Though He's Not Running, Berlin Mayor Salina Would Have Liked His Chances

When the slate of candidates for the November elections were announced Monday night, both sides said they were confident they had the right people on their ticket to gain majority of the seven person Town Council.

There was a glaring omission at the top of the Democratic ticket, as five-term Mayor Adam Salina decided to take a break from politics and not run for his sixth term.

A republican candidate said “the Mayor certainly knew how to pick a graceful time to get out,” a quote that Salina saw and reacted to.

“I’ll stand on my record and everything that we’ve accomplished in this town over the past 10 years,” Salina said. “I am humbled that the people in town thought enough of me to elect me five straight times. I never took anything for granted but as for that quote, I think I would have a pretty good chance of getting re-elected. I’m not sure exactly what it means but I would like my chances. But, I’ll be rooting from the sidelines this time around.”

Salina said the time was right to take a break.

“My daughters are 9, soon to be 10, 7 and 5 so all they’ve known is me being the Mayor,” Salina said. “The first question they asked is what will they tell their friends I do for work when they ask. I tried to explain to them this is an unpaid job and daddy has another job that pays the bills. They are still struggling with that fact.”

Salina applauds any person who wants to enter community service.

“Like my daughters, a lot of people in town still think the Mayor gets paid. The job takes an enormous amount of time but it is what you put into it that is important. There are people on the council in my time who have just shown up to a meeting every two week and that was it. Then there are other people who get involved on committees and they put a lot of time and effort in. During budget season we meet four, sometimes five nights a week.

“There are also appearances for new businesses and charities and state governmental meetings that the Council members and mayor can attend. I enjoyed going to as many of them as I could which added time on but I thought it was important for the town to have a face represented at those things.”

One thing Salina won’t miss, though he got used to it, was the criticism.

“I think being a leader is being able to make the difficult decisions even when they are not popular,” he said. “Not everybody is going to love you all the time and not everybody will love you any of the time. You have to realize that but make the decision that is right for the town regardless.