Dear Editor:

As a resident with deep roots in Alna, I want to express my support for the proposal to make some needed changes to the Alna Selectboard. It will be Article 4 on the Dec. 14 ballot.  

When my family moved to Alna over 60 years ago, it was a simpler time. I was just a kid. Agreements were made with a handshake and fewer roads in Alna were paved.

But times change. The Town now has a complicated computer system, more detailed finances, more licenses and regulations to oversee, more programs to keep track of, and more opportunities to provide services to our residents. 

We need a Selectboard that has continuity and Selectboard members who are willing to share all these responsibilities. 

The proposed changes that will be voted on by Alna residents on Dec. 14 will establish staggered three years terms ensuring continuity from one year to the next as new members come and retiring ones go. This would make it unlikely that we would again get into a situation where all the Selectboard members are new at the same time.

Almost all the other towns around Lincoln County have moved to staggered three years terms in recent decades. This makes sense for Alna too. 

It also makes sense for the Selectboard members to share the responsibilities equally so that the knowledge about how things work is shared. This too is something that most other towns around us have done.

I’m not always a fan of change but these are sensible proposals that will help our town function efficiently in the 21st century. 

I encourage all Alna residents to vote yes on Article 4 on Dec. 14 (or vote early by absentee ballot.)

Cally Aldrich

Alna