The horror of what occurred Friday morning at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. is almost impossible to comprehend. Anyone who is a parent, grandparent or simply a member of the human race grieves for the families.

There is something unreal about reading and watching these news reports and then listening to Christmas songs playing on the radio.

I hugged by grandchildren tighter when I picked them up from school and daycare Friday afternoon. I talked with my children and told them I loved them.

We know how fleeting life can be, simply from the natural process of life. I never knew my father who died when I was a baby. My now 29-year-old daughter was a triplet and her two baby sisters Valerie and Jessica failed to survive being three months premature despite the best efforts of one of the best hospitals in the country.

My brother Greg died from a heart attack when he was 34. My dear wife of 27 years, Nancy, died in 2010 after a valiant eight-year battle with cancer.

We all suffer losses but we cannot imagine the losses suffered by these families who had their loved ones taken by incomprehensible violence.

As a country, our police agencies have been trained to respond to these shootings when they occur. But what has been done to prevent these massacres. Have we provided enough resources for mental health services? Are our laws sufficient to respond to people who we suspect might be a threat but who have not yet taken the final steps to violence?

There is a lot of hand wringing and public statements issued by our so-called leaders after each of these mass shootings, yet these massacres within our country continue.

In my community of Rockland, separate city councilors are taking steps to respond to the horror from Connecticut. Rockland’s Mayor William Clayton has asked for a meeting of public safety and school officials to see if the city is properly prepared and if our schools are protected.

City Councilor Elizabeth Dickerson has taken another tack, calling for a vigil and march to demand an end to gun violence and for Congress to enact common sense gun control laws.

Rockland has had a few vigils over the years. There was one about 20 years ago when a young girl was killed in a domestic violence incident. There was another one after the 9-11 terrorist attacks.

As individual communities and as a national community we must come up with some answers to stop the madness. Our children and grandchildren only concern should be whether they will receive the Christmas gift they most want, not whether they will be safe in their schools.

Frank Isganitis, the owner of the Limerock Inn and president of the Penobscot Bay Regional Chamber of Commerce Board, won the seat for the single Rockland City Council.

Isganitis received 1,194 votes compared to 1,026 for incumbent Mayor Brian Harden who was seeking an unprecedented fifth consecutive three-year term on the city council. Dale Hayward finished third with 758 votes.

There was clearly a lot of sentiment in the community that Harden had been in office for too long. That is simply a fact of politics that at some point voters want change. Nearly everyone that runs for public office wants to serve their community and Harden has done that for 12 years.

In the Rockland area District 47 House race, Democrat Elizabeth Dickerson defeated Republican Gordon Mank Jr. with 72 percent of the vote. Dickerson collected 2,558 votes in the district that includes all of Rockland and a part of Owls Head while Mank got 992 votes.

That’s a stunningly large percentage for a first-time legislative candidate.

That race was not much in doubt, however, to many observers because of the controversy over whether Mank lived in Rockland and about his arrest a few years ago for assault.

Dickerson will succeed Democratic Rep. Edward Mazurek of Rockland. She plans to remain on the city council with her term running through November 2014.

And in the closely watched state Senate race for District 22, which covers much of Knox County, Democrat Mazurekwon over incumbent Republican Christopher Rector. Mazurek said he received a telephone call from Rector on Wednesday morning, congratulating him.

Mazurek said that be believes there was some backlash against Rector for his support of some of Gov. LePage’s initiatives. But, he also credited hard work by Democrats. He said it was a hard-fought campaign between two well known and well respected people.

Mazurek won in Rockland (2,057 to 1,173); Camden 1,748 to 1,266; St. George 794 to 711; Owls Head 508 to 428; Rockport 1,066 to 1,012; Vinalhaven 449 to 211; South Thomaston 483 to 377; and North Haven 179 to 54.

