Two rights get you heading in the opposite direction

The room was definitely crowded last night.  The events did get heated.  While the crowd had something to do with that, it was related more to the fact the air conditioner was off than any debate. 

Outside of the couple of rounds of applause, now a standard at such meeting, I would say the events went pretty well from the decorum perspective.

I left after the meeting with the turbine developers, along with just about everyone else.  I missed the last two discussion items (the park easement and town counsel). If you watched the same on cable access, fill me in.

Let's give some credit where credit was due.  For the most part the agenda was kept moving well.  The discussion on some of the items had me a bit perplexed.  Of course the fact that the "partners" in the solar challenge thing came in to cut the ties with the Board helped speed thing along.

I was all set for the board's discussion on that one too.  It would have been extremely interesting to see if the board would have been willing to pull the cord on the poorly tied knot binding the "partners".

One disappointment I can certainly live with.

The whole tax title stuff has me scratching my head though.

Fundamental principal behind tax title. You take land because taxes/fees have not been paid.  You sell it to recoup the taxes and fees and get the land back on the tax rolls.  You sell it for no less than what is owed.  You want to set a minimum price above that, knock your socks off.  But how many times are we going to have the same discussion on the same land?

Ditto for another parcel involved.  Ditto for the staging area located on the old park motors site.

Now as far as the election date for the Board of Health race.  

First if you aren't interested in the town incurring legal fees, more lawsuits, etc., etc., etc., accept the simple fact that the new election will be for the Board of Health and only the Board of Health.  

The Board of Selectmen have absolutely no authority to call for any other election involving any other elected office at this point.  No town official has any such authority. Only a judge can do that.  

Can we simply accept that fact?

Depending on what version of the facts you want to listen to at this point, there is one new ballot found post election.  Okay, so if that's the basis for an entirely new election process, knock your socks off, get your money together and march into court.  

Otherwise, all I am hearing is the desire to have the town spend more money to actually add one more ballot to bolster the case about the integrity of the process being flawed when you have more ballots than checked in voters in a close election.

One more ballot by the way found weeks after the election in what I am told is the collection area of the machine which had been stored in an area easily accessible by ....  get the drift.  I doubt it, but the drift is there.  

Someone made the suggestion that we don't know how many ballots may still be out there.  No we don't.  Just as we don't know if anymore ballots are out there.

What I do know is there is a decision that has ruled the Board of Health race to be invalid based on two things: all the irregularities and the closeness of the vote making it impossible to determine, given the margin in that race, whether all ballots are valid.

Don't slap the faces of the voters in this town who actually showed up anymore than has to be done.  You don't get a 256 vote margin of victory based on 4 or 5 ballots that cannot be accounted for.  There are other reasons for that.

You don't win any of the multiple uncontested races because of 4 or 5 ballots cast.  There are reasons for that too.

Outside of town meeting members, after the recounts in two races, only one contest would be affected by the "questionable" ballots.  I get the integrity of the process argument.  Indeed I have echoed some of the thoughts being expressed.  

I also get the fact that we cannot lament that we want another kick at the can when the game is well over.

Call it a guess, but I figure by the time all is said and done, the legal fees in town for the Board of Health race, if it stays just a Board of Health race, will exceed $20,000.00.  Throw in the cost of a new election ..., then through in another court case ...

As far as the one "new" election.  It is now called for on September 9, 2013.  

Open to anyone concerned enough to run, open to anyone who wants to vote; and, hopefully the last one until next April (although it seems pretty clear that the campaign season for April has started).

The date is set, so let it happen.

What next, oh yes, the turbines.

The developer came in.  The digest version.  We received your noncompliance notice.  We are doing what is required of us under the lease.  We will be going to the Board of Health on July 15th.  We want to sit down and resolve everything before then.

The between the lines version, we have two weeks to figure this problem out before we all end up in court.

I am not going to give any blow by blow, tit for tat description of what went on.  Watch the tape when it airs, or see it on demand.

The only thing I think you would find consensus for after that meeting, we are not a town united.  

It became very clear to me that people may have heard what was being said and suggested, but not many were listening.

There was a really good artful dodge by the board on one question.  At the point it was asked though, I think a very legitimate dodge.  If answered, all hope of compromise, as slim as it may be, would have been lost.  

Perhaps after the 15th of this month it would be extremely valid to ask the question again, and at that point absent a compromise, I think would absolutely require an answer.  For the moment however, a very, very good sidestep.

So, the nuts and bolts conclusion.  Essentially there are two weeks for the parties to reach a "compromise" that they feel they can live with and that they hope the town's folk will buy.  

Let's not fool ourselves either.  The only way that happens is give and take. People on both sides are going to have to willingly move on this.  That means, in my opinion, less that a 7 to 7 ban, and less money to the town.  Don't see any side giving up something for nothing in return.

We have reached the point where we do in fact have another changing tide in town.  We have not yet reached the point however where there is any guess as to how high the new tide will reach.  

Momentum is a very interesting political concept.  You need it to win.  You have to have a strong enough force behind you to resist any effort to switch its direction.  When it does shift, you have to have enough savvy and the wherewithal to stop the shift before it puts you behind that halfway point.

You are not going to make everyone happy on this one folks.  When can you really ever do that?  

Complete unity isn't possible.  That much was also clear from last night. Neither is getting everything you want.  In the long run a complete "victory" will not last.

Enough.  Be safe.