Bangor council committed to public transit
Transportation for All is a committee of Faith Linking in Action — a group sponsored by Brewer-based Food and Medicine. The members of the committee would like to express appreciation to the members of the Bangor City Council for their commitment to public transit by proclaiming November “ Ride the Bus! Month.” In receiving the proclamation in the council chambers on Nov. 9, 2015, we were encouraged by the council’s desire to provide for the needs of all residents of Greater Bangor by promoting the Community Connector as a safe, convenient and viable alternative for transportation.
At the conclusion of that meeting, the city council asked staff to arrange a meeting between Transportation for All and the Government Operations Committee. That meeting took place on Jan. 20. The members of Transportation for All were again impressed by the cordial welcome we received and the willingness by the council to discuss matters of mutual concern. Among the items reviewed were the Bus Ambassador program, additional system operating hours, operational issues for Pickering Square and the cleaning of the Community Connector buses. The members of Transportation for All are grateful to the members of the city council for the frank discussion and for the willingness to continue the conversation.
Transportation for All continues to look forward to working closely with the city council on matters related to public transportation in Greater Bangor.
Rev. Dr. Mark Allen Doty
Brewer
Poking skunks
Recently I was reminded of two very interesting pieces in the BDN, a Jan. 26 OpEd by Glen Koehler and a Jan. 14 letter to the editor by Paul Potvin. Thanks BDN for publishing these pieces. They wrote about climate change and our need to take action as the impact continues to threaten our natural resources. Koehler noted that disturbing the climate has been compared to poking an angry dragon, and our inability to know our exact tipping point related to climate change.
I thank my dog Watson for reminding me of these publications. Well maybe thank is not really what I thought, but reminded nonetheless. Watson had an encounter with a skunk. Yep, a really close encounter. Beyond the stun of the strong odor, I am haunted by the fact that this encounter happened on Jan. 25 when skunks typically are hibernating, not roaming around backyards as though it were spring. We are poking dragons, skunks, birds and fish; what other reminders do we need to awaken ourselves.
Now that the scent is gone, the fear of climate change grows even stronger. We cannot continue to burrow the seriousness of climate change. We cannot hibernate, as even the skunks are forced out of hibernation or their state of torpor. We cannot remain in this deep sleep; we need to awaken the dragons.
Please accept our invitation to work together to create the political will for a livable world, visit Facebook.com/MaineCCL and join our Citizen’s Climate Lobby and work with us in support of our revenue neutral carbon fee and dividend proposal. Please wake up.
Lyndy Rohman
Bangor
Poet Laureate should be local
The Belfast poet laureate’s post vacated by the lovely Ellen Sander was filled by one Toussaint St. Negritude.
Belfast very graciously and appropriately welcomed Sander into our community with the poet laureate position after having lived here for only three or four years. I had experienced Sander’s poetic roots in Bolinas, California, and know of a few well-known poets that must have taken great pleasure at Sander’s having been honored so appropriately.
Unfortunately, a precedent was set when Sander was the poet laureate “from away” and our next poet laureate was from away. It seems a bit of common-sense is in order.
Within reason, the Belfast poet laureate should be from Belfast. Sander was and is a vibrant part of our community when appointed. I think the prerequisite should be that the person is like Sander, Karin and Jacob Frick; a vibrant part of our community of Belfast.
St. Negritude is a kind, gentle soul and, of course, is welcome here; watch him play sax on Youtube, he’s great.
Next time, let’s give it to some old fart that’s been here awhile, and not one that hasn’t.
Bradley Williams
Belfast
Ranked-choice voting works
No one should be elected with less than 50 percent of the vote. And no one understands the fallout from this outcome better than Maine voters who have endured the problem for more than 40 years. In fact, nine of our last 11 governors were elected with less than 50 percent of the vote.
We can change this once and for all by switching to a ranked-choice voting system. Ranked-choice voting ensures that our elected officials receive a majority vote. Perhaps even more importantly, it will ensure that we elect candidates who represent the interests of a broad cross section of voters, instead of narrow, ideological interests.
This system is urgently needed in Maine and the demand is there. This past fall, more than 70,000 Mainers signed the petition to put this issue before the voters in November. Yet, as this ballot initiative runs through the Legislature as is custom, some lawmakers are playing politics with the issue, despite the fact that they can’t stop it from going to the voters.
I urge Senate President Mike Thibodeau and the Maine Legislature to respect the referendum process and the will of Maine voters, by sending this to the ballot in November. As the drama in the Legislature has only reaffirmed, voters should be in charge of how they elect their leaders, not the other way around.
Ben Crimaudo
Searsport
America is socialist
Reuben Dendinger’s Feb. 1 BDN OpEd was a well-written academic lesson about the philosophy of socialism but failed to point out one very important fact. That being that the United States has been based on democratic socialism since its founding. While economic socialism may be defined as common ownership of the means of production, social democracy simply means that certain functions of society are better accomplished by people joining together for the common good rather than leaving each individual to fend for themselves.
If people support a national defense apparatus, state and municipal police services, paid or volunteer fire departments, public schools, municipal water and sewer departments, Social Security pensions and public roads and bridges, then they are already a democratic socialist and they shouldn’t be afraid to vote for one.
Nathan Freeman
Orrington