Rector won in his hometown of Thomaston 760 to 626, in Warren 1,068 to 772, and in Union 712 to 611. The two candidates tied on Matinicus both with 24 votes. Rector has served six years in the Maine House and has been in the state Senate for four years.

Mazurek has served eight years in the Maine House representing Rockland and part of Owls Head. He had been a mayor of Rockland a retired coach and teacher.

And incumbent Rep. Chuck Kruger will be serving another term in the Maine Houe with wins in Thomaston and St. George for the Maine House District 48 seat. Kruger won in Thomaston 760 to 626, and in St. George won 924 to 558. Collins won in Owls Head 199 to 188.

Rep. Joan Welsh won a third term for Maine House District 46, representing Camden and Rockport. Welsh won 1,141 to 965 in Rockport and 2,039 to 1,017 in Camden.

And with unofficial results, independent Jeffrey Evangelos of Friendship appears to have been elected to the Maine House, succeeding Republican Rep. Wes Richardson did not seek re-election because of term limits. Evangelos won in his hometown 476 to 213 over Republican Bob Carter. Evangelos also won 450 to 317 in Cushing; and in Union 727 to 577. Carter won in his hometown of Warren.

Evangelos had been the target of some nasty outside attack ads but he weathered those to win a seat in Augusta, beginning next month.

In 2008, Rector won by winning in traditional Democratic stronghold Rockland 1,701 to 1,242. Rector also won by wide margins in traditional Republican communities of Warren and Union.

Two years later, Democrats did not even put up a challenger to Rector.

With Mazurek unable to seek another two years in the House because of term limits, he decided to challenge Rector.

Mazurek has won his races with relative ease. In his last race in 2010, he defeated his Republican opponent Steve Dyer 69 percent to 31 percent.

Mazurek is a retired teacher and football coach and has been emphasizing that connection to the community. Rockland is filled with Mazurek signs.

Rector has positioned himself as a moderate Republican after two years of battles between minority Democrats and Republican Gov. Paul LePage. Democrats have argued that Rector has sided with LePage on many issues.

Most local followers of politics expect this to be a close race.

And speaking of close, the city council race could also be close. In the last presidential election, more than 3,700 votes were cast in Rockland. In a three-way race, the winner will need to collect more than 1,200 votes and possibly 1,500 or more.

Harden has received no fewer than 1,119 votes in his four previous races and the most came in another presidential year — 2000 — when he collected 1,781 votes. The campaign has been more vigorous this year. Harold Dale Hayward has worked hard and has the backing of at least two former city councilors and a former state representative. The third candidate Frank Isganitis has the backing of some in the business community but he has run a less publicized campaign.

Forty-eight hours and we will know the results.

Incumbent Mayor Brian Harden is seeking a fifth consecutive three-year term on the city council. No other person in the 67-year history of Rockland’s city council/city manager form of government has served 15 years in a row and thus Harden would make history if he wins on Nov. 6.

Being an incumbent has its advantages. Name recognition is critical in a political race and incumbents get that advantage.

But there is also the downside to being an incumbent. You have cast votes and over 12 years, Harden has cast a lot of votes. This has earned Harden political opponents.

Harden’s critics will note that he has created some of his own baggage. He has a tendency to lecture people during meetings and this is viewed as condescending.

He also infamously ordered the public access channel cameras turned off in 2007 during a city council meeting when a citizen spoke up to criticize council write-in candidate Bentley Snow Davis, a candidate that Harden had championed.

That action infuriated many people. Harden defended his action then and continued to defend his action at a city council debate held Oct. 9. He claimed that the woman who was speaking was possibly drunk and he did not want a personal attack to go over the airwaves.

So there are many people who want to end his service on the council.

But Harden, a Rockland native, has his supporters. He has been the top vote-getter in each of his previous runs for council.

The first person to challenge Harden this year was inn owner Frank Isganitis. Isganitis has the distinction of serving as a city councilor for the shortest period on record.

