Board of Selectman Election Set for Monday 8/18

Don't forget to vote. I for one am not overly excited about either of the prospects, but it is what is for now. I won't personally be endorsing anyone, but I will point out the bitter irony if David Viera wins since that pretty much gives us the exact same BOS we had prior to the override attempt. Of course we are smarter now, and at least know we can't trust half of them. Especially Mike Brady who is nothing more than a two faced liar. See my previous post on his re-election campaign.

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.

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.