Of Signs and Party lines

  I am not at all naive about politics. I have voted in every election since I was 18. This happens to be my first time running for office and I must say seeing it  from this perspective is really quite interesting. This is what I have learned and observed over the past few months.
  People change overnight! One day everyone is friends it doesn't  matter whether you are affiliated with a party or not really. We were one of the unfortunate towns to be devastated by Hurricane Irene. It was a very very emotional and physical shock to us all. Some people were hit worse than others but we united as a town to get our Main St and business district up and running as quickly as possible. It took time and immense amounts of man power yet we did it. We showed a united front. I myself volunteered at the Phoenicia Firehouse which was the command center. I did this not because I was running for an office I did it because I had lost nothing, no water in my basement, I had a generator so I did not lose food or lights, my son and my animals were all home and safe with me. I was fortunate and blessed and I knew it!  However I could not in good conscience sit in my home all comfortable with hot water and just let other people suffer its just not who I am.  After speaking with my boyfriend who is a police officer and he told me how very bad it was from Pine Hill to Mt. Tremper and about how people had to be rescued. I decided I needed to somehow do something constructive. Not knowing where to go, I went to the Phoenicia firehouse on the first day and asked where I could  be the most help. I was asked to join two other woman to run the kitchen and distribute supplies to people. So that's where I stayed for two weeks straight for usually 12 to 14 hours a day! I went where I was told I was needed the most at the time. People like Teresa Grant who works at Bellayre spent the day prior to the impending weather set up a disaster relief shelter along with people who felt the same need to do something. She and the others worked tirelessly for weeks. I don't think they really had any time to sleep themselves there was too much to do! It was the only place people could find a cot, a hot meal and a hot shower! It is people like that who give of themselves for no other reason than its what you do! Everyone up there did an amazing job!  Many others choose to volunteer a few days later when the rotary set up a post in the middle of town and got many more people to help shovel muck and mud from peoples homes who were destroyed by the raging waters. So many people worked so very hard together. I did not find it necessary to make sure that my face was seen everyday in town because politics was not why I was there. I was there because it was the right and ethical thing to do. Not to fill a political agenda. The work that those of us in the firehouse did was equally as important we just worked behind the scenes. So weather it was being seen everyday under a tent in town or in a firehouse of which we have 5, the purpose was the same to help one another.
   Fast forward 4 or 5 weeks. I notice that people changed suddenly Republicans shouldn't be seen with Democrats visa versa! This was baffling to me in so many ways. If you were friendly to me a few weeks back what changed now. I'll tell you what election time is drawing near. Suddenly we are once again a town divided by party. If someone invited opposing candidates to a personal party they were chastised by their party. If a fund raiser is being held does it really matter who the money comes from as long as they are willing to contribute! Is a Democrats money some how different than a republicans? This made no sense to me at all. It just shouldn't matter in my mind! But apparently it does. Now being that I am on an independent line I try to be Switzerland. I speak to the same people I always spoke to, I shared a meal and laughs with who ever. I had no idea that you had to choose a side mostly because I won't do that. I am the same person everyday. I like you for you equally the day before an election as the day after. I am just myself and intend on staying that way.
  I was talking to one of our town elders recently and I was discussing this with him. He had spent 25 years involved in the politics of this town. He told me that it did not used to be this way at all. Opposing candidates who were friends to start with helped each other put out their signs. He told me that he and a friend who were both running for the same political seat although on different tickets would campaign and knock on doors together! He said politics in this town has changed so much "People are just mean and nasty. I just don't get it" At that time it was the most qualified who won and people remained friends. Which had me wondering why has the political feel of this town changed so much. Is it because people who run in party lines now carry agenda's? Is it because people are not as accepting of change or a need for change? Is it because new people have moved into town and don't understand the dynamics of those who have been here for decades? I don't really know nor did this gentleman we both just shook our heads and said how sad that a small town such as ours has to be divided.
  How do you go from working as a unit during a catastrophe a few weeks back to not speaking to him or her  today because of politics? Those same people you worked so hard with and tried to bring some kind of normalcy back to our town with are suddenly some sort of enemy! Not being that kind of person it boggles my mind. I just don't care what your party affiliation is! Quite frankly if you elected me and you came to my office I wouldn't even ask you if you were a democrat or republican its not my place. You are who you are equal in my eyes. Rich or poor,fat or skinny,black or white my job is to help you and treat you all with the same respect and courtesy!
  What brought me to this whole blog today was that weeks back some friends who were running in other towns said to me "Make sure you buy extra signs because they will be taken! You'll find them in a ditch or down an embankment but count on your signs going missing."  I knew that this happens because as I said its not my first time at the rodeo when it comes to elections. I did not however expect that in less then 24 hours my sign and a friends from a different party would go missing right from the bottom of my own street. We again were trying to do things the old fashioned way called working together for the good of everyone! Clearly someone else did not like that concept! I posted on my facebook page this incident, oh I found my sign tossed in the field near by, but my friends was just gone. I could not find it anywhere. This made me angry and I found it somewhat funny.  I expressed my feelings. I also informed who ever removed my sign and stole his that it was illegal to do and that even if you take a sign from someone in your own party it is still considered petit larceny! Vandilizing someone elses sign is also a crime (criminal mischief). I know these things because I work in the court system. Can you just imagine having your name show up in police beat just weeks before an election for sign stealing or vandalizing? How embarrassing would that be? I still don't understand the dynamics of this manuver.  Is it that by taking someone elses sign you will suddenly be more visible?  What my thoughts are is you are someone to be distrusted and if you would do something so petty as to steal a sign how could I possibly trust you to run my government? I personally would not and such antics would not garner you my vote. I myself don't play those kind of games. I think that the person with the best cridentials and ability should get my vote. Oddly enough after my Facebook post once again in less then 24 hours  POOF like magic my friends sign reappeared! Guilty concience or fear of arrest? Either way I am happy to see his sign back and hope that will put an end to all of this idiocy. Now I know what you are thinking,is she really going to be that gullible and believe that? No I am not! I know where my signs are and I can pretty much predict which ones and where they will go missing. To me it is a sign of fear or insecurity that you can not run on your own strength to win this. If you look on my page above that says "About Me" you can see my qualifications and experience for this job! I don't play games. I am the same person today as I will be the day after election win or lose. I don't really have time to waste running around like a thief in the night pulling other peoples signs out of the ground. I have much better and more constructive things to do with my life. Its a matter of trust and being able to face yourself in the mirror everyday and know you live by your own values, morals, ethics and standards! This world is difficult and ugly enough and I choose not to contribute to the negitive! Can you just imagine a time when the politics of this town was people working together as friends. What a novel idea!