To the Editor:
Receiving the Democratic nomination to run for Supervisor of the Town of Shandaken is a great privilege! I am very grateful to my friends and neighbors who have asked me to step forward to address the significant issues that lie ahead of us as a community and to speak on their behalf … to give voice to our shared aspirations.
To serve the community well, we need to understand why we come here and why we stay here. Each of us answers that question daily from the depths of our hearts. The answers invariably center around living in wild beauty, embracing the mountains and the streams and steeping ourselves in a richness not measured in ordinary currencies. We come here and we stay here to create a life of substance, a life of worth.
This year’s campaign focuses not on competencies – for the candidates are all competent and caring people – but on vision. What do we want to achieve with our hands and our hearts in the coming years? How do we want to craft our life together as a community? In my view, we build on our success. We build on our strengths. We protect and enhance our assets. We need to create and maintain an atmosphere in which everyone can contribute, everyone can grow and thrive.
We need to create and maintain a political climate in Shandaken in which service is welcomed and respected. I credit the Democrats for changing the tone of political discourse in Shandaken over the past few years, and I plan to continue that progress. For this campaign, I urge voters of every party to insist that each candidate treat all the others fairly and respectfully, as fellow members of the community. The differences in vision and style are clear; your own personal values and judgments are all that matter. Your choices are your own and need not be argued or defended, except where you have honest questions or enjoy the stretch of seeking to understand. All that I ask is that you reserve your votes for the candidates who give voice to the best in you, to the best in all of us.
I have long ago placed my heart at the service of Shandaken. As a much, much younger woman, I fell in love with this place. If you, too, love this place as I do, I am deeply grateful for your support.
Kathy Nolan
Candidate for Supervisor, Town of Shandaken
845-688-9702
