Ghost of Midnight

Election season swamping FPF…

I, for one, am looking forward to November 5… that’s right, the day AFTER the big election.  Front Porch Forum has been swamped with postings from citizens and elected officials alike… advocating for and against candidates and ballot measures.  The State Rep. race in Chittenden 3-04, the police station building site in South Burlington and on and on.

And I know I’m not alone.  Many of our subscribers love the political back and forth, while others are clearly fed up and ready to move on.  I got a lovely note today from an FPF member in South Burlington that was a pleasant surprise…

The other day, I decided to resist posting my emotional response to [a City Councilor’s] posting re. a police station on the Calkins Natural Area.  I was very angry, feeling that [he] misused a position of power to promote something that is very politically controversial.  I had considered using the FPF in the same way and decided that my neighborhood forum is a “place” for me to share and gather information on topics or issues that relate to our neighborhood and it isn’t a “place” for me to lobby my neighbors for one position or another. (Even though, our neighborhood probably has the most to lose on this specific topic.)  And… since [his] posting is out there, I may very well post my position, too.

Anyway, I want to say thank you for your commitment to FPF and what it provides all of us.  It is almost impossible in this era, to build a sense of “neighborliness”.  I’ve lived in my neighborhood for over 14 years and the FPF has introduced me to neighbors I would otherwise never know.

Sometimes, when we have responsibility for providing or “facilitating” a service and we have negative reactions to the facilitation, we wonder if it’s appreciated.  I want to tell you, it is.

Thank you for facilitating our ability to being good neighbors.

Don’t forget to vote on November 4!