McLeod for Selectmen
The most important issue facing us in this year’s selectmen
race is what kind of town politics we want for our town. Do we want Windham to become like Washington
where the politics of personal destruction are the rules of the game or do we
want to remain the small town community we have always been? In the past week I have been slandered in
anonymous blogs were it was stated that I have been disbarred for ethical
reasons and that I should not be allowed to teach. (I have not been disbarred; I
let my license lapse when I stopped practicing). This anonymous attack came after I publicly
supported Ross for selectmen. As bad as this
attack was against an individual resident of town, the attack on Ross has been
much more severe; they tried to get him fired from his job. Are these the people we want running our
town?
I do not socialize with Ross and only know him as a lawyer,
town volunteer, father and selectmen. On
all fronts he has been a good man. He is
extremely intelligent, generous with his time and money, and has always put the
good of the town first. I have never had
any reason to doubt his integrity or work ethic. I support him for those reasons. This year I am much more passionate in that
support because some of the people who oppose Ross will ruin our town.
I have a long history of being slightly opinionated on town
matters and have had more than a few public fights. By and large almost all of these issues were
argued on the merits. I believe 95% of
all members currently on the boards, including candidate Roger Hohenberger, are great people with impeccable ethics. For instance I never agree with Roger
politically, but I know he would never violate the public trust or play dirty
politics, he is a man of integrity.
Unfortunately there are many running for town and school offices who do not
subscribe to those rules. Ross will
always do what is best for the Town. I
also know that Ross will respect those who disagree with him and would never
play the games we have witnessed this week.
Do we want to live in a town where we fear that publicly
expressing our views will result in personal attack and family stress? Or do we want to live in the small town where
we all can freely get in the fight and know the game isn’t fixed. Ross has displayed the intelligence and
integrity that has kept our town’s character positive, our taxes low, and he
has done it without ever disrespecting or attacking those who oppose him. Let’s keep him in office and keep out those
who want to see Windham looking like DC.
Michael Hatem
5 Heath Rd