Small Town Politics?

Well, I graduated from Rangeley in ’64 and went out into the big world. About 1980 I decided to come back home and settle down. Now settling down for me was not sitting in a rocking chair, sipping tea. It was just trying something different and being an asset to the community. I purchased a house on Center street and began to renovate it. Along comes a HUD program to try and establish some low income housing. I was single at this time and the second floor could easily be turned into a low income apartment. So, I applied for a grant and was awarded some money to help with the project. I jacked the building almost seven feet higher and moved it back onto a foundation. The HUD inspector person began to come around and insist on different ways I was to do my reconstruction. I politely informed them that as of that date, there was no HUD money in the project. He did not have much of a say in how I was doing my project. Ok, so now the house was on the foundation and it was time to agree to the HUD money. The pesky inspector kept coming around and trying to steer me into doing things his way. Sorry fella, this is my house, my project. I could see things were not going to go well. One day the inspector showed up and began to complain the wiring I was using was too small. I politely informed the fella it was indeed the right size. Thus began a battle of words. He knew better and demanded I redo the wiring per specifications. In my attempt to prove to the fella the wiring was right, I jumped up and tore some of the wires off the ceiling. I put them as close to his face as I could to show him it was the proper size. “Well,” he says, “it just didn’t look right”. Basically, he was calling me a liar and it did not sit well with me. I very quickly went up to the town office and informed them just what to do with their money. I no longer wanted any of it if I was to deal with that inspector. They very quickly assigned me a different inspector. Little did I know, that particular fella and others like him were to be a major pain to me as a way of life in Rangeley.

Still being a dreamer, I wanted to do something for the town. It was after all where I kept some of my fondest memories. I decided to run for an elected position as a Sewer Commissioner. If I got it fine, if not at least I tried. Well, I got the position and was elected Chairman. I was not elected because I was a smart young fella. I was elected because no one else wanted the job. I would soon find out why. The meetings were long and quite a waste of our time. If anything was wrong, the fingers were always pointed at the chairperson. They did not want the responsibility. I was working in the woods at this time in my life. Sitting as chairman of a long boring meeting was not my way of contributing. But when some elected folks put me in charge, I take that seriously. A couple of the other commissioners were talking about quitting due to the long boring meetings. I convinced them to hang in there because I was going to try something. The by-laws suggested very strongly that all meetings were to be run by Robert’s Rule of Order. So, I researched that and I wanted to make it work. It was basically simple. You have an agenda, and you followed the agenda. Each member got a chance to give their opinion and then the group voted. After that you went to the next item on the agenda. Only the board members got to speak on individual items, unless a member of the public asked permission to speak. The agenda had a place that allowed the public to speak. Each one had their copy and we began to go through the agenda. Two of the gentlemen at the meeting decided to talk about fishing up by Big Falls. I let them continue fishing. I still had a quorum and the agenda was basically accept or reject the items. Each item was discussed and voted upon. Only two more items remained and as the chairman, I called for a vote on the next item. The two fishermen looked surprised and asked “What are we voting on?” I quietly let them know it was the next to last item on the agenda. They wanted to discuss more, but I called for a vote. The next item was to adjourn the meeting. “The floor will entertain a motion to adjourn”. I got a first and a second on that and called for the vote. The vote carried and the meeting was adjourned. In less than a hour we had handled all the items on the agenda. The fishermen were upset. I informed them this was a meeting to act upon the Sewer Commission agenda and that was how the meetings will go from now on. They could either join us or resign. I am happy to say, this committee has contributed a lot to Rangeley and the health of our grandchildren. The effluent from the sewer treatment plant used to discharge into Haley Pond. Within two thousand feet, it went through the middle of town, by a favorite fishing place, continuing by where the kids swim and venturing close to the intake of the water company. This may have been ok in the 60’s but not in the 90’s . Kids were getting sick just from swimming at the town dock. Because of the efforts of this committee, grants were obtained, Chick Hill was purchased and the whole treatment process was moved up there. Chick Hill has also been a major contributor to the airport expansion. I wish to thank you fine people for hanging in there.

I always believed it was the responsibility of the Chairperson or the President of that group to properly direct the meetings. The majority of all boards in Rangeley refer to Robert’s Rule of order to run their meetings. It is a simple and concise way to run a meeting and saves time. It also prevents one or two individuals from taking up all the meeting time. Good people no longer want to volunteer for some boards due to the amount of time some meetings take. I have spoken with many locals about this and asked them would they volunteer for that group again. The answer has always been the same. They would not go back unless changes were made. Their time was valuable to them and life was too short to listen to people talking about fishing during a meeting. Each meeting has a purpose, and with an agenda, that purpose only, needs to be addressed.

Is this just small town politics, or is it Rangeley? This is a beautiful place, let’s improve on its beauty. Thanks Ken White ole time native.

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