Bill Comerford's second thought

I’m sure there are a lot of disappointed supporters of Bill Comerford. From the sidelines, Comerford has been leading the charge against the administration of longtime Wallingford Mayor Bill Dickinson. He’s developed somewhat of a following because of his regular criticism of the mayor at Town Council meetings. It appeared Comerford would be moving from the sidelines to a position on the Wallingford Housing Authority after the Democratic Town Committee nominated him for the post. Then suddenly on Wednesday he dropped out and offered few specifics, saying that he had a personal issue that he would “rather not talk about.” The only problem is that Comerford has put himself in the public eye for more than a year and naturally there is going to be a lot of speculation about exactly what happened. I’m afraid it also may hurt his credibility if he continues to show up at Town Council meetings and publicly question and criticize the mayor. As one person put it on the forum section of MyRecordJournal: “…he sounds like one of those loud mouths who have all the answers until it becomes their responsibility and they have to answer for it. Wallingford is probably better off.”
I’m not sure I agree that Wallingford is better off. Regardless of how this ended, Comerford made some good points, especially on the self-insurance issue. I didn’t always agree with his presentation, but he did raise important questions and important facts that led the town to move to self insurance. I hope Comerford continues in his role as a watchdog although it may be fore difficult in light of his withdrawal.