From Town Tribune, Oct 26, 2017. To the Editor: I first met Don Lowe having just returned to Sherman to raise my family in the same special place in which I grew up. Don was a father with children in the school, a teacher of Adult Ed, and a volunteer for Sherman Higher Education Fund. I came to know him through his roles on Planning and Zoning and as the founder of the Land Acquisition Fund Board, on which he still serves as chairman. Over the years, my children have come to know Don through his family and his work in our school as director of Song to Symphony and the Sherman Chamber Ensemble, and in his many years as a Selectman to our town. His experience is rich and robust.
Don recognizes our greatest resource, Candlewood Lake, and understands its critical role in our property values, our community, and our economy. He supports the CLA and stays informed. Don cares about Sherman’s small businesses, and he wants to promote a supportive relationship between valuable establishments, like Happy Acres Farm and White Silo Winery, including them in the synergy of our town. Don also has a reasoned approach to issues like senior housing, a hot potato in our community. In recent years, the Sherman Housing commission put tremendous effort into researching viable senior living options for our aging residents, and unfortunately a lot of that information seemed to have been lost on the public, and a viable solution did not result. Don understands that his personal opinion is not that of the town’s. Rather, it is his job to represent the town’s voice, and by that he means to present honest and accurate information to the public to consider, so we may weigh our options accordingly. Don also recognizes that southern Sherman needs sound cell-service options to be investigated, for the safety of our citizens and the work of our local fire department and EMT’s.
What I have grown to most appreciate about Don Lowe is his political balance. A formerly registered independent, has long been one that could easily fall on either side of the political fence. Don listens to all sides, considers facts, and votes on issues outside of party interest.
In that vein, I cannot write a letter in good conscience without addressing something that has been on my conscience as of late. Sherman is a small town. One thing I admire about the Lowe-Keenan campaign is its big integrity. Recently, I’ve been dismayed by both social and political slander that has shown itself on local social media posts and in comments made. As a parent and life-long citizen, I was ashamed that such behavior was being demonstrated by adults in positions of influence. It has run its course through every limb of our town, from the RNC and DNC, to our hard-working Board of Education, and our neighborhoods. Sherman is better than that. We need representatives who focus on the facts and run clean campaigns. That matters to me.
Hannah Roberts McKinnon, Sherman