Election Notice
The Bangor Daily News will stop accepting letters and columns related to the Nov. 2 on Wednesday, Oct. 27. We will stop printing such commentary with the Oct. 30-31 edition. Not all submissions can be published.
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Piotti for Senate
Although I am a registered Republican, I am without hesitation going to cast my vote for John Piotti in Senate District 23 and I urge other small business owners to do the same.
John has supported the business community since 1988 with his creation of the Centers for Innovation program that spurred development in aquaculture, food processing and small-scale manufacturing such as my business. John’s leadership in western Waldo County has generated dozens of new businesses there. John is committed to rural Maine, helping grow businesses that fit with the rural economy, and is responsible for many hundreds of new jobs in an area that needs them.
No one in the Senate will be more experienced or better qualified to spur business development.
As a part-time farmer I am grateful for John’s efforts over the past 20 years to support, rejuvenate and protect Maine’s farmers and farmland.
Waldo County has a significant, viable and vibrant farming community thanks in no small part to John’s efforts, which are now being realized statewide through his work with the Maine Farmland Trust.
Over the past eight years as a representative, John has demonstrated strong bipartisan leadership that has earned him respect from all parties. He has worked tirelessly to find consensus and to bring people together around difficult and divisive issues. Maine needs leaders who transcend partisan politics to grow our economy, and John Piotti is such a leader.
Stephen Page
Searsmont
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Libby’s true north
Much has been said in the gubernatorial race about the early life experiences of the Republican candidate for governor, Paul LePage. Here are some similar thoughts about the Democratic candidate, Libby Mitchell.
In case anyone missed it, Libby is a southerner and a southerner of a very special kind. Many folks today don’t really appreciate what the South was like during her formative years. It was an ugly place, a scary place and particularly so when I went to grammar school in Florida, even though I was white. If you were black, you lived in constant fear.
Libby could have gone with the flow in South Carolina. Instead, she chose a different path, devoting her ideals to causes such as community building, environmental betterment, widespread education, economic prosperity for all, not just a few and forward thinking.
Maine has come a long way since I worked in the office of Gov. Ken Curtis with her husband, Jim, and when I first met Libby. There are those who would like to drag us back to those preceding “good old days” of polluted waters (our major rivers were open sewers), low-wage industries, elitist education, deliberate neglect of our older population and a regressive tax code favoring the rich and disproportionately burdening the rest of us. Not with Libby in office, they won’t.
This “gentle lady from Vassalboro (and South Carolina)” has now become a true Mainer who always looks ahead, never backward. Please vote for her.
Neil Rolde
York
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The Jeanne team
Baseball season and elections reach fever pitch the same time of year, so I find myself comparing ball players with politicians. Take Jeanne Guisinger, Democrat, running for House District 31. She plays a mindful, clever game, sizing up each pitch for the one she can hit into a hole in the field to get on base or move a teammate into position to score. Much like her approach to economic development and job creation, she’d let a pitch or two sail past without swinging — it might force an out or a double play.
Her opponent, Joyce Maker, like her grandstanding Republican teammates, tries to hit one out of the park every time the ball is thrown, swinging from the heels no matter how wild the pitch and hoping by some off chance to connect and win the game with a stunning over-the-fence homer.
Inevitably the poor souls walk back to the dugout, blaming the pitcher, the fans, the umpire, the sun, the governor, the BEP, taxes, the Canadians, but they never get on the scoreboard. Brash promises. Lots of alibis. But no runs.
Don’t get me wrong; showmanship and crowd appeal make for an exciting game, but ultimately beget failure.
Jeanne Guisinger plays a smart, steady game. She’ll drive in the runs one and two at a time and we’ll all be winners for it. That’s seasoned judgment. Progress comes from using the advantages where they exist, avoiding pitfalls and advancing toward home.
We need Jeanne on our team.
John Cook
Perry
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LePage is the one
I have been following the budget problems facing our state for many years. As a former member of the State Restructuring Commission, I submitted numerous proposals earlier this year on the subject of downsizing state government. I have watched, listened, and learned about the gubernatorial candidates for 2010.
The recent Forbes Magazine ranking placed Maine as the worst state in the country for business climate. I am convinced the Forbes survey is consistent with what we all have come to realize, that Maine is not a business-friendly state because of excessive regulations, taxes and burdensome bureaucracy.
I have concluded there is only one candidate for governor who has the experience and ability to make the necessary changes for our state to prosper. That candidate is Mayor Paul LePage. I strongly endorse Mayor LePage for governor, and I urge all of my fellow residents to join me in voting for him on Election Day.
N. Laurence Willey Jr.
Bangor
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Closed for business
The Bangor Daily News recently reported a most fitting news item for the coming elections in the story “Maine ranks last in business survey.”
Forbes Magazine once again has noticed what many Mainers have known for years. The article notes that our tough regulatory environment, our limited labor supply, our poor economic climate, our high energy costs, our high taxes and 33 other points of data all add up to the same conclusion: Maine is closed for business.
A few weeks ago our state did rank extremely high in another survey: We have the highest welfare per capita then almost every other state.
I think our state officials from the governor on down ought to hang their heads in shame. They are driving Maine into an economic condition that our children and their children never will recover from. I think it is time to elect a businessman for governor, one who has proved himself successful and one I hope will be heard around this state when he opens his mouth. For those who are offended by harsh and realistic comments, perhaps they ought to take a look at where our current leaders have taken us. I have heard their mouths moving for years and look where it has gotten Maine: to the very bottom.
Ben Brown
Dixmont