Bringing up age in Ward 4 race: 'good politics' or 'reprehensible'?

LACONIA — "I will not make age an issue of this campaign," Ronald Reagan remarked while running for re-elction against Walter Mondale in 1984. "I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience."

Brenda Baer took a different tack in defending her City Council seat in Ward 4 against the challenge of Jack Terrill, whom she edged by six votes in 2009 to win her third term. She chose to make age an issue by claiming that Terrill insinuated she is too old for the job.

In an interview reported in The Citizen, Terrill, the president of the Lakes Region United Way, said that "generations look at things differently." The writer noted that at 85, Baer is the oldest member of council and suggested that Terrill, who is 52, considered age the most significant difference between the two.

That same evening, at the candidates forum at The Weirs, Baer, read from a letter that appeared in The Daily Sun the next day. "I was wondering what my theme was going to be this year," she began. "Now, thanks to my opponent, I think I have found it. My opponent . . . makes my age an issue," she charged.

Recalling that Terrill noted that she no longer works, Baer said that "being a city councilor is my work" and went on to list her participation in efforts to address water quality, Wyatt Park, health care and city budgets, repeatedly asking "where were you Jack?" She said that two years after Terrill first challenged her he was once again calling for "forward thinking, new ideas" then chided him for not offering "those great ideas" in the meantime.

"Age is not a problem," Baer said.

"I never once mentioned age," Terrill declared yesterday during an interview at The Daily Sun. "Never." He insisted that he simply stated the obvious that "we're from different generations and that differentiates us," explaining that "our perspectives, how we approach problems, come from different generations."

Terrill added that "we're at different places in our lives." Baer, he said, was enjoying a well-earned retirement while he is working to put a second child through college.

"Retirement is not on my horizon," he remarked, questioning "if it ever will be." He acknowledged "I have a real vested interest is seeing our property values increase," which he said was a different perspective from that of a retiree living in an "isolated community", a reference to Briarcrest Estates where Baer resides.

Baer described her decision to put the wood to Terrill as "a reflex action," observing that sometimes she feels she would command more respect but for her age and gender. "It took it that way," she said, "and I found something I could make short and quick. I need all the help I can get."

"I was taken aback when she chose the tactics she chose," Terrill said. "It was damaging to me personally and professionally and it was untrue." He said that while for Baer the charge was "good politics," he found it "reprehensible."

"It made me not want to participate," he continued, suggesting such political ploys "is not how we encourage participation."

Election day is Tuesday, Nov. 8. Ward 4 votes at Memorial Park.