Governor Trust
Although I no longer buy green bananas, I’m hoping to celebrate my 90th birthday one week after the November elections. Five years ago, I relocated to Maine after an absence of 46 years. Three of my children were born in Caribou. Like Gov. Paul LePage, I am the product of a broken home — my mother divorced my alcoholic and abusive father when I was four. I’m also a World War II combat vet.
This is the first time I have publicly endorsed a high-ranking government official for public office. That person is LePage.
I have seen many politicians of all stripes come and go, some to jail. Most of them were more interested in the next election than the next generation. I have come to see LePage as a refreshing departure from that type.
I look for these traits in a man and a politician: honesty, resolve and stability. LePage has these qualities. What you see is what you get — warts and all. He says what he means and he means what he says. He’s an authentic, Maine-grown original, blunt-speaking and quotable.
Meeting him personally is like opening your first bottle of champagne — effervescent and inviting. He won’t raise your hopes with false promises to get your vote.
Under LePage’s no-nonsense leadership, Maine’s financial house is in good order and the future looks brighter. Turn off the political spin: Facts and figures don’t lie.
Re-elect LePage for governor. You can trust him.
Walter J. Eno
Scarborough
Budget transparency
In order to get transparency into the budgets for the city and school department in Bangor, City Councilor Pauline Civiello has been asking the city council and school board to meet, in public, to discuss their budgets. This would open communications that have been stonewalled previously.
At a recent city council meeting, I asked if any future meetings would be forthcoming, as the one meeting they did have seemed to be quite productive, for a few of the city councilors. The chair replied no further meetings would be taking place.
I asked the city manager what the process is for creating their budget. The city manager meets with the various department heads, reviews their requests, accepts or denies requests, then approves the budget. I asked if her meetings with department heads were open to the public and if public comment was allowed, which she answered “no.” I asked why those meetings were not held in council chambers and televised, as what could be more important to the residents of Bangor than to see what their tax money is being spent on.
One person approves the city budget and the city council “rubber stamps” her budget. Councilor Civiello wants transparency with the budget, the rest don’t.
I believe this city council thinks the taxpayers work for them, rather than vice versa, which is to work in the best interest of the taxpayers who voted them into office.
Paul T. LeClair
Bangor
A place called Hope
I live in Warwick, Rhode Island, but have a daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter who live in Hope. On a recent visit we had the privilege of visiting the Hope elephants, mainly because my daughter has close ties to the organization. I expected to see elephants in a brick building with thick steel bars who were there as spectacles. Instead what I saw was a wonderful man who saved two very sick elephants from a great deal of pain by using his veterinary knowledge to help them live an improved quality of life they never could have had anywhere else.
Anyone who has visited the environment for the elephants would know that Dr. Jim Laurita’s death was a tragic accident, and from just meeting Dr. Laurita for a few minutes would know he would not want them moved out of Hope. They don’t need more room or warmer temperatures. They continue to need the people of Hope.
Donald Masseur
Warwick, Rhode Island
Don’t let bears starve
I don’t understand the logic of the supporters of the bear referendum. It should be accepted that when the animal’s population exceeds the capability of the habitat, animals will starve. I don’t think that anyone can argue that starvation isn’t cruel. In the Sept 6 BDN, Daryl DeJoy, director of Wildlife Alliance of Maine, is quoted as saying, “Yes, we are going to see a point where bears starve.” Why would these people argue against keeping the population in check so the bears don’t starve?
They compare Maine to other states and quote success rates of “still hunting.” Maine is not like other states. We don’t have wide open areas. We have very thick second growth. The bear know that the hunter is there long before the hunter knows the bear is there. When one sees a bear in the wild, it’s usually only for a few seconds, a long ways off and more often than not, running at full speed.
Hunting over bait and hounding offers major advantages. Close range, passing up one that is too small, and waiting for a clean shot. Getting a good shot while “still hunting” is usually almost impossible.
I feel that the supporters of the referendum are putting their feelings ahead of facts that are supported by the science behind a 40-year study. I also believe that the Humane Society of the U.S. has an ultimate goal of banning all hunting and trapping in Maine and if they are successful this fall, they won’t stop until they succeed.
Dan Robertson
Woodland
Support Johnson
We strongly support the endorsement for re-election that Sen. Chris Johnson, a Democrat in District 20 received recently from Planned Parenthood’s Maine Action Fund PAC for his strong stand on women’s health and reproductive rights issues. Johnson, husband, father of two daughters, and grandfather to two granddaughters (soon to be three), is acutely aware of the threat nationally from some politicians to take away the right of women to make their own medical decisions about birth control and pregnancy.
In announcing his endorsement and the endorsement of like-minded candidates, Nicole Clegg, chair of the Maine PAC, noted that women’s health and reproductive rights are under attack around the nation. She said “We will not let extreme politicians roll back rights that generations of women have fought for, and it is our mission to elect candidates who will stand with us.”
We, as grandmothers, agree. We know first-hand how important these issues are, having lived through the days of lack of access to contraception and back alley abortions, and we urge voters to remember this when casting their votes in the upcoming elections.
Wendy Ross Eichler
Wiscasset
MaryRae Means
Bristol