Thumbs up to Counseling Services, Inc. for its decision to join Maine Mental Health Partners, a non-profit integrated mental health services delivery system. By joining forces with this statewide organization, CSI will likely be able to keep its costs down more easily than if it tried to go it alone.
State cuts to mental health services have dealt blows to the organization, which provides important counseling to more than 8,000 families and individuals with psychiatric issues. With the help of MMHP, CSI should be able to continue providing important services, from counseling to support groups, that keep our society healthier.
Thumbs down to state Rep. Kathleen Chase, R-Wells, for following the national conservative agenda with her bill to allow police and government officials to ask anyone in Maine for proof of citizenship. We agree that anyone who receives social services in this state ”“ such as MaineCare, welfare, or unemployment assistance ”“ should have to prove citizenship and residency. That’s only common sense, to assure that our tax money is going toward helping Maine residents. However, Chase’s bill seems inspired by the “show me your papers” law in Arizona, which has caused outrage and seems likely to lead to racial profiling. Maine doesn’t have the kind of illegal alien problem that Arizona does and we don’t need to take it to those extremes. Chase should be focusing on Maine issues rather pursuing the priorities of the Tea Party movement.
Thumbs up to the Towns of Kennebunk and Old Orchard Beach for their successful winter carnivals this past weekend. The events draw people to downtown businesses and provide a fun community-oriented gathering that gets people out of the house. Best of all, the carnivals happen at a time of year when just about everyone is suffering from winter fatigue and gives us another chance to find the fun buried in all this snow, just as we look forward to spring.
Thumbs down to the Biddeford School Committee’s decision to hire Turner Building Science & Design, LLC, to provide a work plan to address air quality issues at Biddeford High School. The district has already paid for air quality testing and an additional $3,000 for Turner’s independent evaluation of the testing. The superintendent has said there is no money for further air quality study-related appropriations and Environmental Code Officer Brian Phinney said most of the company’s recommendations are already done or underway. With maintenance and construction staff doing all they can to address the concerns, the district does not need to be spending more taxpayer money on this issue. Once the high school renovation project is complete, if students and staff still complain of problems, perhaps another study would be warranted. In the meantime, we believe the school district has sufficient information to make improvements.
Thumbs up to the Town of Waterboro for being proactive in determining zoning for any potential marijuana or methadone outlets. Though the town has no requests for such businesses at this time and the state has currently limited medical marijuana dispensaries to only one in the county ”“ already planned in Biddeford ”“ it is wise of Waterboro to address this now so that a potential business will know where it can locate without having to deal with a moratorium.
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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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