Dorothy Piquado: Mr. Farruggia lacks qualities needed in a good selectman

To The Daily Sun,

On Tuesday, March 10, Gilford voters will cast their votes to elect a new member of the Board of Selectmen for a three-year term. This is an important vote as the board governs all aspects of life in our town.

Representative government, including our town’s government, works best when our elected officials work to improve the lives of all citizens rather than simply catering to a select minority of voters or to advancing their own personal agenda. Achieving this goal requires that we elect officials who have the character, temperament and judgment to be informed by, listen to, and fairly consider a range of views when taking decisions that affect all members of our community.

Unfortunately one of the candidates for this important position, Mr. Angelo Farruggia, does not have these necessary qualities.

I had the opportunity to work with and get to know Mr. Farruggia and his family over a period of several years. In that capacity we got along very well. Or at least I thought we got along very well. (They even trusted me to re-home their dog.) Given this prior friendly history I was therefore shocked when Mr. Farruggia subsequently opted to publicly refer to me as a “domestic terrorist” simply because I was a Democratic candidate for state representative and supported other Democratic candidates for office.

I have been similarly concerned by the manner in which Mr. Farruggia has conducted himself with respect to recent School Board meetings, including sessions designed to solicit information and comments on the school’s transgender policies. This issue is difficult for many and has understandably generated numerous questions and concerns. Notwithstanding this, I was heartened that the School Board was open to hearing and to carefully considering a range of public comments on the issue, including comments based on evidence and research as well as individual belief, before making a decision.

In doing so, the members of the board demonstrated that they were willing to be educated by and listen to a range of opinions on the matter. Unfortunately, Mr. Farruggia’s conduct and comments during these meetings suggested that he was unable to do the same. Thus, he again demonstrated that he is not interested in engaging in thoughtful information gathering nor in considering the opinions of other citizens who legitimately express a different point of view when confronted with a new or difficult issue.

This is extremely problematic, as the conduct of government requires elected officials to make difficult, but informed, decisions on a daily basis.

If we are to succeed as a town we must elect officials who are fair, respectful, and able to put their personal interests aside in order to make decisions that are in the best interests of the community as a whole. Mr. Farrugia’s repeated unwillingness to contemplate other perspectives suggests that he is unequal to this task.

Gilford has two other viable candidates that are also running for the position of selectman. I urge voters to choose one of them.

Dorothy Piquado

Gilford