Smile and Keep Your Chin Up, Or Lessons Learned During The Election Season!

Well today marks the end of the election season and once again we’ve learned some things, and confirmed what most of us knew all along, that Bangor, Maine is an awesome place to live! In the words of City Councilor Ben Sprague this morning “Bangor does not care how old you are, what political party you are, if you grew up here, or anything like that. If you have good ideas, are willing to listen, are patient, thoughtful, and get out there and meet the people, Bangor will give you a chance.” Councilor Sprague pointed out that we just elected an Independent, a Democrat and a Republican (one young, one middle-aged, and one older)!

I could not be more proud of this city or more excited to see what our future holds. Of course the bad news is that Josh Plourde, friend and co-worker, will now be my favorite City Councilor, bumping Ben Sprague down to second favorite. However, I’m sure he is more than happy to give over the title. And by the way, yes Gibran Graham, since the last birthday you are now middle-aged. We’ll talk later. There are support groups!

Yes, we’ve learned that young or old, no matter your party or experience, if you have a sincere desire to do a good job, Bangor voters will give you a chance!

We’ve learned that Mainers feel strongly about their bond issues and that folks in Portland are mellow for good reason!

I’ve learned, from photos taken at multiple events last night, to remember to always smile and keep my chin up! The second part of that being the more important part! (Why, why is my middle-aged chin trying to migrate to my chest? This is a topic for another day! Gibran Graham don’t shave that beard!).

We’ve learned, in an attention grabbing late night announcement, that our governor is indeed running for reelection (you can expect me to revisit this one again in the next year for sure!).

We’ve learned that a negative, angry campaign does not a city councilor make. Although I am concerned that 580 people did manage to vote for a candidate whose own campaign announcement came while he was yelling and screaming at folks in City Council Chambers over, ironically, noise!

Some lessons are harder to learn. Charlie Longo mentioned, in one of the candidate forums before the election, that two of the lessons he learned during his term as councilor were never to mess with Ted Nugent fans, and to be careful what you say about the governor.

I mentioned to him last night that one of the good things to come out this election is that now he is free to say whatever he wants, and with the governor’s own campaign coming up, we may need Charlie’s help! I’d like to thank Charlie for his service to the city. He has a heart of gold and always the best of intentions. I appreciate all he did and all he stood for! Charlie, smile and keep your chin up! Bangor’s future looks bright, and so does yours!

Council Ben Sprague and Councilor Elect Josh Plourde

*photo credit Jeff Kirlin

 

 

Karen Foley

About Karen Foley

Karen Foley, has successfully been writing her blog for the BDN since May 2011. By successful, she means a few people read it, and she has not been sued, stalked or fired since starting it.