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EDITORIAL
The only great thing about our town election is it’s over. It’s certainly been a tough one for everybody, candidates, supporters, and voters alike. Things have been tense since early summer, and just talking to some of our neighbors again without politics as part of the background noise probably won’t happen overnight. But it can happen, if people are willing to make an effort to help it along, and we owe it to ourselves to try. Nobody’s stayed in our town or came to our town for some political reason. We’re all here because we want to be, and that’s a big part of who most of us are. And we’re all staying, wherever that takes us, and we’re all staying together. There will be plenty of time for analysis of the election results at our kitchen tables, post offices, and wherever else we gather. We congratulate the winners and look forward to working with them over the coming term. But one thing that’s clear is that an awful lot of people aren’t likely to be pleased with the way things have turned out, and their voices need to be factored meaningfully into the future. Much as we have in common, we’re also a community where very different values coexist, and all of them need to be respected. The minority is no less a part of the whole than the majority, just a bit smaller. As the voting showed, they’re essentially equal parts deserving equal consideration and the five people on our town board will represent those who didn’t elect them as much as those who did. It’s not perfect but it is representative democracy and that’s how it really works. And whether we like the results or we don’t, it has worked. The votes are in, and come January, Bob Cross Jr. will be stepping up to the job of Town Supervisor with a solid Republican majority for the next two years. There’s a lot of talk right now about taking the town back to something older, to a time before many of our newer residents’ moved here. Perhaps the win reflects this, or a vision of the town as a more conservative place than we imagined. The nation certainly seems to be moving in that direction. Perhaps it’s a vote of confidence for Crossroads Ventures and their vision of Shandaken’s future; or it all has something to do with the way the recent campaign was conducted, with its lessons about what works and what doesn’t, especially in regards to the spending of more money than we’ve seen in elections around here in quite some time. But how much these and other things may have played a role will likely remain conjecture. There are lessons here for our town, but only time and perspective will help each of us uncover them. Meanwhile in a parallel universe, the world goes on. Soon enough - November 17 - hunting season will open…not perhaps the economic boon it used to be, but still a meaningful boost for some of our local businesses. For some of us that means time in the forest we often don’t make for ourselves, and an important connection with friends, the past, and the wild around us. For others, it means a time to dress our kids in blaze orange or avoid the woods altogether. For most, it’s a time to start preparing our dens for winter, for time with our families, and for the inevitable turning inward to a more reflective season than the one we’ve just been through. Winter does seem slow in coming this year, and after our soggy summer, few were surprised fall came late. The colors weren’t as spectacular as usual but nice on the whole, seen through a warm and mostly dry last couple of weeks. All in all though, mother nature hasn’t been entirely gracious. Many of us had trees that were damaged by a fast moving windstorm, and a freak 7- inch downpour rearranged a fair amount of our local topography. Guess we never really know what’ll happen next. Up at Belleayre Mountain though, they’re been ready for anything for weeks. Snow guns are primed for the first cold snap. The road to the main lodge has been beautifully resurfaced, and inside it’s been remodeled to create more usable space for when things are hopping. Two new intermediate trails have been added this season, along with much-improved lift access to the challenging Cathedral Brook Trail, Shandaken’s answer to the Colorado Rockies. Down at the Discovery Lodge the kids program has been expanded, there will be roving customer service “ambassadors” everywhere, and expectations are running high for the mountain’s 54th season, including a realistic hope of breaking the 200,000 skier-visit mark by spring. Just one among many hopeful signs for a bright economic future here. Those who’ve called for an end to divisiveness and to seeing our community in terms of us’s and them’s now have the chance to prove their sincerity. Some candidates didn’t win, but we’re all best measured by how we bear up under such circumstances. Nobody willing to step forward and try to help guide their community was a loser this week. That, we believe, is something time will prove, as together we try to grow the strongest community we can from the rocky ground we’re planting and building on. With time and care, things do grow better. |