Your Voice: A letter from candidate Paul Philbrick

To the Residents of the Town of Lebanon:

I want to publicly recognize the work put forth by Mr. Thorp and all those who helped to make the “Meet the Candidates” night possible.  It’s the spirit of those who volunteer their time that make our town special.  Thanks again to the folks that attended the forum.  With your interest and input it made the night a success.  I submitted this letter to The Lebanon Voice to reach out to those who were not able to attend Thursday night. 

I would like all the voters in town to know the direction that I am headed and to assist them in the difficult decision of choosing a candidate.  I would also like to add that I am not running against any of the other candidates, I am running with them. The candidates all have your best interest at heart. There was an atmosphere of friendliness and encouragement among the candidates before, during, and after the debate. What a refreshing change from what we so often see in the political contests around us.    

Here is what I tried to share Thursday night, but due to time constraints I did not fully express:

I want to see the town build and grow, but in order for that to happen, we need to have a strong and secure foundation. A bond of trust needs to be established between the townspeople and the Selectmen.  My goal for the next 15 months would be to help the current Selectmen in their efforts to restore that confidence and trust. My personal goals to help make this happen would be to: 

1. Abide by the regulations and safeguards established by the town’s forefathers.  The town has been in existence for a long time. I believe the forefathers of the town established rules and guidelines to protect the townspeople.  Those rules and guidelines may need to be reviewed and updated, but their intent remains the same.

Actively listen to all residents and respond to their requests fairly and justly. There is most often more than one side to any story and I would want to take all opinions into consideration before reaching a decision on an issue that affects you as taxpayers and residents.

Listen to the recommendations presented by the various committees and boards which are serving our town and present those recommendations to you in a public forum.   As some here will recall, in the days of old, ideas were openly discussed during the town meetings and differences of opinions were resolved right there on the floor. The system has been changed to a ballot system with a public hearing to discuss but not change the ballot questions.  I would like to see a public forum be used prior to finalizing the referendums in order to discuss and have the opportunity to change a question before it is put on a ballot. 

Support the department heads in our town as they oversee the day to day operations and insure there is a check and balance system in use to keep us all accountable to you the taxpayer.

Strive to control the cost of living in Lebanon so that homeowners are able to keep their homes. To accomplish this will involve all of us. As townspeople we have to decide what we can afford. We need to identify what is a necessity and what is a luxury and then go from there to allocate how our tax dollars are to be used.  As your selectman it would be my duty to ensure the funds you trusted me with are spent wisely. Using the same care that I would use if I was spending my own money to have work on my own house accomplished.  

I am thankful for the small town environment that we live in, and for all the people who, over the years, have done their part to maintain the goods things we all enjoy.   I would like to continue on with that effort.  I have the time, desire, and energy to do so.  I just need your support to make it happen.

- Paul Philbrick

Selectman candidate