I'm confused. Last year the selectmen were pushing for doing away with electing the assessors and instead having them appointed by the selectboard. That, they said, would result in having more qualified folks as assessors. But a month ago or so, when Karen Cumsky resigned, creating an assessor vacancy, the selectboard decided not to appoint a successor and instead to have the voters pick one at the next town election. The most logical explanation for that flipflop: our three selectmen don't have the courage of their convictions. If there's a different explanation, I hope the selectmen will let us all know what it is. They're always free to comment right on this blog.