Editorial

Who's the Boss?

We live in an amazing world where some elected officials would rather resign than adhere to the will of the voters.

That's what Vice-Chair Stephanie Bryan stated she would do, if the citizen petition Penny Hilton initiated passes at Town Meeting on May 2.

The New Gloucester Selectmen refused to place the citizen request on the list of Warrant items to present to voters at Town meeting when Ms. Hilton first presented the opportunity to them in March. Then she worked hard to obtain the appropriate signatures, forcing its placement on the warrant.

The Selectmen wrung their hands (not all of them, Kevin Sullivan and David Lunt recognized sanity when it hit them in the face) and tried every trick in the book to prevent citizen encroachment into their domain. That's when Ms. Bryan made her melodramatic statement that she would resign on the spot rather than sign the initiative into law. In the end the Selectmen had to do what they had to do, follow the law. But they were distinctly ungracious in doing so.

In Gray, citizens have been asking the Council for months, years, why a town-wide council review of zoning is needed now. It might be, but the Council has failed to provide an adequate answer and they increasingly behave in a way that is demonstrative of snookering behind the scenes (not all of them, Gary Foster knows sanity when it hits him in the face).

And when The Monument read the e-mailed war room strategy delineating how to get the zone review passed before the current Council, which favors the zoning changes, turns over in June, it became obvious that the citizens are being trampled. When local officials not only think that they know better than those who elected them, but refuse to recognize that citizens are an integral part of their job, it is time for a change.

Stonewalled citizens plus trampled citizens equals angry citizens. They speak at meetings, and they are occasionally heard. But the loudest voice citizens have is their vote, and in both Gray and New Gloucester the opportunity to vote for an elected official who will listen is upon us.

Vote for who you believe will hear your concerns. Vote for the way things could be and give new people a chance to prove that change is in the air. Vote for new energy. Above all, watch the candidates and learn about them. And then vote.