully he learns the art of compromise, because as much as I look forward to him going head to head with Mike Brady. I'm smart enough to know that eventually the Town will need a competent and creative board to lead Seekonk into the trying times we face.