Jan Face-Glassman: Elected officials must be representative of all citizens and their issues

To The Daily Sun,

Voters have a choice and should understand all candidates before making their final decision. The Daily Sun did an excellent job during the primary of providing an opportunity for every candidate to be interviewed. I hope that the Sun will do the same for the November election and provide a town-by-town list of all candidates.

Belknap County voters have a privilege and an obligation to vote for candidates who will represent the entire community. It is easy to forget that not all members of the community are able to vote. Many pay significant property taxes, including local business owners and seasonal property owners (which I am). First responders are important community members, but may be unable to afford to live in the town in which they work. Elected officials must represent all these interests. If representatives fail to listen to all taxpayers and community members, the towns and county face losing businesses, population and tax base.

I would like to thank all candidates who ran in the primary. It is not easy to run for any office. A candidate’s time, effort and funds are a commitment to the community by the candidate and their family. Too frequently negative campaigns against candidates fail to recognize the collateral damage including the loss to community of involvement of good citizens. I would like to thank all candidates, especially new candidates, who stepped up to run and encourage those who did not prevail in to get involved and to run again. New ideas are valuable. I would like to recognize David Hershey, who ran in Alton/Barnstead. It was a obvious that David cares about the community and that his background is a real asset to the community. Let’s hope we continue to hear more from him and other newly involved candidates.

Jan Face-Glassman

Center Barnstead