To the Editor:
Damariscotta town residents rise up.
I have been meaning to write a letter to the editor as soon as the first news item about the police chief came out.
I attended two meetings in town about keeping the police department where everyone got up and voiced their opinion about supporting the police department and were willing to pay for the extra cost to keep the department.
Then a vote was taken and it was voted to keep the police department and the selectman and the town manager. The next week (Damariscotta Town Manager Matt) Lutkus suspended the chief for undisclosed activity, and a month later, demoted the chief to deputy chief with a decrease in his salary of $8000.
When Chad Andrews was appointed chief, it was stated he was well qualified. Now all of a sudden, he isn’t qualified to be chief. The $8000 was moved to pay another planner $10,000 to work on a comprehensive plan the town has been working on for years.
Now the police department’s administrative assistant, Jody Prior, has had her job reduced to 30 hours and when someone realized she would lose her health insurance they put her salary back up to 32 hours. Jody is a single mom and needs a full-time job with health insurance. Thank God she still has her health insurance to help her settle her nerves.
What kind of a town manager could do such a thing, and yet he makes $80,000 a year for what little he does. I would like to know what he has on the selectman to make them think he is doing such a good job. If he’s trying to save money then he should take less pay and put the money into the police department.
These actions appear to be a continuation of a vendetta against the police department that has been going on for several years. When Chief Drake was our police chief, and while his wife was going through chemotherapy for a serious health crisis, they harassed him until he resigned.
What does the town have against the police department? Without a word they give the fire department $300,000 for a new truck. I am not against the fire department. They do a great job, I am just comparing the difference in treatment between the two.
Damariscotta residents, please step up and run for selectman. As Andrea Gray said we are all voters and taxpayers in Damariscotta and need to take back our town. Let’s all step up and do our part.
