I sometimes get lazy. When people come up to me or shoot me a message saying that they haven’t read anything in the Pilot lately, I know I’m getting lazy. I’ve been busy eating Double Stuff Oreos and my summer job has kept me humping. Have no fear, there’s lots going on out there that is worthy of discussion.

Town politics is always an interesting subject. There’s a weird thing that happens when people get elected to boards. They have these scheduled meetings, usually twice a month. They’re well publicized. Usually nobody shows up, so the boards conduct business in an empty room. Sometimes, when certain items come up, the board members will lament the fact that there’s nobody in the room to bounce this concept or idea off of, or perhaps just share a bid opening; however, town business must go on, so decisions are made and the process works.

Then, right out of the blue, the big one happens.

Board members don’t see it coming. They bought a $500,000 fire engine or awarded paving bids for $250,000 and nobody showed at the meetings, but now the room is full.

This is where the weirdness comes in: Usually the board members take the position that the enemy has arrived in the room. You really can’t blame them. Week after week, month after month, there was nobody in the audience and tonight the room is packed and they have no idea why.

Here’s my tip. It makes no difference. If a significant number of your voters take the time to arrive at a meeting, take it seriously. The topic that they are excited about may not be that important to you, but your voters are sending you a message and this is an opportunity for you to create a healthy relationship between you and your voters that didn’t exist before this meeting. Let me give you an example of what I’m talking about.

There is a big issue up in Millinocket. They’ve got some serious economic challenges there with the closing of the mills. I’m not making light about that. Mills have been the backbone of Maine jobs for years and there are no new jobs that come close to those, so there’s some serious stuff going on up there.

In the midst of all this, the town council decided to not sound the fire alarm at curfew.

If you were to think that wasn’t a big deal, you would be wrong. Turns out, it was a huge deal.

People organized. They drove through town at 9 p.m. honking their horns. They held barbeques. The council was surprised by their actions. Imagine that. The council had 135 people at a town meeting. Really? Do you suppose there is an opportunity here? Probably not.

Councilor Richard Theriault resigned because he refused to put his efforts into such trivial issues for the next 17 months of his time in office. Are you kidding me? This many people are upset by a council decision and you resign rather than embrace the situation?

Growing up in Camden, the fire alarm sounded every night at 9:15.

I didn’t live close to town so I only heard it after I was old enough to be out later than I should. They also sounded it early in the morning if school was cancelled. I always felt that I got screwed because I couldn’t hear that alarm.

The memories of that curfew fire alarm are still vivid today. Back in the day, the alarm would signal where the fire call was. There would be a certain order of rings and that would correspond to a chart we had on our walls that would tell us where the fire was. Over time, the alarm went down to three rings signaling a fire somewhere and then pagers came along. This piece is not about fire alarms, though.

As a member of a board, it’s not up to you to decide what’s important to your citizens. That is left to them.

If you are dealing with severe economic issues or a significant budget challenges, I can understand how you could get frustrated with a population that wants the fire alarm to ring every night. But you’ve missed a great opportunity. Many of those folks have never attended a council or select board meeting and this offers a chance to show them how their local government works. It’s also a chance to sincerely thank them for coming out and sharing their feelings.

The actions of Councilor Theriault demeaned the citizens. If people show up at meetings they are involved. If they are involved, that’s a good thing. Welcome them. They are not upset at you personally, but rather, at some action the town is taking or not taking.