Election notice
The Bangor Daily News will stop accepting letters and commentary related to the Nov. 4 election on Monday, Oct. 27. We will stop publishing election-related letters and columns with the Nov. 1-2 edition. Not all submissions can be printed.
Vote No on 1
This year the state of Maine will once again revisit the issue of bear hunting. This referendum, if passed, will have a significant impact on both the animals and people in the state.
The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife uses conservation techniques to manage the population of wildlife animals. These conservation techniques include seasonal hunting and ethical hunting tactics. An example of successfully managing a species is the wild turkey. At one time, the population of wild turkey in Maine was nonexistent. Now, after restocking and managing the hunting seasons, Maine has a thriving wild turkey population.
Animals that are left to manage their population will lead to starvation, disease and car accidents. We need to trust that the state will study the population of animals to make sure there is a proper balance for the environment.
Recently, the state of New Jersey saw a terrible circumstance where a young man was attacked and killed by a black bear. This black bear was scouring for food. For many years, the state of New Jersey did not have a black bear hunt. They now have as many bear complaints by residents as they do bears. A black bear hunt has been reinstituted to better help control these nuisance complaints and curtail future human and bear encounters.
Vote no on Question 1 in November.
Joe Dacey
Portland
Toxic politics
Jim Fossel’s conservative political column reached a new low with “ Liberals pour dark money into Hancock County” (BDN, Oct. 10). Fossel made an outrageously false accusation about our efforts to educate Maine voters about where the candidates stand on protecting the health of Maine children from toxic chemicals in everyday products. In fact, we scrupulously follow all laws related to the use and reporting of funds.
Focusing on the Hancock County Senate race, Fossel conveniently ignored the incumbent Brian Langley’s voting record against the Kid Safe Products Act. Last year, Langley sided with the big chemical companies and voted against protecting the health of Maine children. (See Senate roll call vote on LD 1181.)
In sharp contrast, the challenger Ted Koffman, a former state representative, stood up against the chemical industry lobbyists and championed passage of the Kid Safe Products Act in 2008. Koffman voted to protect the health of Maine families.
Hancock County voters have a right to know on whose side these state Senate candidates stand. They can compare their voting records at the website we created, http://koffman-vs-langley.com/.
Mike Belliveau
President
Prevent Harm Action Fund
Bangor
Fulford running clean
Jonathan Fulford, state Senate candidate for Waldo County, is running a Clean Election campaign and that is a big reason why I am giving him my vote on Nov. 4.
Big money in politics sets up politicians to favor financial supporters over public interests. Maine is one of the few states with a strong Clean Elections law, but it is undermined by large sums of independent spending from special interests seeking to influence elections through costly advertising and political tactics.
Fulford restores my faith in democracy, spending every day of the last five months working in the morning, and then door-knocking in the afternoon and evening to speak with voters about their concerns.
Fulford encourages the teamwork we need in state government to end gridlock and move forward together. Voters from every party and persuasion can be proud of that kind of candidate.
Betsy Reid
Belfast
Voting for Ward
As a legislator, I have been representing six towns in Waldo and Hancock Counties for the past four years. Due to redistricting, the towns of Stockton Springs, Prospect, Verona Island and Orland are no longer in my district. It is very difficult to work between two counties and I had concerns about finding a good candidate. That was until I met Karl Ward.
Over the past year, I have come to know Ward as a hard-working, dedicated professional. His education and work experience is exceptional. Like me, he came from humble beginnings. His parents worked hard just to make ends meet. He also worked hard to put himself through college. He graduated at the top of his engineering class at the University of Maine and after graduation entered the workforce at the bottom and worked his way to the top. He has taken a local contracting company, Nickerson & O’Day, and grown it into one of the best in the region and operates with no debt at all. As our next state representative, he will bring his successful business strategies to Augusta and put them to work for us.
After getting to know Ward, I can say with complete confidence to the voters of Stockton Springs, Prospect, Verona Island and Orland that he is the right person for the job.
Rep. James S. Gillway
Searsport
Whittemore disappoints
I am perplexed as to why state Sen. Rodney Whittemore of Somerset County, who grew up in my town and built up a good business from working people, has voted no on LD1487, a working people’s issue to protect their health by expanding Medicaid. People work better when they are healthy, versus taking days off from work due to sickness. Not only does it interrupt productivity at work, but it affects the worker’s family.
Whittemore voted no on LD1641, which would have protected patients injured in the workplace by allowing another person to attend with the patient when they seek health care services that are paid for by the employer. Not allowing this is unfair to employees everywhere in Maine because the existing laws are swayed to protect the employer over the working people of this state. The existing law can work against any proof needed to get the compensation needed when filing claims against employers whose safety practices in the workplace do not meet the laws of Maine.
Whittemore’s vote against LD1835 stays in tune with Gov. Paul LePage’s GOP agenda to curb union participation in the workplace. Very disappointing.
Joan Gilbert-Croteau
Skowhegan