Public Service and the Greater GoodPublic service is how America functions, for better or worse, and that’s especially true in a small town. We elect our fellow citizens to serve us all; a position of great trust and responsibility!
Chatham will be electing three people to the Town Board in 2027, two Town Board members (AKA Town Councilpersons) and the Town Supervisor (whose job incudes representing the Town of Chatham at the County level).
“The Greater Good” can be as basic as ensuring clean drinking water, breathable air, safe food, decent jobs and good schools. It can be passing laws that allow for solar arrays while protecting arable farmland, working to create affordable housing so that people who grew up here can afford to stay, and making sure all our voices are heard.
The Founders believed that government should exist to serve the people, not the other way round. Public service ought to be guided by the principle of Greater Good, and mostly it is.
Mostly.
To ensure our government will do good things we first have to find and elect people who want the job, not for personal gain or aggrandizement, but because they recognize that in order for us to exist and prosper, this Town needs people who truly want to serve the community. It can be a thankless task, and it won’t — shouldn’t — make anyone rich. No matter what you do, someone will complain (often the same small but vocal group.) It comes with the territory: the Squeaky Wheel.
One reason we keep urging readers to come to Town Board meetings is to act as a counter to the complaints (and sometimes misinformation) from that small group. Our voices matter, our presence matters: if you care about something, you need to say so! Silence is taken for consent. Chatham’s Town Board seats four Councilpersons and a Supervisor. Terms are staggered, so the entire Board won’t turn over at once (a good thing) and there is some continuity for Board initiatives and policies. Chatham Dems are looking for good candidates for the three upcoming Town Board seats. Like going to Board meetings, your participation in finding, and working to elect, new people to the Board will matter greatly. We hope to expand on what the jobs of Councilperson and Supervisor entail in future newsletters, so stay tuned — and start thinking about who you want sitting on the Board and representing us in the County.
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