I had the opportunity to enjoy a cup of coffee (tea in his case) with our Village President Tom Kempinski this morning. He extended the invitation and this was actually the second time he had done so. I appreciated his time and our visit feeling that I had come to better understand the man than before.
We have had some brief conversations as the result of things I've written, but this was the first chance I've had to visit over an hour or so with Mr. Kempinski on a broad range of subjects. He strikes me as a decent person who wants the best for Germantown. I never really doubted that but it bears saying anyway. He is willing to listen to various sides of the discussion but my sense is that he'll stick with his position more often than not. I sense that he has thought through most things before he engages in discussion and, consequently, has formed fairly strong opinions. He has a solid negotiating background and that shows in the way he positions things for discussion, etc.
He is a union member and has worked in trucking and has been a union member for many years. With that having been said, he professes that this does not cloud his vision for the community. Our meeting this morning came about as the result of my Blog yesterday concerning the Waste Management situation and my thoughts that he might have been trying to add to the pressure being felt by Waste Management with his statement that was published yesterday. He reiterated that he was, in fact, trying to bring pressure to bear but that this was being done to make Waste Management more responsive to the needs of the citizens in Germantown.
I mentioned that I had heard from some quarters that he was thought to have usurped some of the powers of various committees in the village. He took exception to that, feeling this was unfair, but explained that his actions have always resulted in a better deal for the village. He didn't feel that he had stepped on the toes of committee members. He also was quick to add that no matter what I might have heard, any deals he had done were always done with the best interests of the village uppermost in mind.
His is a much more 'hands on' approach to the position of Village President and he seemed to accept my comment to that effect as a compliment. In fact, he felt that this set him apart from predecessors and worked to the good of the community. I suggested that there were some 'rumbles' to the effect that he was sort of a dominating person. He seemed taken aback by that thought and asked why I would say that. I mentioned that probably the combination of his deep voice, demeanor and stature in addition to the power of his position could have contributed to that if, in fact, there was more to that than simply 'coffee talk'. He was a bit concerned with the possibility that people could equate his being a 'teamster' to meaning that he was willing to step on toes. I suggested that, while the teamster organization had changed considerably, there was certainly the historic view that some teamster activities had relied upon heavy-handed tactics. He accepted that but hastened to remind me that those where things of long ago and had no place in the modern movement. He was a 'change agent' in Local 200 and was proud of the accomplishments.
He plans to run for another term as President and expects that he'll have competition. He mentioned 'sister city' relationships that may be possible with communities in Poland and Germany. His feeling is that these types of things can only be helpful to Germantown through business relationships, etc.
We agreed that I would feel free to contact him whenever I had questions, and I suspect that he'll feel free to let me know what he is thinking. He does not want to get involved in the give and take of the Blog world but I did offer to publish any comments on his behalf as I had done yesterday following our telephone conversation. In this way, he will be able to be sure that his viewpoint is stated.
We both agreed that we were not anxious to be labeled as anything in particular so far as a political persuasion. I simply restated that I am conservative both from a social and a fiscal perspective.
