We all know people who never vote saying their vote doesn’t count; they don’t care, they don’t know, it doesn’t matter, and what’s one more vote anyway?
The results of the most recent election for the Damariscotta Board of Selectmen belie all that.
Here, in an off-election year no less, out of 693 votes cast, we have a difference of exactly six votes separating three candidates. Even more amazing, incumbent Dick McLean and former selectman Josh Pinkham have evenly divided 458 votes between them.
It’s a testament to the support that all three candidates enjoy that the vote was so evenly split.
McLean and Pinkham have both done their utmost for their community over the years. McLean may be on the verge of claiming the record as Damariscotta’s longest serving selectman.
Pinkham, with two terms on the board already under his belt, has given literally years of his life to his hometown through his service with the fire department.
The fact is, while they share a desire to serve, McLean and Pinkham are markedly different people and they have shown dramatically different approaches to the job.
Over the course of his tenure, McLean has demonstrated a measured, almost cautious approach to doing the town’s business. Pinkham has long established his bona fides as a fiscal conservative; one standing up for Damariscotta’s beleaguered taxpayers and unafraid to ask questions.
In this case, being that the outcome could dramatically change the makeup of the board, at least for the next 12 months, one more vote would have made all the difference.
