Recently, a town resident, Kevin Bird, asked a question on face book, a very simple and direct question; what would I do about a partially burned out building on a road that is an entrance to the back bay area of Templeton? I responded that a single selectmen cannot really do much, however, a single selectmen can communicate these situations and suggest options, such as using the existing town by-laws to try and solve those issues.

I would like to speak to what a single selectmen can do; that is when a motion is made during a public meeting of the board of selectmen, it is not made in generic fashion, such as I make a motion to appoint members to various committees as presented. A single selectmen sitting at a meeting such as that can bring discussion that would make it clear who is being appointed to what, for how long and also bring forward things such as are there still openings on the entities before the board at that time, how long have any of the appointees already served, etc. In short, a sitting single selectmen can bring things like this forward to ensure more transparency to selectmen meetings. I believe that the purpose of having open public meetings are not to see how fast one can get through a meeting, rather that all things are discussed thoroughly and that everyone in attendance gets a chance to speak if they wish; in essence, participate in the process. I would also, if elected, correct some erroneous recent statements, such as "all towns that border Templeton have a $20.00 per thousand tax rate" which was not true then and is not true now.

The above is just one of the things a single sitting selectmen can do and that is one thing I will do if elected to the position of Templeton selectmen.