If this particular column seems to lack a chain of thought, it’s because I don’t either. But it’s not because I expect to be audited by the IRS because I love to bash government when it does something wrong or even worse, when it does something stupid. No, it’s because I am having company from Connecticut while my wife, her daughter and grandson are visiting her sister and family in Augusta, Georgia. This friend and I were stationed together in the early 1980s at the American Embassy in Bonn, West Germany. What most people would be shocked to learn is that we get along for three really good reasons: We don’t talk politics. We don’t talk religion. Then there’s the third reason and that’s the search for the perfect beer. Isn’t it unfortunate that it takes a whole lot of research to accomplish that goal?
When I sit down to write this column I often don’t have a clue as to the direction or content that I am going to write about, which means I probably will never write a book although in the back of mind I would love to accomplish just that.
But what is amazing is something always comes along that lights the fuse in my mind that leads to the next column and sometimes that doesn’t occur until I start typing a column on my computer. This week it happens to be that both the Windham town councilors and Raymond/Windham school board members sparked my sparse brain cells into action. It’s either that or the fact that my female cat decided to launch herself airborne when I was holding her. The hint here is that I am allergic to cat scratches and my arm now looks like Lizzy Borden came after me. That is no different than when a legislative body at any level meets in Maine and comes after my bank account.
June is rapidly approaching, which means it’s time for Windham citizens to vote on both the school and town budgets although there really hasn’t been all that much public discussion on either budget. I state that because I haven’t been approached by anyone who is worried the school budget, as always, is going to empty their wallet once again. One might wonder why the town budget doesn’t call for an increase but the town councilors want to help themselves to the town’s bank account. And as usual, both budgets contain the same old fear-induced cuts that will make the same old crowd come out of the wood work to ensure that the budgets actually increase instead of remaining the same or decrease. In the long run it probably means my wife and I should have bought a home in Raymond where some sense of fiscal sanity exists before brain-wasting disease brought on by those liberals who love to live off of other peoples’ hard-earned dollars moved into Windham.
The problem with local school or municipal budgets is that almost everyone wants a piece of the public pie for themselves. Usually the largest groups which want the same thing are the loudest and like the squeaky wheel, they end getting what they want. This year the $17,000 or so that the Windham Finance Committee proposed to be cut would effectively take away supervision from the skate park in Windham. It’s a nice political ploy because I am sure a large crowd of children and crying parents will show up for the public discussion of Windham’s town budget. This will ensure returning that amount to the budget or increasing taxes once again.
I would recommend cutting $17,000 from the Lippman Park budget amount or even better, make the skate park pay for itself by charging children after a certain age. Maybe that should also be done for Windham parents who don’t want their children to use the already available classroom space in Raymond.
Lane Hiltunen, of Windham, wonders if anyone will ever get arrested for dumping trash by the recycling silver bullets at Windham Public Works.
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