Here we are a week after the town election and two weeks have passed since the annual Town Meeting and there is nary a whisper of controversy brewing.
The annual gathering of those voters who pay attention whizzed through early articles in record time. There are three possible reasons for this. One is everything is okay, functioning perfectly, and all is copacetic. Two, voters are sick of politics and wanted to get home as soon as possible to watch the three-hour finale of American Idol, or three, everyone was in a hurry to get to the free meal the town put on afterward in the school cafeteria. (I made the last one up, but I bet you wished for a second you had attended.) A $36 million plus budget passed with little debate.
The annual town election followed a week later, and 1774 registered voters exercised their right of self-governance. That number would be about 30 percent of all eligible voters. Put another way, 4200 people stayed home. (Two more voters and we could have said the election commemorated the birth of our nation. If we had held a UFC Fight like the one planned at the White House, maybe more registered voters would have turned out.) This was the first election since voters increased the selectboard to five members. To many observers of town politics, it was a pleasant surprise to have six candidates running for three positions. Alas, there were still nine other uncontested races. Oh well.
There may be a few signs still around, but an eerie silence has settled in at the Town Hall. The winners have been sworn in and there are no apparent controversies brewing, no personality conflicts have arisen, and no fisticuffs have erupted. According to my confidential mole there are no signs of corruption or under-the-table deals being made. What’s a muck-raking investigative reporter supposed to do? Even Abner Harlow, former Town Clerk and resident Town Hall ghost has been quiet. He must be taking a long nap.
Speaking of naps, our insomniac commander-in-chief whose name escapes me, who spends his nights posting humorous videos to entertain the world, is known to take a nap or two during the day. These naps seem to occur unexpectantly during important meetings, usually when someone else is talking. Well, you go Buddy! I am all in favor of a good nap. I have attended my share of meetings where a good doze was called for. He calls it multi-tasking. Being able to take a short powernap and ignore all around you is a talent and a powerful tool for a busy chief executive.
I find the need for a nap is becoming more and more frequent. The big guy and I are the same age, so I understand how important it is for him to get his rest. I don’t have insomnia, but I generally seem to need a nap in the late morning and sometimes another in the afternoon. If I am reading a book, it is all but guaranteed I will be asleep in twenty minutes.
Getting back to more important local issues. I suggested in an earlier column that now with five selectpersons they might have to take down a wall in the conference room and purchase a longer table to accommodate the new members. Rumor has it that instead of renovations (nobody listens to me anyway), selectboard meetings may be moving from the historic Town Hall to the bigger fire station meeting room, an appropriate venue considering the possibility of heated discussions and fiery debates over many hot topics.
Mattapoisett resident Dick Morgado is an artist and happily retired writer. His newspaper columns appeared for many years in daily newspapers around Boston.
By Dick Morgado