Township Politics

This afternoon I hosted a meeting for twelve residents, including myself, to talk about the state of Presque Isle Township as we approach the fall election.  We chatted for the better part of three hours, and it was most illuminating.  As the new kid on the block, I'm still playing catch-up.  If this was an interim parish, I'd hold a series of meetings so that my parishioners could explain (for my benefit, and theirs) the history of the place.  But in this case I have to pick up bits and pieces of historical data as we go along.  And believe me, Presque Isle has been a lively political environment over the past 25 years!

Our main task was to start organizing for Patrick's reelection as Township Supervisor.  He is completing a four-year term, and now finds that he has competition in the upcoming election.  Brent, a young guy in one of the fire departments, is running against him.  This man has surfaced only recently.  He started attending township board meetings about two months ago, when he declared his interest in elective office.  We also talked about other offices on the ballot.  November will be upon us before we know it!  Time to get busy!

Patrick (right) talks about some of his duties as Supervisor.
He's running for reelection, so we signed his petition.

Twelve souls attended — which is all the seating I have!

Debbie makes a point.  She is a dedicated volunteer whose
chief interest is maintenance and beautification of the cemetery.

Sharon (right) chaired this meeting.  When the crowd
dissolved into multiple conversations, she made us heel.

 One of the problem areas I've identified is public information.  The township board wants to attract tourist traffic to Presque Isle, and they've taken some steps in this direction — for example, by agreeing to buy ten light pole banners featuring one of our lighthouses and a "Welcome to Presque Isle" message.  But no one person in the township is responsible for tourist-oriented publicity; to date, all the Trustees have handled this as committee-of-the-whole.  That means that no one is responsible!

There's also a dearth of information about what the township government is doing, unless you log onto the township web site and read the minutes.  The office assistant produces a newsletter from time to time, but I'm told that this piece goes to only 80 people, whereas the township's population is 1,500.  So I agreed to work with Pat, one of the Trustees, to put together a real newsletter — informative, attractive, and cheerful — which will be sent to all residents. •••