To the Editor:
I would like to start out by saying that I normally support the Select Board of the town of Waldoboro, but in this case I feel that they only have their own personal agenda, which is to punish the police department.
With the shortfall of $106,000, three out of the five board members were in favor of cutting all from the police department. The other two members, the town manager and the police chief were completely blindsided by this motion made in their meeting a couple of weeks ago.
They have also stated, as some of the budget committee members did, that the proposed cuts made by the town manager were too late. This well-thought-out plan would have cut the same dollars, spreading it out as opposed to cutting it all from one department. A dollar is a dollar.
In the meeting of the select board and the budget committee I asked how is it possible for two out of the five members not to know about the motion being made. I got no response. When I asked again I still was given no response.
I feel the three members are walking a fine line of meeting illegally. The chairperson of the select board also would not let the people be heard at the meeting, which is his prerogative, but that is why we need an open town meeting; to let the people be heard and not a select few. I ask why is it ok in other select board meetings to hear the people and not this one? Because it is not what the three board members want.
Although I feel that cuts do have to be made, they need to be made with a level head and the whole town in mind.
Some of these people seem to think that we don’t need a police department. Speaking as the Deputy Chief of the Waldoboro Fire Department, if it weren’t for the police in town, the town would have not been able to apprehend a couple of people that were breaking the law at accident scenes and these people would have gone on to maybe injure or kill someone.
So I urge the citizens to look at the budget items very hard and vote what makes sense to you. I also would like to see the open town meeting back so the people of Waldoboro can have a chance to ask questions, to be better informed, and not let the select few make your decisions for you.
