Re-elect Eric Sanders
Time for a change in Belfast? Hopeful candidates throw that slogan when they don’t have any ideas. Let me tell you about change. Six years ago, I was elected to the Belfast City Council with an almost unknown young man, Eric Sanders.
I ran because Belfast was adrift economically. We had dozens of empty businesses on Route 1 and downtown. I wanted to get Belfast moving. In Sanders, I found a kindred electric spirit. Sanders a father of three school-aged children, rides a bicycle with hamster intensity, holds down a serious full-time job while teaching drums and helps his wife’s business when he’s not coaching sports, playing in his band, or auctioneering. He has energy.
Six years ago, we had no Rail Trail or Harbor Walk, no economic development director, no Our Town Belfast, there was a crumbling failed condo project where today we have the amazing Front Street Shipyard. On our watch, the schools were in free fall, with endless fighting and rising taxes. Sanders led the demanding withdrawal and RSU 71 is better off today thanks in large part to him. After education and municipal support cuts from Gov. Paul LePage, we managed to not cut services or have large tax increases.
Sanders brought positive change to Belfast and he should be supported by every Belfast voter for another term. We still have enormous work to do. We need his experience, fiscal smarts and energy. Re-elect Eric Sanders, and he’ll keep bringing good change.
Michael Hurley
Belfast
Join Citizens Climate Lobby
I have lived in Maine in comfortable complacency for more than 80 years. The climate was never a concern. Winters were predictably long, cold and snowy; summers were short and sweet. The rest of the world lived, for the most part, through equally predictable weather. The North Pole and the South Pole were covered with their usual thick ice covers (as far as we knew). I didn’t need to worry about the earth or its climate.
But in recent years, the signs of global warming have become so strikingly evident that even I have been forced to take my head out of the sand and face the frightening threat of global warming. I have become a member of Citizens Climate Lobby.
The members of this grassroots national organization are lobbying their congressional delegations to propose and adopt a sensible carbon tax. This tax will help to encourage a decrease in carbon emissions.
I urge all citizens who are concerned about global warming to join Citizens Climate Lobby. Membership is free. If enough of us make our voices heard, Congress will listen.
Emily Bean
Bangor
Rockland tourism
On Columbus Day, the young crew of Station Maine was treated to a tour of the Serenade of the Seas, the huge cruise ship that graced Rockland Harbor for the day. Cruise line guests are becoming a frequent sight in Rockland. We love watching them come in.
They have donated thousands of dollars to local nonprofits. For every person who disembarks in Rockland, the cruise line pays the city $8. Each guest who tours Rockland from a cruise line comes to spend money. They pump thousands of dollars into our city and then they move on.
I have always taken pride in Rockland’s balanced economy — fishing, business and tourism. For the young ambassadors of Station Maine, this ship was a window to a larger world, which will some day be theirs. How can we not welcome such generosity into our harbor?
Muriel Curtis
Rockland
Question 1 bad for taxpayers
Regarding Question 1, while we consider whether to support this attempt to change election laws, let’s keep in mind that the passage of this bill means that even more of the taxpayers’ money will be spent on politicians seeking office. I think the extra two million taxpayer dollars per year that would be handed out to politicians could be better spent on other things. The idea that this can be paid for by an elimination of corporate tax breaks on under-performing businesses is probably unrealistic.
The average taxpayer is going to wind up footing the bill for this. I have never given a dime to any political candidate and never will. Quite frankly, I feel that if people want to run for office, they should have to pay for it themselves. That would certainly curb all the junk mail and robocalls, don’t you think?
Dan Stanicki
Monroe
Bipartisan support for Question 1
It is a very positive thing when so many people across the political spectrum can unite around something for the greater good. Former Republican state Sen. Ed Youngblood of Brewer, Republican state Sen. Roger Katz of Augusta, independent U.S. Sen. Angus King and former Democratic U.S. Sen. George Mitchell all agree that we need to reduce the influence of dark money in Maine politics and that a good step toward achieving this is voting yes on Question 1 on Nov. 3.
This measure will strengthen our existing Clean Elections law by reducing the need for candidates to take dark money, increase transparency by requiring outside-group campaign ads to disclose their top donors and increase penalties for violating our campaign finance laws. Clean Elections work for everyone and has been widely used by candidates for state office, regardless of their political party.
This is a nonpartisan issue that brings Mainers together across the board. Please support the Maine Clean Elections referendum by voting yes on Question 1.
Ron Bilancia
Brewer
Upsetting LePage
My reaction to the question of upsetting Gov. Paul LePage came during his first campaign for the office. That Halloween, my costume drew the most fear at the party. My homemade mask was his face.
My response to him? Your job includes obeying Maine laws. You don’t get to make your own. Your job is neither to interpret nor to enforce our laws. We have qualified people for that. You are not. Get off your bully pulpit. That is not leadership.
Ed Barrood
Orrington