Bill Trohanis is not the stereotypical political leader. The word “humble” comes to mind when describing Bill both as mayor and as a longtime friend. He understands that true humility isn’t thinking less of oneself, it’s thinking of oneself less. Growing up working in his family restaurant in Cincinnati, Bill learned how to treat everyone with respect and dignity. It is the same way he treats each citizen whether at a town meeting during “citizen communication time”, the Memorial Day picnic or a workday at one of the many town improvement projects he has been a part of. Bill gets it.

Being the mayor of a small town with limited resources and staff is a thankless, often humbling job. You’re never going to please everyone no matter how hard you try, yet Bill continues to try. He fields phone calls, emails and texts criticizing just about every aspect of the town’s operations or decisions he has been a part of. Many times, those criticisms are from people who have been guests in his home and have included personal attacks on his character. Bill takes the criticism to heart and continues to do an outstanding job, always striving to serve everyone in the town of Walden to the best of his ability.

Instead of touting his accomplishments, he quietly goes about making Walden a better place to live. We’ve read a couple of letters to the editor that ridicule other letters of support listing the projects at McCoy and the Pumpkin Patch that Bill has personally performed claiming that those are not qualifications needed to be mayor. Like it or not, that is part of the job description in a town the size of Walden with facilities like the Pumpkin Patch, the old Bachman School and McCoy farm generating minimal revenue at best. Being mayor of Walden has become a fulltime job. Bill gets up every day with the goal of making life in Walden just a little bit better for each of its residents as well as the many visitors from other towns using Walden’s outstanding properties.

This election has been framed around one issue and that is short sighted on our parts. Long after the town center project is built, it is determined that the project is not feasible, or a future Board of Aldermen start a court fight that potentially bankrupts our town, there are still going to be issues every day with the operations and maintenance of the Town of Walden. We hope that Mayor Bill Trohanis is still there answering those texts and phone calls trying his best to improve life in Walden while working to maintain the qualities that attracted each of us here in the first place.

Cindy and Tom Cofer