Congratulations to the winners of Tuesday’s POA runoff elections in the East and Estates. The turnout was quite large, so it seems that the residents of those two sections were very interested in the issues which were raised during the short time before the election.

The runoff also shows that the long standing Community Agreement is still very relevant today. Under the Community Agreement, each of the four sections choose candidates for the eight member Board of Trustees, and the job of mayor rotates among the sections. Those who don’t understand the process point out that the general election in March is usually unopposed. However, the real debates take place within the POAs so each section can be better represented.

Some have criticized the Community Agreement because they believe it stifles new ideas and doesn’t allow a broad range of candidates. However, these runoff elections show that candidates with very different views can still be heard, and those people can be elected if that’s what their section’s voters want.