Here’s a look at what several in our online community had to say about letters to the editor and stories in the news over the long holiday weekend.
Regarding Tuesday’s story about the political career of outgoing Lewiston Mayor Larry Gilbert and his solid working relationship with current City Administrator Ed Barrett, Larry T. Doughty of Brewer wrote:
“Always good to read about Bangor’s former city manager, Ed Barrett. Ed did an excellent job in managing Bangor. Very unwise move by a few (Bangor) city councilors brought Ed’s journey to an end, however, it also brought an end to a couple of councilors’ terms just a few months ago.
“Lewiston’s major gain, and Bangor’s huge loss.”
On the same story, David Marsters of Sabattus wondered:
“If the mayor of Lewiston has no say in running the city, why pay him and an administrator? Eliminate the mayor position and save the money.”
In response to Jonathan Duchette’s letter to the editor critical of Auburn plow trucks violating traffic signals, Bob Wright of Auburn wrote:
“Snowplow drivers have to follow the same laws as everyone else.”
Mr. Wright is right. They do.
A letter published Monday from Phyllis Caron regarding the governor’s plan to trim MaineCare garnered nearly 100 comments within 24 hours, including this one from Claire Gamache of Lewiston in response to online posts:
“You may rail against raising taxes all you want but no one has even suggested raising taxes. What is being discussed is CUTTING taxes while at the same time saying there is no money for even basic life-saving protections to the most vulnerable citizens of our state. True, there will never be enough money for everything that everybody wants, but there is such a thing as setting priorities.”
And, from Mark Gravel of Roseville:
“Over the past three decades, practically every tax increase was argued in a similar manner: Just a few dollars a year will not make that much difference. That being said, today when I take into consideration federal, state, local, sales, DMV, etc. . . ., nearly 50 percent of my income goes to the government. I don’t want to pay any more taxes, so I’ll fight tooth and nail over one penny.
“Instead of squeezing the taxpayers for more, you should address the spending side of the balance sheet.”
In response to the Sun Journal’s Bates Mill No. 5 reader project published Sunday, Phyllis Hyde of Augusta had this to say about the idea of creating a Faneuil Hall-style food and retail destination:
“I think the major reason that Faneuil Hall in Boston works is that what it is today is what it was 200 years ago — food vendors in stalls. Bates Mill No. 5 doesn’t have that same history that Faneuil Hall has. The only way it would have a similar historical genuineness is if it stuck to its original purpose — manufacturing. It doesn’t have to be manufacturing bedspreads, but at least manufacturing something.”
And, Frank Earley of Auburn didn’t have anything to say about the future of the mill, but he had plenty to say about its past:
“As a retired truck driver I’ve hauled a lot of loads in and out of No. 5 and a lot of others in the mill system, which, through the ’90s was mostly warehousing.
“You haven’t had fun until you’ve wandered the top floor of No. 5 at 2 o’clock in the morning. Talk about spooky.”
Have your say and get your voice heard on the web and in print — register to comment online at www.sunjournal.com.
Some comments have been edited for length, punctuation and spelling.
jmeyer@sunjournal.com
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