(September 12, 2004)  In 1995, I was a candidate for a 5-year position on the Kingston Housing Authority. During the course of the campaign, I mailed out several hundred “Please vote for me” cards to people throughout town. One of those cards went to Jim Colman, who I had known for nearly 15 years.

I was one of the original owners of the weekly newspaper Independent Voice, and that’s how I first met Jim. He was a member of the town’s Zoning Board of Appeals, and the individual responsible for placing legal advertisements in newspapers. These official advertisements of up and coming hearings that the board would conduct, were required by law to be placed in a newspaper that circulated in the town. Jim always saw to it that our newspaper was the one that published them.

For our fledgling venture, hardly a Fortune 500 operation, these legal advertisements were an important source of revenue. Our competition at the time, the Memorial Press Group (Old Colony Memorial and Silver Lake News) made periodic attempts in the spirit of competition to lure the ZBA’s legal advertising business away from us.

Jim was a staunch supporter of our local, homegrown effort and made a point of assuring us that we had nothing to fear regarding the competition. I’m sure it was nothing against the other paper from his point of view; it’s just that he was very loyal and didn’t mind letting people know it.

I saw that trait displayed again on election day in May 1995. I hadn’t had the chance to speak with Jim after having sent him the “please vote for me” card; my opponent was a well-liked young man from a very respected family in town (who, for the record, I’m sure would have done a fine job if he had been victorious instead of me). I didn’t follow up on sending the cards with a telephone call because I didn’t want to put anyone in an awkward position of saying they couldn’t support me if they knew my opponent better (or just didn’t feel like voting for me).

So I sent the cards and hoped for the best. I was standing outside the polling area at the elementary school on that chilly Saturday, and saw Jim approaching the polling area. He waved, flashed his characteristic big smile, and headed inside the school. I overheard someone from “the other camp” ask for his vote; he politely but firmly said, “Sorry, I’m here to vote for Jim.”

I’m sure everyone who knew Jim has a few stories to tell. I always enjoyed my conversations with him and had a deep appreciation of his character and his style. He was a genuinely decent man who went out of his way to help people wherever he could. He served our town in several high-visibility positions (Zoning Board, and later as Assistant Zoning Enforcement Officer) and carried out these duties with style and grace. Those are difficult positions; every decision carries with it the potential to anger or upset some petitioner, neighbor or friend. Yet Jim managed to get the job done and still remain one of our town’s most popular public servants. It was impossible not to like Jim; his smile, his sense of fairness, even-keeled manner of dealing with people, and his good cheer were his defining characteristics.

Throughout his years of service to Kingston, on the ZBA, as Assistant Enforcement Officer, and as Clerk of the Works for our new Town Hall, Jim was a great role model for what a public servant should be.

My wife Susan has served on the Planning Board here in town for a dozen or so years; her board had a number of dealings with Jim, in his official capacities, throughout the years. She summed up her thoughts of Jim with, “He was a class act all the way, someone it was an absolute pleasure to deal with.”

It’s been said that the measure of a man’s success isn’t shown by the wealth he accumulates or the positions that he holds, but rather from the friends that he leaves behind. Without question, Jim Colman was one of Kingston’s true successes – someone with many friends who demonstrated daily that public service can be characterized by dignity, good humor and class. Our community is a better place for Jim Colman’s having been such a key part of it for so long.

I will always be thankful for Jim’s vote in 1995, and for his encouragement during our early newspaper days. But more importantly, I will always be thankful for his positive influence on our community. He will be very much missed.
 

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