Tuesday was Election Day. Did you vote? For most of you the answer is “no”. Why not? Didn’t care? No time? The issues didn’t matter? Or was it someone else will vote for me because the issue is a done deal?
No issue is a done deal until 8 p.m. on election night. When I wrote the story about the town public works building in Windham, I thought, “wow, they do need a new building. They’re working in cramped quarters with little room to do maintenance. It’s a no brainer.”
Wrong.
Of the 2,000 plus people who voted yesterday, a little more than half voted against the project I thought was a “no brainer”. Were there others out there who thought the same thing? “Of course it’s going to pass. They don’t need my vote.”
Well actually, your vote would have counted. For those who have worked hard on this project, I’m sorry that it didn’t turn out in your favor. Voters decided to keep their taxes the same and wait a little longer for the snow plows to warm up.
I don’t usually get political in this column because it’s not me, but in this case, I was surprised enough to want to see what those who voted no thought. Was it because of taxes? Too much debt for the town? Or did you see that the town wanted to borrow $7.7 million and the sticker shock surprised you?
We spend money at the state level on roads, bridges and highways every election it seems, so why did Windham voters not want to spend money on this? I’ll probably never know, but I’m sure we haven’t heard the last of this request from the town. A need is a need.
In other election news, everyone running retained their seats, which didn’t surprise me because Windhamites don’t really like change, me included. I like the known.
Elections are for the people to speak their minds. It’s sad that in a town of 18,000 that only 2,000 make the decisions. Next year I’ll try to remember to do an article on absentee ballots and how simple they are.
Oh, and just so you know…I voted.
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