I've thought about writing something with this title about a dozen times over the past 6 months, but then I don't. Something more urgent always seems to come up or I decide that the last thing these 5 gentlemen need is more confidence in all their decisions. My disagreements with Leonard Lookner and John French are especially well documented and my protests have been registered with everything from eye rolling to podium pounding to letters to the editor. Whether we're talking about solid waste or the Snow Bowl, it sometimes feels like the Select Board members are more like overprotective parents than elected representatives. Despite all this, I continue to marvel at the immense contribution they all make to the town we love. In addition to their Select Board meetings, they each must serve on five town committees, attend all the meetings of the Budget Committee, and myriad other things too numerous to mention. A lot of it is boring stuff that doesn't draw a crowd. Everything from helping to resolve disputes between neighbors to shopping around for used snow making equipment to helping make sure Camden follows the law, either the laws mandated by the state or the ones proposed and voted on by the people of Camden.

For a little perspective, one might consider browsing through the Town Zoning Ordinance: 238 pages of rules designed to promote certain things and discourage others. Each and every item voted on by any Camden resident who cared to participate.

Last week, many of us flooded into the Select Board meeting room in defense of tacos and fat tire bikes, all but certain that this was simply another case of the old guard suffocating Camden's creative young people. It was indeed unfair that these two businesses were told they could operate on the mountain only to have that taken away with no notice. The case of Sidecountry Sports was particularly troubling to me given the fact that they weren't even making sales, but simply continuing to offer free demos as they have done for years. Much has been said and written about this already but I'm still not sure how the decision was made that Sidecountry Sports was in violation of the same zoning rules as Cold Toes Tacos, nor why they needed to be dealt with in the same way at the same time.

One thing that has not been said is that by the time the agenda rolled around to the Cold Toes Tacos license, there were about six of us still there. Most people left as soon as the agenda moved out of the public comment section (which came earlier in the meeting than scheduled given the fact that the Board decided to accommodate the large number of people who wanted to make comments but didn't want to stay for any longer than necessary). If I had been in charge of the meeting, I probably would have joined John French in support of keeping the agenda item order as it was. In my opinion, there is great benefit to all parties when those who show up to comment on one item end up being educated about a variety of other issues in the process.

I was also disappointed (but not surprised) by the lack of respect shown to the Select Board (at least from where I was sitting in the back on the floor near the door). It must have been difficult for the Select Board to listen to some of the comments as people suggested they were somehow putting personal interests ahead of our beloved Snow Bowl. I've been to enough meetings to know that the Snow Bowl would likely never have survived if not for the advocacy of the Camden Select Board and the willingness of Camden taxpayers to support it. Many from outside of Camden also deserve much credit, but it is seldom mentioned that the entire Select Board, including John French, have voted over and over again to fund and bail out the Snow Bowl whenever necessary. These are people who sit up there when the rest of us are home with our families, and they read over the lease purchase agreements for various pieces of snow grooming equipment that are being funded by the town of Camden. They know that the Snow Bowl is a sacred space for our community and that's why they put in countless hours each year wading through the boring stuff that keeps it running.

John French may have come across looking less sensitive than others on Tuesday, but it must be difficult being blamed for shutting down two businesses when the decision was actually made at the recommendation of the town attorney. I do not know all the details, but I do know that John is a person who logs innumerable hours talking to everyone from town employees to indignant residents, oftentimes with his head under the hood of a car at his business on John Street. Not all Select Board and City Council chairpersons do the job as well as he does. He allows everyone the chance to speak at meetings and often bends the rules to accommodate people who want to speak when he can, even if it means they all have to stay late into the night. I may not always agree with him, but he'll always give you his honest account of what happened and how he arrived at a decision. From my experience, what he says in private conversations is exactly what he'll say in public meetings, and this is not an easy trait to come by.

As we move forward and encourage a new generation of Camden residents to get involved, let's not lose sight of all that is right with our town. The learning curve is steep but the opportunity for impact is immense. I've seen it over and over again that the people who get involved get things done. Those with many years on the Select Board may sometimes seem stuck in their ways but they also have enough history and experience to know that petty sounding thing like zoning really do matter. Zoning and "red tape" are what have protected our community from overdevelopment for generations. It's true that we are a tangled web of committees, ordinances, zoning maps, and special exceptions. It can seem like madness (and some of it is) until you see what can happen when these things are not in place. When decisions get left to the discretion of management outside of established rules set up by voters, towns can sometimes get sued for discriminating against certain types of businesses and not others, for not enforcing town zoning laws, or for not following the comprehensive plan. Each ordinance we have was actually approved by voters as part of a larger strategy through a process that is open to everyone. The Select Board doesn't make the rules, we do, and it's the town attorney who weighs in when the legality of one thing or another is called into question.

Our best course of action is to learn the rules and process well enough that we know when it's possible to work around them and when it might be time for a change. It isn't the Select Board's job to override the same zoning laws that have been approved by Camden voters. Towns that don't have such a robust process in place have often been forced to allow things they didn't want, like a McDonald's or Wal-Mart across from their schools, and the Select Board is rightly reluctant to set a precedent that could get the town sued or forced to treat every business with the same leniency we've afforded to some. Let's not forget that sometimes these problems arise from honest mistakes made with the best of intentions and they're not all made by the people we imagine. The Select Board makes a convenient and familiar scapegoat but when you look closely, we may find that they represent so much of what is right with our town and with the Snow Bowl, two things that would not be what they are today if not for a long tradition of philanthropy, public service, volunteerism, and engaged citizens.

Alison McKellar serves on the Camden Conservation Commission, the Camden Personnel Board and the Camden Budget Committee.