In 2010, he was initially declared the winner of a council seat and was sworn into office. But a recount would within a week overturn that result and Isganitis fell three votes short of Larry Pritchett for the seat.

Isganitis has his own baggage. He was a vocal supporter when Walgreens wanted to build a store at the busy Maverick Square intersection back in 2008. He criticized opponents of that project.

A citizen group formed and forced a referendum vote on the council-adopted zone change that would have allowed Walgreens to build. That effort was successful, the zone change was repealed and there was no Walgreens.

Isganitis continued to defend his position during the Oct. 9 council debate. He came under fire, however, from a citizen who reminded the candidate of his criticism of the opponents. The citizen said Isganitis had called opponents “stupid” although the candidate said he does not recall saying that and if he did, he apologizes.

Isganitis has decided to run a low-key campaign. He said he will not have campaign signs, saying it is a visual distraction and a waste of money. He has also decided against any door-to-door campaigning, saying people don’t want to be bothered at their homes.

He has opted for inviting people to have chats with him at his inn.

Initially, Isganitis appeared to be Harden’s biggest obstacle to a fifth term.

Then came Dale Hayward.

Hayward has twice before run for the council with little success. In 1986, he finished seventh out of nine candidates for two open seats on the council. He received 344 votes in that year. In 2009, he challenged Harden one one one for the single seat up for a vote that year. Harden defeated Hayward 1,488 to 867.

When Hayward announced, some local political observers felt that his candidacy would take away votes from Isganitis and split the anti-Harden vote, thus assuring Harden a fifth term.

Since then, however, events have changed.

Hayward has waged a strong campaign. Many observers of the Oct. 9 debate felt he performed the best. The observers say his performance was vastly better than his debate performance of 2009. Hayward signs are sprouting throughout the city and he has been out passing out fliers touting his candidacy.

There have been other candidates who have won on their third try for the council. Hal Perry finished last in 2003 and 2004 before he was elected in 2005 and later served a year as mayor.

Raymond Moulaison lost in 1982 and again in 1983 before winning election in 1984. Many considered him one of the most thoughtful councilors that the city had seen.

Harden, however, has defeated three people who would later win election to the council — Elizabeth Dickerson in 2000, Perry in 2003 and James Thompson in 2006.

Hayward has his own baggage. He can be volatile at times. When he ran for council in 2009, his main theme was criticism of the operation at the city dump. His motives were questioned by some on that issue, however, since he had applied but was turned down for a job as gatehouse attendant at the dump shortly before he ran for the seat.

And this year, he is locked in a legal battle with the city. The city went to court to order him to remove a structure that he uses for storing flea market items. The city argues that it tried working with Hayward for months before it decided to take the matter to court.

Hayward eventually signed a consent agreement with the city that he would remove the structure and pay the city’s cost to file the legal action. He has done neither and has appealed the consent agreement, saying he was coerced into it by the city and his own attorney.

He has asked the court to waive the fee for filing his appeal but thus far the court has not agreed. Some of his critics question why he cannot afford to pay the appeal filing cost but can afford political signs.

What this all means is that all bets are off on what the outcome could be on Nov. 6.

History could be made by Harden or a new councilor could join the city council.

That building was a federally-owned building used both as a custom house and a post office. During the 1960s, however, the federal government wanted a more modern-looking facility for its Rockland area offices and the new brick structure was built in 1967.

Three years later, the old Custom House building was demolished. Forty-five years later, those who remember the stately structure say that it was one of the greatest mistakes made in the community. A building made of thick granite should have lasted another century or two, the old-timers lament.

New generations of Rockland residents may soon witness their version of that loss. The building now known as the former Lincoln Street Center for Arts and Education was built in 1868 as Rockland High School. Rockland was a bustling city in that post Civil War era. The brick high school provided a consolidated place to replace a mishmash of old wooden buildings.

