Working at a free community newspaper is not exactly the most glitzy of callings.
But it is indeed a labor of love. We get to meet a lot of people from a lot of different walks of life. We get the opportunity to be creative, through writing, art or marketing. And we get to see people involved in the political process because they want to contribute. We’re not saying every elected local official is necessarily the best in the world, mind you, but the vast majority have the very best of intentions, at least from our view.
You don’t hear about political party, or any of that nonsense, from the local officials. You hear about the town. Or neighborhoods. Or studies. So many studies.
What happened with the recent Millville election is a terrific example of two things — the selflessness of the majority of local officials, and the reason we do love working at a community newspaper. With six candidates vying for three spots on the town council, Barbara Ryer and Robert Wisgirda tied at 205 votes for that third and final seat. They were still tied after a recount.
“I’d like to stand down,” Wisgirda said after the results were tallied, only to be followed by Ryer’s, “No, no, no — I’ll withdraw.”
Each said they wanted to save the Town from the energy and financial costs of another election. Instead, they decided to just behave like adults and figure it out themselves. They flipped a coin.
“He won, fair and square,” explained Ryer after the flip.
It’s the kind of thing that only happens in small towns, right? It’s also the kind of thing that gets resolved by selfless people.
