Perplexed by Council

To the editor:
    Yes, I’m greatly perplexed by the decision of the city council to vote for the bypass project which apparently no one wants but the council members themselves. It’s about time the council began to represent the people of Presque Isle rather than their own private desires.     Little doubt that if the citizenry knew just how little benefit would be derived and how many millions of dollars would be spent (wasted) for such little benefit, the people of Presque Isle would “storm the Bastille”, as it were. Little doubt, too, that if the multi-million dollar project went to a city-wide referendum, it would be summarily defeated. Lucky for the city council that calling for a referendum is a lot trouble and time consuming. Probably designed that way on purpose.
    The state of Maine is broke and is now way over a half billion dollars in debt. The streets and roads in our village have never been in such rough shape in recent years. I’m positive the people would much rather have those millions spent on repairing those streets and roads. I have yet to talk to anyone who deemed the very expensive and highly disruptive bypass project essential to our well being and a benefit to our town. There are far more important projects to be considered.
    Life in this country and here in Presque Isle is sure to become harder and harder to maintain … fuel oil, food, taxes, etc. — and squandering millions on a useless bypass is a slap in the face to the people for whom you, the city council members, have been elected to spend tax dollars wisely. Get with it and do the right thing; scrap the project and spend your time on more useful endeavors. High profiling your presence with high profile projects will only cheat the taxpayers. Pay attention to the job you were hired to do.
Dick Graves
Presque Isle