Letter to the Editor: Kathleen Meil does her homework

Thu, 06/09/2016 - 11:00am

Almost a year ago, Kathleen told me she would be running for Joan Welsh's open seat in the Maine House of Reprepresentatives. I only knew her a little at that point but was already encouraged by the fact that I had seen her showing up at some of the most poorly attended meetings in all of the Mid Coast. You guessed it, Mid-Coast Solid Waste board meetings. That wasn't enough to sell me though. Showing up at meetings is common among those running for office, but doing the homework and formulating clear positions based on those meetings is not.

After a year of getting to know Kathleen better, often in the setting of select board and other public meetings, I've been impressed by her grasp of the issues, her willingness to listen, and the fact she isn't afraid to disagree nor to concede that she needs to learn more before taking a stand. She does her homework.

We are lucky in this community to have a great race shaping up for the State Representative seat that Joan Welsh will be leaving behind. As Democrats, we are especially fortunate to have two great candidates vying for the nomination. I know and like them both, as many of you probably do. They are both effective leaders with proven track records and they are both great assets to our state and our local community. I hope to see both their names on ballots for many years to come. Democracy is easier when there's one candidate you like and one that you don't, especially in a small town, but we can't let that paralyze us.

For me, the decision to give my vote for Kathleen comes down in large part to the issues that are the most urgent to me: Technology, jobs, and climate change. I don't know anyone more knowledgeable or more prepared than Kathleen to make progress in bringing innovative jobs to our state while reducing our collective impact on the environment.

To end, I just have to share one of my favorite quotes from Kathleen that came when I put her on the spot about a tough issue. It is this vision, coupled with her willingness to do the research and ask hard questions that gives me hope.

"To me, this is the fundamental problem with policy state-wide. We're so afraid to innovate that we commit to ideas we already know won't get us where we need to go. It doesn't make sense. Maine needs to be BOLD right now: to invest in the next technology, not the last one."

Alison McKellar lives in Camden