Wiscasset taxpayers voted 466-256 to eliminate the town planner position.  It is disturbing that a vote can potentially be overturned by a small group of special interest taxpayers in a town meeting in which many taxpayers may be unable to attend. What has happened to the respect for the voting process in this town?  It seems that whenever a small group of taxpayers are unhappy with voting results, they petition for a revote. 

 

 

Taxpayers voted no on the purchase of a police cruiser; yet it was purchased anyway. Taxpayers voted no on the school energy project, yet the School Committee has allocated funds to move forward with parts of the project. The state money belongs to taxpayers, not the School Committee to put towards projects the taxpayers already said no to. I encourage everyone who voted no the first time to be at the Aug. 24 town meeting to be heard again.

 

Town officials, shame on you, if there are no provisions for absentee ballots for those taxpayers who are unable to attend this special town meeting. This is more than just about a town planner; it’s about taxpayer rights not to have their vote overturned whenever a few people don’t like the outcome. If that’s the process this town is going to use, then I would suggest if the planner position gets reinstated, that the taxpayers who said no in June sign a new petition to eliminate it again via another special town meeting.

 

I applaud Bob Blagden and Ben Rines for standing up for taxpayer rights by voting against this town meeting. We need more people to do the right thing for the taxpayers. We all want good schools and town services but the cash cow of Maine Yankee has been gone for almost 20 years. Our small town is being run into the ground year after year with overspending. By the way, what happened to the big cost savings that the town was to benefit from when an entire school was closed?  

Enough is enough. No means no.

 

Karen Wilson

Wiscasset