My Vote Against The Chair

Mr. Chairman and fellow members, it is with all due respect and recognition of our committee’s respective accomplishments over this past year that I feel it necessary to offer a dissenting opinion to this motion.  I believe that it is more important to put the responsibility of the chairman’s position and the committee as a whole before any quest for personal accomplishments, goals or aspirations.  School Committee Chair is not a position to be taken lightly in function or responsibility.  I would like to personally extend my thanks to Mr. Limpert for his service to the town as Committee Chair this past year.  Yet I believe it is important that our school committee chair can serve without the distraction of re-election activities with its time consuming political demands.  It has been a time honored tradition modeled by both the Board of Selectmen and the School Committee that the position of Chair has remained free of these activities and distractions.  I respectfully ask my fellow committee members consider the disservice done to constituents and more importantly to the students of North Andover if we position our board  with the possibility of losing the Committee Chair in a contested election only a month prior to town meeting.  Our board should operate in transparency above even the inference of utilizing a high profile position to advance any individual political campaign.  It is my goal to maintain the much needed support of our citizens by conducting ourselves in a manner that will continue to earn that support each and every day we serve.