As a candidate for Oak Bluffs selectman, I would like to thank both the local newspapers for bringing this election to the attention of the voters.

Now that the election is over, I would like to express my disappointment at the coverage of this candidate. After a 20-minute telephone interview by a reporter from the Gazette, much of the information which I provided was omitted. The included my membership on town and Island committees such as the Oak Bluffs personnel and affordable housing committees, the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, healthy aging task force and joint affordable housing group.

Also omitted was my membership on the board of the senior center, vice president of the library Friends of Oak Bluffs and as a volunteer for the Island Food Pantry. Such information could have helped readers better understand my campaign goals of providing more influence to the voters through presenting them with clear, timely information and the pluses and minuses of issues coming before the town, developing a system of checks and balances to further protect their interests and reducing the use of the gavel at the selectmen’s and committee meetings to restrict comments from the public.

In addition, although I was asked for my work background, it was not included. My 10 years as a pharmaceutical statistition responsible for testing the safety and effectiveness of all my employer’s new medications for FDA approval and as health care administrator resulting in the construction of a 100-apartment ground level community for seniors and medically challenged people financed by HUD, and the creation of the first respiratory unit in the U.S. that enabled patients to be out of their respirators and moving around, accompanied by a small portable unit. Such information could have helped voters better evaluate my qualifications.

Thanks for publishing this letter and for encouraging voters to explore information more thoroughly before making up their own minds.

Abe Seiman
Oak Bluffs