State referendum Question 1 is not the only one on the Maine ballot this November. It may seem like it is, given all the ads and discussion forums spotlighting it.
Likewise, the editorial page: Lincoln County residents and Mainers across the state have strong opinions about Question 1, in simplest terms a vote for or against the CMP Corridor, or the somewhat fancier name, New England Clean Energy Connect.
But it’s not the only issue to be decided when we go to the polls.
Question 2 asks “Do you favor a $100,000,000 bond issue to build or improve roads, bridges, railroads, airports, transit facilities and ports and make other transportation investments, to be used to leverage an estimated $253,000,000 in federal and other funds?”
There is always some kind of bond measure on the ballot. Stay with me and I will explain why.
My intention, whenever appropriate, is to offer readers a learning opportunity in these editorials since I want to hold space for critical thinking rather than spray kerosene on emotionally charged debates and watch them smolder across these pages for weeks. Plenty of social media outlets for that.
Not only have I recently come from a career jag in public school adult education, but I am also in the final weeks of my service as the Ward 4 councilor for the city of Bath.
These experiences were humbling and I doubled down over the last three years on both curiosity and humility regarding my general ignorance.
I don’t like to pretend I know something when I don’t, so I ask a lot of questions, even dumb ones. Dumb questions are some of the best because they often reveal assumptions about knowledge that “experts” take for granted, yet leave those not in the know grappling with a strange shame for asking what they ought to know but don’t.
That’s what happened in my early days on the council when I asked what it meant to put something “out to bond.”
This is what I learned.
A bond measure is one where voters decide whether to approve spending money on a project, by borrowing it. It is (future) taxpayer money, after all. Bonds allow large capital expenses to be paid for over several years instead of budgeting for them ahead of time.
So if the question asks “Do you favor a _____ dollar bond issue for _____ purpose,” it can be translated to “Do you want to spend this money we don’t currently have for this thing that should probably get done?”
There is no end to worthy projects that could benefit Maine citizens. That’s why there is usually some kind of bond issue on the ballot. It’s up to you to decide what gets funded or not.
You probably all knew this, right?
Question 3 asks “Do you favor amending the Constitution of Maine to declare that all individuals have a natural, inherent and unalienable right to grow, raise, harvest, produce and consume the food of their own choosing for their own nourishment, sustenance, bodily health and well-being?”
Dumb questions alert: Do we really need to vote on this?
Isn’t growing, raising, harvesting, producing, and consuming food of your choice right up there with the other inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?
Another thing reinforced during my time taking classes in the adult and higher ed master’s program at the University of Southern Maine, and on the Bath City Council is to always double check my own knee jerk common sense.
What I take for obvious and unnecessary reveals my own “expert” tendencies. I don’t want to make anyone feel stupid because I think I know something, so I set out to understand why Question 3 is on the ballot.
First of all, it is a constitutional amendment, and just like taxpayer money, the Maine Constitution belongs to all of us. We get to decide what to add.
With both bonds and amendments, the Legislature makes recommendations, but it is up to voters to move measures forward.
Second, and setting aside my earlier gut-level reaction, a basic Google search confirmed there is nothing currently in the Maine Constitution that protects the right to “grow, raise, harvest, produce and consume the food of their own choosing for their own nourishment, sustenance, bodily health and well-being,” according to ballotpedia.com, an aggregate of ballot and legislative issues I find helpful in a short-hand sort of way.
In that case, it makes sense that a legislator would propose such an amendment.
Because you never know what rights we take for granted could be taken away for lack of explicit language protecting them.
I plan to do a deeper investigation of Question 3, and I encourage you to do the same.
Additionally, The Lincoln County News is making every effort to cover local ballot issues ahead of the upcoming election. Next week is the last one before voting day, and I urge you to send me your letters focused on Lincoln County matters.
