Learning Curves v. Experience

After listening to John Monteleone and Ed Edelson at the Oct. 2 Candidate Forum, we can see that the two men offer very different sets of experience and skills. Ed opened with an impressive list of his accomplishments in the past two years; John (having no government experience, by his own admission) rattled off a list of work and volunteer posts he has held. In response to Ed's specific and thorough explanations of what happens in town governance, John could only promise to learn as much as he could; in the meantime, he offers vague promises to perform the obvious. Example: John thinks that the Board of Finance should "try to keep taxes down"; Ed listed concrete things he has done, like finding and eliminating waste and working together with other local towns to consolidate buying power. John has "called a couple of local leaders"; Ed is the chairman or member of several networks of local town leaders where he shares ideas of what is working for other towns.
One very telling difference occurred when an attendee asked about the effects of the federal government shutdown on our town. John, of course, didn't really know, but he assured us that in the past government shutdowns, the stock market rose the following year. Ed cited that as an example of "Wall Street" versus "Main Street" thinking; he stressed that government should work on behalf of all citizens.
In short, we can choose experience and thoughtful, future-oriented planning with an incumbent who has learned the ropes, Ed Edelson. Or we can take a chance on a candidate with a huge learning curve ahead of him, John Monteleone. In a town system with a two-year term, we need to capitalize on all the experience we have available. Let's keep Ed's experience working for us!
Chuck Jones, 150A Heritage Village