Camden has a wealth of worthy candidates for the two open positions on the Select Board—so much so that it may be difficult to choose. Even so, after considering them all, I’ve made my selection. My votes will go to Sophie Romana and Susan Dorr, and here’s why:

Each of these two candidates offers an impressive background and lengthy experience serving the Town of Camden. Moreover, in the responses they gave to questions raised by the Camden Herald, they both indicate a clear understanding of the elephant in the room, the critical fact that overrides everything else. That of course is climate change. 

Like every other community on the Coast of Maine, Camden must face the challenge of global climate change. Debate the causes if you wish, but, willy-nilly, climate change is a reality and a dangerous one at that. We saw that last winter with those dramatic back-to-back storms, a harbinger of what lies ahead. And we saw it, maybe less dramatically but nonetheless significant, with the early closing of the Snow Bowl because of no snow.

That was devastating for skiers but also for local merchants, restaurateurs and innkeepers who rely on the Snow Bowl’s attractions to keep income flowing in the winter months. And of course it is also devastating to us taxpayers who must dip into our pockets to keep the Snow Bowl going.

What does climate change mean for us in Camden? It means rising ocean waters flooding the waterfront; it means more frequent and more devastating storms, affecting not just coastal and riverside properties but our entire water system, including clean drinking water and waste water disposal; it means rethinking the purpose of the Snow Bowl, a jewel in Camden’s crown but with its original purpose no longer viable; it also means less obviously related problems like the lack of affordable housing as real estate prices soar, pushed by newcomers beyond the reach of regular working people; and it means a challenge to us as a community to link with other communities all around us just because (isn’t it obvious?) we are all in this together. 

Reading what Susan Dorr and Sophie Romana said to an interviewer last week, I take heart from their responses. These two women understand what we’re all facing. We can indeed join together and, under their leadership along with other members of the Select Board, we can and must take an unblinking look at the challenges that we face and work out how we’re going to cope with the dangerous times that lie ahead. I think Susan Dorr and Sophie Romana can help us to do that.

Nancy Harmon Jenkins lives in Camden