Planting the seeds of citizenship early
IN THE CITY
by Martin Puckett
I officially started my first day in as Deputy City Manager on March 19th. I spent the first week familiarizing myself with many city departments and catching up with current initiatives. I took it as a very good sign that the week I started we had a few days of June-like weather!
During that week I also attended town meetings for Mapleton and Castle Hill and the following week, Chapman had their meeting. During those evening town meetings, the residents asked some thoughtful questions concerning budgets and ordinances and elected their leaders to serve three-year terms. I really enjoyed those town meetings. While most of the public shy away from these very important meetings, I look forward to them.
My father took me door to door with him to run for select board in my hometown of Hancock when I was a young boy. While I can’t remember his reason for running or his “pitch” I do remember going door to door, sitting around many different kitchen tables with residents, and listening to my dad talking about local issues. I remember all the baked goods I received while my dad collected signatures. I would sit and eat my treat and listen to them talk about plowing and taxes and other issues.
I went with my dad and mom to the annual town meeting too. I recall the rows of metal chairs in the old town hall in the large open room. My dad explaining how the town meeting worked. He showed me the town report, showed me the budget, the warrant articles and gave me my own copy. He told me how important these decisions were to us. When the meeting started, I was really impressed when someone stood up to speak about a topic and the whole room would go quiet and listen. All you had to do was raise your hand and, when called upon, you had the floor. My dad put his hand up and spoke too!
Soon it was time for the residents to vote for select board members and there was my dad and another man running for the same position. I remember the excitement as they counted the votes, it seemed to take forever and the room got very quite as they read the tally. My father did not win; he lost by a few votes. He ended up donating time as a volunteer police officer for many years but never did run again.
That experience left such a large impression on me. Years later, I ended up taking public management classes at UMaine and getting my bachelor’s degree (the first in my family) and starting my first town manager position when I was 23. I soon returned to school to get my master’s degree in public administration after a few years of working. I love what I do.
Through the years, I have worked in towns in many different regions of Maine (even in my hometown). My wife is from Presque Isle and my daughter was born here in 2008. My wife told me about growing up in The County and I wanted my daughter to have similar experiences and stories to tell (and take my daughter to a council meeting when she gets older). I call Aroostook home. I have valued my time in Mapleton, Chapman and Castle Hill and really look forward to working in Presque Isle.
If you are interested in getting involved, please contact us. And take my dad’s example, bring someone with you to get the next generation invested.
Martin Puckett is Presque Isle’s deputy city manager. He can be reached at 760.2780 or via e-mail at mpuckett@presqueisleme.us.
