Not running after 40 years of service

Monday, January 21, 2013

To the Editor:

Inasmuch as our election season is soon upon us, I am taking this opportunity to formally inform my constituents that I will not be seeking re-election as School District Moderator.

The background of my decision is quite simple, after co-founding Bedford Positively last May, it became apparent that if Bedford Positively was to matriculate as we envisioned, that anyone associated with the project should not have any allegiance to any particular entity, more specifically the town or School District in order to maintain our goal of impartiality. So based on that fact and discovering how much enjoyment I was deriving personally from Bedford Positively and also watching Bedford Positively’s contribution to the well being of our community grow on a regular basis, I started making no secret to my friends, fellow citizens and associates that I would not stand for re-election and would in fact be cutting my term short since I could not envision it being in the interest of our community to attempt to conduct the March elections under the direction of two moderators whose philosophies were so diametrically opposed.

As it is my recollection, it was either the last week of June or the first week in July that I mentioned, by virtue of an aside, in a conversation with the superintendent of schools that I would not be filing in January and would be bringing more than 40 years of service to the School District to a close. It was with sadness and regret as I mentioned this since I believe it was the first time I realized how much I would miss working with the staff at the SAU and the Bedford school system.

I am truly proud of what was accomplished during my tenure as to the elections and service to the voters of Bedford.

I had never considered making a formal statement as I am making now since I was of the opinion that most likely my decision was known, until another conversation with the superintendent took place perhaps a week or two ago when he asked if I was planning to make an announcement such as this inasmuch as it was possible that other citizens might consider filing to seek the Moderatorship if they knew that I was in fact retiring. As usual, the superintendent was providing sage counsel.

I must say that 40-plus years seems to have flown by and I can and will express my appreciation to so many people at a later date. In the meantime, if any citizen of our community has an interest in serving the Bedford School District as moderator and would like to obtain some background concerning the same, please feel free to contact me at either 472-5051 or 682-8069.

RYK BULLOCK

School District Moderator

Bedford