Thumbs up to the town clerks and their deputies from all 29 municipalities in York County and indeed, across the state. Their election-related tasks start long before Election Day, but the second Tuesday in November is perhaps their longest and most difficult workday.
In most municipalities, polls are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and the counting continues long after midnight. In addition to all of their duties, they graciously put up with those of us in the news media seeking election results as soon as possible. We wouldn’t be able to get results to our readers without the clerks’ help and we’d like to offer our thanks for their friendly and diligent cooperation.
Thumbs down to the Waterboro Public Library setback, as voters rejected a $2 million bond for construction of a new facility. It is understandable that Waterboro residents did not want to take on so much debt, which would have resulted in a significant tax increase, but the Friends of the Library should continue their push to expand the facility, perhaps on a smaller scale. The group has already secured a land donation, $350,000 in donations and pledges and a possible $500,000 federal earmark, so we hope this vote doesn’t discourage them from moving forward. Taking on a significant tax increase may not be the way to do it, but improvements to the library should be pursued in some fashion.
Thumbs down to Walgreens’ proposal to bring its pharmacy and a credit union building into the residential district in Sanford. More and more, businesses are seeking contract zones to supersede a community’s vision for itself. The Sanford Downtown Legacy group is right to advocate that this business be located in a business district rather than in the residential area. Sanford has worked hard to brand itself as an attractive, historic mill town and should be cautious of allowing developers, rather than town leaders, to shape the face of the town.
Thumbs down to the City of Saco for purchasing a low speed electric car with taxpayer money and then failing to use it for even 1,000 miles over the past three years. Now the city is taking a hit of $9,200 by selling the car off at a fraction of its sale price after barely using it. The City Council needs to start seeing dollars when they want to “think green” instead of acting on good intentions alone. This car was impractical, as it could not be operated at more than 25 miles per hour, and city staff neither felt safe in it nor wanted to use it. Perhaps the end users should have been consulted before this ill-advised purchase was made.
Thumbs up to all of those who are organizing food drives and community dinners in anticipation of the holiday season. Providing food and friendly company is what the holidays are all about and the people who devote countless hours of their time to these efforts should be commended.
— Thumbnails is a Monday feature of the Journal Tribune’s opinion pages. If you would like to respond, please write the Reader’s Forum via e-mail at jtcommunity@journaltribune.com or by dropping your letter off at our Biddeford or Sanford offices.
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