To the editor:
On behalf of Citizens for Responsible City Management (CFRCM), I would like to thank everyone who voted in favor of establishing a charter commission during the June 8th election. Congratulations! Next will be the election of six commissioners, which will be done in the November 2010 election. I, for one, intend to be on that ballot. I hope anyone with a vision of bringing Caribou into the 21st century will also consider being on that ballot. Six of our elected officials, Councilors Chris Bell, Karla Bell, John Boone, Mary Kate Barbosa, David Martin and Mayor Ken Murchison publicly came out in opposition of establishing a charter commission. Now I don’t have a problem with anyone going into the privacy of a voting booth and marking an “x” in the “no” box, but these six people drew a line in the sand, and they chose sides. Huh. I thought they were elected to represent all of the citizens of Caribou. My mistake.
One of the arguments they had against establishing the commission was that it would be expensive. True, the city has to provide a place to meet and allot up to $100 for pencils, etc., and there will be some legal fees involved to make sure any changes, revisions or what have you are within the law. I would think that the council should be more concerned with what is going on in the present. For instance: during last Monday’s council meeting, Manager Buck presented the financial statements ending on May 31, 2010. There was an item that caught my eye. Account #10-01-005, General Government, Legal, there is a budget of $10,600.
Under comments the following statement read: “Legal fees will again be tight this year due to ongoing work on both a MHR case, continued activity on Hows Corner in Plymouth, and the typical processing of legal opinions”. Howes Corner has been explained until my eyes glazed over and my brain fogged up. It is what it is, lets move on. What I’d like explained is this MHR case. MHR, I am assuming, means Maine Human Rights. So, does that mean some present or former employee perceives that he or she has been done wrong by the city and/or its manager?
Taxpayer’s dollars are being spent on this. When you pay your household bills, you know what it’s for, why you are paying it, and how much you are spending, right? I’d like to know what, why and how much this MHR case is costing the taxpayers. Why hasn’t this been explained to at least some extent as Hows Corner has been explained? Is it just me, or do some priorities seem skewed?
Caribou
