Parting Words: Engagement

Weston Today photos

On October 30 the Board of Selectmen recognized Selectman Kerem Dinlenc, whose term on the board has come to an end.

Presenting a certificate of appreciation to Mr. Dinlenc, First Selectwoman Samantha Nestor said, “we may not have agreed all the time, but I think we always had the same goal in mind, to make this town better. We are all grateful for the good work that you did.”

“Hopefully you aren’t going too far,” said Selectman Tony Pesco. “You can continue to serve the town in many ways.”

As the selectmen reflected on their accomplishments in the past two years, Mr. Dinlenc said he believed his top one was encouraging participation in the Annual Town Budget Meeting.

In a followup conversation, he said, “I’m happy to see engagement took form in a different way than before. I think that is a good platform to continue.”

“Moving forward,” he said, “we need engagement beyond voting and things like that. We also need to be volunteering and participating as much as possible. There’s too thin of a pool of people who are willing to do the work, and that doesn’t serve the town well.”

Mr. Dinlenc said he would like to see more people have “milk toast engagement,” people who “want to help without an agenda,” and are “genuinely almost unaware.”

He said, “I think a lot of people think that, oh, I haven’t been involved, I don’t even read what’s going on, so I don’t really know that I can work on it or be a part of it. But rather than thinking you’re not necessarily qualified, in fact, one might even be at an advantage. An open mind also has value.”

“It’s kind of getting out from behind the keyboard and engaging a little bit more directly, getting exposed to different opportunities and people.”

On the board

Mr. Dinlenc said he enjoyed being a selectman, that the role “brought me in contact with people I never would have otherwise been in contact with,” including “everyday strangers that would come up and talk to me and ask a question. That’s the kind of milk toast engagement I talked about, a person who just has a really honest and open question.”

“I saw the role as highly collaborative,” he said. “I don’t think everyone sees it that way. I saw the job description as, okay, I’m the lone Republican in the minority party on this board, how am I going to get my agenda across? And I knew that it wouldn’t be by being overly confrontational for the sport of it.”

“I very much enjoyed the work and making the town better, one little way at a time or one big way at a time. The work was really rewarding. The politics is not my jam, I’ll say.”

The politics

Mr. Dinlenc failed to win endorsement for reelection by the Republican Town Committee and, later, the party’s caucus. He chose not to raise a primary challenge or petition for a place on the ballot.

“I was looking forward to continuing to serve,” he said. “I was a bit unprepared for this outcome. I really didn’t see it coming. While I’m disappointed, I’m not hung up about it. I think maybe it’s someone else’s turn.”

“I think I’ll take a little break, but I can’t tout engagement and totally take a step back. I’d love to spend more time volunteering and helping the community come together, and then we’ll see what happens in two years.”

Parting words

“A call to action on my part,” said Mr. Dinlenc, “is that we’ve done a great job and got more engaged, but we need to take it to the next level.”

“I think people need to show up, and I think showing up doesn’t necessarily mean just making comments online.”

“If there’s a hearing, show up to the hearing. If there’s a Town Hall Talk, show up if you’re interested. There are also community events that are not issue-driven, events where people can show their support for the community and for the town. I think there’s a way to learn what’s going on by being a bit more present at various events.”