I am going to apologize up front and again at the end...but I need to vent... Both of my parents grew up in Stoneham, and went on to raise 4 kids here. Although we left town for a period of time due to my Dad’s career, we returned as this was the place our family loved. I have chosen to stay here and raise my 4 children and I long for my children to have the same pride and devotion to their hometown as I was raised to have… I come from a family where we were taught to be involved in our town… socially and politically…My Dad was a hockey coach, member of fraternal organizations in town and held numerous positions within our town offices, among other great things. When my father was involved in town government, I spent a lot of time as an involved resident, participating in as much as possible…Even as he moved on, I have been lucky enough to know other town committee and board members, that kept me involved here and there…I’ve seen a lot of great things happen when we are a united front, representing the best for our town and all its residents…but, to be honest, it’s been a while since there has been representation that I felt excited about. And this election hasn’t helped to make feel any better…there are a number of things I keep hearing being passed around that really bother me, so for what it’s worth, I am spewing my two cents… I have spent time as a stay at home mom and a professional working mother…they are both hard and neither gets the recognition they deserve…choosing to go one path or the other does not make any of us better than the other…I find it inappropriate when people feel the need to put their opinions out there or degrade someone based on this choice… You name it my kids have tried it…I’ve spent time on the sidelines of football, soccer, baseball and softball fields…I’ve attended track events…I spent years coaching one of my daughter’s cheer squads, and between my 2 girls, I have gone to more cheer competitions than I can possibly count…I have sat in the bleachers at HS football games to support my cheerleaders and my band member…I have attended plays, concerts, and Carnival Balls in support of my drama club son…I have had the opportunity to meet a lot of great people through all these activities…And I notice who else is out there, getting involved, and who isn’t, and especially who has the capacity to bring different folks together for the good of the whole when it comes to our kids. And there are many good people who do great things in this way…but volunteering or spending your time in a particular area doesn’t make you any better than anyone else either…Be it a “Cheer Mom” or a “Music Parent”, a “PTO member” or a “member of X committee”…we are all in the same damn boat, just trying to support our kids and community! And any sane person knows better than to think that running for town office is a damn popularity contest!! Why am I saying all this? Because obviously some folks think this kind of rhetoric will work when it comes to getting my vote…But the only thing it has helped to do, is help me realize what kind of person I don’t want representing me… I don’t want someone that thinks just because they have a particular education, or a certain career, or because they have dedicated their time to what they deem the “right causes” they MUST the right person for the job…I want someone that has the skills necessary to do the job right, no matter how they acquired them…and someone that can appreciate the positive skills that others, their counterparts and even their challengers, bring to the table as well, because unless we can work together as a cohesive team there will never be a successful ending… I don’t want someone who thinks they have all the answers already…I want someone that realizes that there is always more to learn, and who is willing to put in the time and effort to learn what their constituents want and be willing to make the best decision for the town based on that, not just their own personal beliefs or agenda… I don’t want representation that will continue to draw dividing lines within our town…I want someone that will bring us together, for we are stronger as a whole…And it seems to me, that a lot of what I mention above, is achieving the former instead of the latter, which makes me angry and sad. I know, and consider many friends, on both sides of this political fence and I only hope we can all start acting like the positive role models we should be for our children and our town. So with that, I apologize again for this ramble, and if I offended anyone, I apologize to you too. Please vote this April based on the character and skills of the candidates not the crap you hear on the streets…
Posted on: Fri, 21 Mar 2014 20:23:03 +0000
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