From about 1900 on there were calls to expand the high school because of overcrowding. But it was not until 1925 that a major renovation and the addition of two wings were completed to make the school the same look as it has today.

The school on Lincoln Street remained as the high school until 1963 when Rockland District High School opened to serve not only Rockland youths but the young people of Owls Head and South Thomaston who had joined with the city in 1958 to create School Administrative District 5.

The Lincoln Street building served as Rockland District Junior High School, later renamed Rockland District Middle School, until the fall of 1995. The school was closed about three months into the school year when a wave of illnesses were suspected of being linked to poor air quality. The emergency closure resulted in the middle school students and high school students sharing RDHS’ campus until voters had no choice but to approve a new middle school.

SAD 5 turned the old school building over to the city of Rockland in 19996. The historic structure took on a new life in 1998 as the Lincoln Street Center for Arts and Education. Artists of all forms rented out classrooms to teach. The independent Watershed School moved in and became successful at that location.

The building kept its roots, however, as the Rockland Alumni Association stored more than 100 years of memorabilia in the building.

But the arts group was never able to keep its financial head above water because of the cost of maintaining a 144-year-old, 45,000 square-foot building. The cost to replace the roof and repair bulging brick facades was too great for the non-profit organization. In April, the group announced it would be closing the enter as of June 30.

There was a brief attempt by a small cadre of local citizens to save the building but that group also soon realized the high cost of maintaining the structure.

Camden National Bank now holds control of the building, having held the mortgage from the arts group. A for sale sign sits out in front of the stately structure but there are concerns by many local people that no one will step forward to buy it.

The school has a gymnasium, it has a beautiful theater that was the setting for one scene in the Academy Award nominated movie “In the Bedroom” with Sissy Spacek, Marisa Tormei, and Tom Wilkinson. I did not receive a credit but I also appeared in two brief scenes in that movie, playing — what else — but a reporter. I like to refer to Spacek, Wilkinson and Tomei as my co-stars, but I digress.

The Lincoln Street building has played an important role in the lives of anyone from Rockland who is 29-years-old or older.

In hindsight, many wonder whether the school district should have simply invested the money into renovating the school and it would still be a vibrant part of the community.

The taxpayers of Rockland would likely not consider one option. The building could be used as a city hall, an annex to the recreation center and then the remaining spaces leased out to offset the cost of operations.

Rockland’s current city hall is a fine building but is located on the outskirts of the city rather than in the heart of the community.

If no action is taken soon, the Lincoln Street building may face the same fate as the old Custom House. And 45 years from now, old-timers will lament the loss of that chunk of Rockland’s history.

Both the superintendent search and the Supreme Court’s deliberations have been done in the utmost secrecy. Both have attracted a lot of attention. Both will have a significant impact on the country in terms of the health care ruling and the local community when it comes to the selection of the superintendent.

The high court waited for its final day of the session to announce that the individual mandate in the federal legislation was constitutional. This was met by surprise by the many cable television pundits who had expected Chief Justice John Roberts, a summer resident of an island off St. George, to side with those who ruled that the mandate violated the U.S. Constitution.

And RSU 13 is waiting to the final moments to name a new superintendent. The district’s former superintendent Judy Lucarelli announced in November she was leaving the district that next month. Now, nearly seven months later, the community still is uncertain who will be its next education leader. The neighboring Five-Town School Community School District in the Camden area learned in mid-April that its superintendent was retiring. Two months later it had named his successor – - an in-house candidate.

And apparently many people within RSU 13 thought that the Rockland area school board would follow suit. Interim RSU 13 Superintendent Neal Guyer was one of two finalists for the top RSU 13 post until he was informed June 21 that he was no longer being considered for the job. He sent an e-mail to  administrators on the same day that the school board met and reached a consensus to enter talks with another candidate.

Following that action, 11 administrators in the district issued a public letter in which it heaped considerable praise on Guyer. The administrators cited a list of accomplishments and praised his open and collaborative leadership.

