April 26, 2018

On Monday night, Council Member Burt Hewitt resigned from Milton City Council.  Hewitt and his family will soon be moving out of Milton.  Hewitt was my favorite member of the legacy city council.  His departure is a loss for the City.  I liked Hewitt for a number of reasons.

First and most importantly, Hewitt was not an opportunist.  That is, it never struck me that he was on Council to further his personal/business interests or to feed his ego.  I am convinced that 80+% of politicians are (mostly) opportunists.  They would embrace Nazism for a few extra votes or more applause; their principles are infinitely malleable.  Not so with Hewitt, who I think was able to largely separate his personal/business interests from his elected duties.  Hewitt clearly articulated the simple principles that motivated him, and he usually applied those principles to his voting.  Citizens usually had a pretty good idea about how Hewitt might vote on an issue.

Hewitt also had a voting record that mostly aligned with the prerogatives of citizens.  He was on the right side of most issues.  This mostly spared him the ire of ordinary citizens.  He was not a lightning rod for controversy, although he did occasionally delight in swiping at a few local political nut-jobs.  And Hewitt did not suffer fools lightly.  You knew when Hewitt was annoyed with some of the Council nonsense that sometimes passes for governance in Milton.  He would fidget, look at the ceiling, twirl his pencil, and or engage in other diversions to channel his impatience with other Council Members that loved to hear themselves speak.

The special election for Hewitt’s District 1 seat will be held in November 2018.  The next scheduled election for this District 1 seat will be conducted in November 2019, so the candidate that wins the special election will have to stand for run for re-election at that time.  Hopefully, Milton will elect a District 1 council member not unlike Hewitt or our new Council members Bentley and Jamison, who are doing a terrific job representing citizens.

Farewell, Burt.  You will be missed.  I wish you continued success in all your endeavors.  And keep that twisted sense of humor in check.

Tim Becker