ContributorTo preserve fairness and keep politics out of the Moderator’s office, there’s only one real choice: reelect Mike Widmer.
Unlike other elected roles, Moderator should not be a partisan position. Instead, the Moderator should ensure that Town Meeting operates in a fair and orderly way (which involves a great amount of unacknowledged skill), and make committee appointments that bring the best and brightest to serve the town, independent of their political persuasion.
Mike Widmer has always done this. I’ve been in Town Meeting for 17 years, and I couldn’t tell you his political position on any topic. But I have always seen him work tirelessly – often in the face of extremist advocacy from both sides of the aisle – to ensure a fair, rational, and respectful process for every vote. That’s what we should hope for in any Moderator.
To think that the outcomes of Town Meeting and committee appointments might be “improved” by electing a candidate with evident political leanings – a champion for the schools, for instance, or an advocate against the override, to take two extreme examples – that way madness lies. The whole point of Moderator is to be neutral, to shepherd the process fairly – not to put a thumb on the scale in favor of this position or that, or to appoint people because they pass some partisan litmus test.
Our country has already seen many positions – roles where neutrality is essential – fall to partisanship: judgeships, election boards, perhaps soon the civil service system. I would hate to see Belmont’s Moderator role follow this unfortunate trend. Other positions can be partisan. Moderator must never be. Democracy depends on it.
Let’s keep Moderator politics-free. Support skill and experience in ensuring fairness at Town Meeting and in committee appointments.
Reelect Mike Widmer.
Kevin Cunningham, Chandler Street
