Well, election day has finally come and gone. Regardless of how you feel about the outcome, we still have work to do. There are wounds to bind up and divisions to be healed.

Attorney Russ Rynard is concerned about one such wound (“County should adopt policy to protect our kids,” letter to the editor from Nov. 2). It’s “those” library books. While there has been a compromise over their placement, the books remain. For my part, I am more concerned about yard signs — one in particular.

The political yard signs have started to come down, but for weeks they’ve been a constant reminder of our disagreements, anger, and fear. At one time, those signs would have been an occasion for good-natured kidding across the back fence, but now they simply alienate. It’s time to take them down.

The one sign I found most hurtful, related to “those” library books, said, “Vote NO on Library Grooming.” It pictured someone handing an “Xrated” book to a child. Presumably, the adult pictured was one of our librarians or a library board member since it was their effort to retain the books that were under attack by the group that posted the signs. Those slanderous signs accused our neighbors of pedophilia, the common crime associated with “grooming.” It was a shameful attack on our neighbors, worthy of civil suit for defamation. This is well beyond acceptable political campaigning. As far as I can tell, all those signs came down after the primary, but their memory lingers, as does the hurt and division they caused.

I’ll leave the law to Russ, an old friend. Though I’m now retired and back again, I was a local pastor here for twenty years. I love this community. It’s time to put away our division and find ways to work together again.

THE REV. TOM DOWNS,

Alpena