Describing oft-debated Waterford Selectman William “Whizzer” Wheeler’s personality is an adventure in adjectives. Unabashed, rough, cantankerous, possessing “social flaws” and a “not sugary” personality have been our regular descriptors of the Whiz.

Other, less flattering, appraisers of Whizzer have used “explosive” and, most recently, “liar.”

But after his firecracker end to his selectman’s career on Feb. 19 – in a meeting fraught with Whizzer’s trademark histrionics and melodramatic grandstanding – we have another adverb and adjective pairing to describe the town’s favorite controversial character: sorely missed.

Yes, we’re going to miss Whizzer. We’re going to miss his notoriety and notoriousness, his personality, and his dogged insistence on courses of action, however unpopular. The people of Waterford will probably miss him as well, since even after he resigned his seat under duress, voters wouldn’t let him rest, and sent him back to work.

We’re not going to miss the divisiveness in Waterford, however, which will likely remain long after the echoes of Whizzer’s last stump speech finish resonating. Small-town politics, as proven over and over again, can burn hotter and move faster than a California wildfire, consuming everything in its path.

And for the past two years or so, Whizzer’s been controversy’s spark. His opinions on land use and taxation have garnered him friends, while his crudity and sermonizing (detractors have said Whizzer tried to run Waterford like his “fiefdom”) in doing so have also earned him plenty of enemies.

On Feb. 19, Whizzer’s swan song as selectman, the owners of a local inn embroiled in a tax abatement dispute with the town called him an outright liar. In true Whizzer fashion, he remarked to the media in attendance, “I would appreciate that you put in the paper, ‘Whizzer didn’t lie, the [owners] did.'”

His third-person retort perfectly sums Whizzer’s government service. He spoke his mind, for good or for ill, and everyone always knew where Whizzer stood on an issue. In an era where politicians can seem to argue for days over shades of gray, Whizzer’s black-and-white approach was, at the very least, refreshing.

So was his agenda. Whizzer pushed for land-use planning, something every town should have to manage its growth. Residents voted it down. He advocated for a fee schedule to control costs at the transfer station. Residents again fought it. Taxation changes for shorefront land? Natch.

There’s nothing wrong with stirring debate. Whizzer was certainly good for that.

Waterford politics are bound to quiet, since Whizzer has stated he’s disinterested in re-election. (Which is, of course, not the first time he’s spun that yarn.) He left the Feb. 19 meeting after opining what should be the town’s agenda – embracing technology, shoring up the volunteer fire department – then faded into the night.

And now the people of Waterford don’t have Whizzer to kick around anymore.

That’s a shame.