Mr. Brown fails to make his case

Our town needs him.

So say signs scattered through Deerfield in support of Erich Brown, who is seeking a three-year term on the Selectboard.

What was my initial response to that message? Curiosity, of course: Who is Mr. Brown? And, I asked myself, why specifically does our town need him? To try to answer those questions, I asked neighbors what they knew about the candidate and his positions. No one knew much about Mr. Brown or, what is more important, his priorities for the town. And no one said that he had knocked on their door to discuss issues or ask for their support.

I had greater hopes for my Internet research, but a Google query yielded few mentions of his candidacy and surprisingly little specific public information from Mr. Brown about what he hopes to achieve as a selectman. Mr. Brown posted a Facebook announcement of his candidacy on March 28, but I was unable to learn anything concrete on that page about his views on issues like public school funding, town infrastructure repairs or how much time he has each week to devote to the town’s business.

Participatory democracy depends on the willingness of individuals to devote personal time and energy to address community needs and challenges, so Mr. Brown’s interest in serving Deerfield is to be commended. I also feel, however, that it is incumbent on someone who wants to sit on a town’s top governmental body to make every possible effort to publicly explain why citizens should give that person the most precious of democratic gifts, a vote. At this time, Mr. Brown has not made a compelling case for his candidacy, but I remain open to him changing my mind in the future.

Patricia Ryan

Deerfield