Dear Editor:

As a former two-term selectman, I am writing to voice my support of Article 4 in Alna’s upcoming election to make some common sense changes to how we run our select board. The main improvement Article 4 will yield is improving the business continuity of our town. More balanced delegation of responsibilities and cross training are time tested ways to make sure your business and your government are resilient enough to keep running smoothly through all kinds of unforeseen occurrences like resignations, leaves of absence and turnover after elections. Staggering the terms so that there is better continuity is also a common sense change I support in Article 4. Our town will become more resilient and there will be less drama (wouldn’t that be a welcome change?) if Article 4 passes. 

Over the next few weeks you will hear a lot of impassioned reasons why these changes are bad for Alna and that they will ruin our town, etc. I ask that you join me in not getting caught up in this typical drama and simply take the article at face value. Plainly put, delegation and training of duties across all three selectmen will make our town’s government stronger not weaker. There is a lot to be done, so why not share the load? Leveling the stipend paid to all selectmen will not deter people from running and serving. Staggering the terms to make it so that there would only be one new board member each year will retain experience and help transfer knowledge more effectively. Thank you.

Jonathan Villeneuve

Alna