For the Love of Plymouth: Vote Ken Tavares

People get involved in politics for a whole variety of different reasons.

Some because they want to lead, some want the recognition, some feel they have a certain value they can add to an office, while others feel strongly about an issue they want to influence.  Sometimes a person just wants to get involved, and they jump in. While I hope for the best in everyone, I know some just like the power, or feel there could be a personal gain.

When I cast a vote, I try to find an answer to the question “why?” is a candidate running, then try to figure out “what?” they want to do, then finally “how?” can they best do the job.

This year’s selectman’s race in Plymouth has four candidates, and all of them have worked hard for Plymouth, and all come with a certain level of experience.

For me, I’m voting for Ken Tavares. 

The base answer is because he has spent his entire life giving to the community.  He didn’t just one day wake up and decide to try his hand at town politics.  He didn’t jump on board because of a certain issue or a particular gain.  He has given his life to this town, in many capacities, for pure love of the town.

He started very early on as class president of Plymouth High School.  He served in the U.S. Navy as a veteran of the Vietnam War.  He came to be involved in the community as a member of the Advisory and Finance committee in 1971, in a time when the town was facing very tough issues, like how to deal with the new nuclear power plant, and the ensuing population boom, which resulted in a great many schools being built, and a surge in population, housing development, and industrial development.

Ken tossed his hat in the ring for selectman for the first time in 1976, and served off-and-on for 17 years, right up until 2009, serving many of those years as chairman.

In 1980, when the town could no longer afford to fund holiday celebrations, Ken worked with a handful of others to form July 4 Plymouth, Inc., which has successfully raised the funding and conducted the planning and execution for the July 4^th parade and fireworks, and Ken remains chairman to this day.  I’ve worked to help raise funds for these events over the past couple of years, and I have no idea how he has managed to hang in there for so long.  It is not an easy task, and must be a labor of love.

In between terms serving on the Board of Selectmen, Ken has served as a Town Meeting Representative.  I’m a Town Meeting Rep.  There is no power, no glory, no benefit to being a rep.  We shadow the meetings, we study the issues, we meet in small, un-televised caucuses to discuss the articles, and then we show up twice a year in one collective mass to vote “yea” or “nay”.  Ken currently serves as a rep, and that alone tells me that this is a man who truly is not in it for the power or glory, but just wants to make sure he is doing whatever he can to help ensure that Plymouth continues on a path of greatness.

Why would a man, who for 17 years sat in front of the cameras, at the head table before the audience, giving quotes to the newspaper and radio station, who marches at the front of the parade as the marshal every year and takes the microphone at the podium to announce the floats, want to sit with the masses yelling “yea” or “nay” from a chair in the back of an auditorium?

Because he cares.

So, that’s my why.

What do I think he wants to do?

I think he wants to bring balance and civility back to the board.  I think he’s baffled that the current board has not been able to solve issues by displaying leadership.  I think he saw it as a crisis when the board could not approve a budget in time for Town Meeting.  And I think it crushed him to the core to see that Town Meeting had so little faith in the Board of Selectmen that they shot down every article the Board brought to Town Meeting, not because they were bad ideas, but because the Board had not properly vetted the articles, and I think he saw that the board did not have the experience or the leadership to know how to make the articles appeal to Town Meeting.  I think he also fears the Board is not sure of its role, or how to execute it.

So how do I think Ken can fix the issues?

In a recent conversation, Ken told me that in his 17 years, he only ever saw one article the Board brought to town meeting that was not approved.  As the executive leaders in town, it’s vitally important that the Board do what is necessary to vet an article and garner support ahead of time.

Ken is a master in the art of compromise.  Politics is not about what you want, but doing what’s best for everyone, and doing what’s best for the town.  Negotiation is key, not a battle of “win” or “lose”.

To be an effective leader, one has to try and get both sides to find a way to meet in the middle.  This is Ken’s mastery.

Ken once told me that “I love Plymouth” is not a good enough reason to run for office in Plymouth, because more than likely, everyone who runs for office loves Plymouth.

But in my eyes, taking your entire life and giving it to serving Plymouth, gaining the experience, and building the teams to do what’s best for Plymouth shows that Ken truly has taken his “love for Plymouth” and put it to good work.

I don’t think Ken wants to shake up the board, or school them on what is right and wrong, but I think he wants to take the knowledge, experience, and influence he’s taken a lifetime to build, and help apply it from a seat on the board, to help them chart a course for success.

I urge you to join me on May 12 by casting a vote for Ken Tavares, and help to ensure Plymouth maintains its course for another 400 years.