One resident who was in attendance at the town board meeting last Thursday said that the council's 3 to 1 appointment of Democrat Matt Parker to the Town Justice position was like "a slap in the face to the voters." And to anyone who has his or her eyes open and knows even a little bit about how the town has treated the subject of the Town Justice over these last four months, her sentiments are clearly correct.

With this move, members of the town board have demonstrated that their interests lie not with the voters, but instead with themselves.

Firstly, let's get this out of the way: these opinions bring no disrespect to Matt Parker. Parker, as well as any of the other applicants for the position, is well-qualified for the position, and we believe that he can and will do a fine job. No, this editorial instead deals with what appears to be members of our local government who have eschewed ethics and integrity in favor of blatant party politics —­ and doing so with little to no regard for propriety or subtlety.

Is it surprising or even inappropriate that, given the opportunity to appoint a position, that members of a political party would favor other members of their party? No, of course not. Say what you will about our two-party political system; it's the one we've got, and we've all grown accustomed to it.

The issue at hand here is the fact that the three Democratic members of the town council couldn't get their ducks in a row to make the move to appoint Parker right away — had they done so, no one would have blinked.

But now it's four months later. Two members who voted for Parker have previously publicly stated either their opposition to Parker, or their opposition to voting at all. And now we're supposed to believe that these board members have changed their tune independent of party politics? That it's just a simple change of mind?

Please.

So now the question arises: what have these town board members who have both managed these miraculous revelatory reversals of opinion been offered by their party? Don't mistake this for a conspiracy theory — such overt and blatant actions cheapen the very term "conspiracy." No, it seems apparent that these board members needed or wanted to make good with the party leadership, or perhaps were persuaded with the promise of support in future political endeavors. Don't be surprised if we see some familiar names and faces going for seats in other governmental offices in the near future.

But then again, maybe this is all too harsh after all. We'll let you be the judge.

Oh, wait…that position's already been filled.

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