The administrators thanking one of their own is not a surprise, but the public approach is interesting. Since the administrators understand that the board could announce a new superintendent by next week, the new superintendent would come into a district where his administrative team have made clear it would have preferred someone else. That puts the new superintendent in a difficult position.

Local pundits believe the board was sharply split between Guyer and another candidate.

The board has not released the name of that final candidate. The board is scheduled to meet Tuesday night to interview the yet unnamed finalist and then to vote Thursday night to appoint the person.

The board cites state confidentiality law in refusing to name the finalist but that has not prevented other districts such as Portland to bring in their finalists for public scrutiny. All the board would have to do is get permission from the candidate to release his name.

I say “his” name because while the board has not named the finalist, word has leaked out that Eric Ely, the current superintendent of the Southbridge School District in Massachusetts, is in the running for the job.  David DiGregorio, who had served on that district’s board but whose term expired this month, acknowledged Friday that he had received a telephone call from a RSU 13 board member named Brian who was doing research on Ely. Brian Messing happens to be the chairman of the RSU 13 personnel committee.

According to news reports from Southbridge, Ely has applied for several other superintendent jobs after only two years with that Massachusetts district.

Attempts to reach Ely have been unsuccessful although a message was left on his cell phone.

The long time it has taken to select a new superintendent and the apparent sharp division within the board has similarities to the Supreme Court deliberations. The Supreme Court is divided, often on 5-4 votes. The school board will be electing a new chairman next week and local pundits say there may be a split on who should take over for Greg Hamlin who stepped down last week.

The big question will be who will be the Chief Roberts on the RSU 13 Board and will that sway the decision and present a surprise to the pundits and public.

And an update:

Ely had yet to return a telephone call Monday afternoon but one source said that he has withdrawn from consideration. Where that leaves the board is the $64,000 question. The board will be meet with its attorney on a legal matter Tuesday evening and then will meeting, still behind closed doors, on a personnel matter.

The hiring of a superintendent is one of the most important decisions a school board will make. A superintendent can help shape a school district both during his or her tenure and even years after the person is gone.

But school boards are notorious in keeping secret who they are considering for these all important posts.

State law does make the name of the candidates confidential but the boards could work out an agreement with finalists that their names be released if both sides agree. The Portland school district held a public forum earlier this year to allow the public to meet with one of its finalists.

The University of Maine will have finalists for both its chancellor position and university presidents meet with the community before a final decision is made on whether to hire a candidate. There is no damage done to those finalists, even the ones who end up not getting offered the job.

But school districts maintain secrecy at a level comparable to the Manhattan Project of the  1940s.

History shows that the more transparency the better. About 20 years ago, the Rockland area school board hired a superintendent and business manager in its traditional secret way. Within a few years the district found itself in a deficit of $750,000 – which was big money back then – due to poor financial management by the top administrators and lack of oversight by the board.

As it turns out, one of the administrators had a poor track record in the previous job and left under similar circumstances. There was nothing nefarious to the track record but if the board had publicized its choices, the district may not have had to deal with the financial pain it would later experience.

And a few years after that, the Waldoboro area school district had agreed on a finalist for a superintendent job. I found out who the finalist was before the vote and published a story in the local newspaper. As it turns out the finalist had failed to inform the board that he had left a previous job under less than desirable conditions. The board was not even aware that the finalist had held that job.

The bottom line is that school districts should be more open to having its finalists vetted publicly. When it comes to the final votes of the school board to hire a superintendent, the vote is almost always unanimous so that the board can show it is unified in its decision even if that is not the case.

Regional School Unit 13, which covers the Rockland area, is going through what appears to be the final phase of its latest superintendent search. No names are being released as the board is ready to vote in less than two weeks on a candidate.

The candidate could be the current interim superintendent but neither he nor the board is talking about any such details.

Manhattan-style secrecy is not needed.