Citizens need to take government back

14 years ago

To the editor:

The citizens of Caribou voted for change in the midterm election with good reason. Our City Charter needs to be looked at and changes made to eradicate the hardships created by an overblown government that is ineffective when it comes to saving tax dollars. I trust that the people in Caribou will use good judgment on who they elect to be on the Charter Commission. It is well known that the charter must be construed as citizen and private sector friendly realizing that without a strong private sector we will have poor government.

Governments do not produce anything that creates wealth. Only the private sector has the means to produce wealth if not they’re out of business and if they’re out of business, government is unsustainable. The difference between government services and the private sector is that when a problem arises the government throws money at the problem without any clear way to solve the bad situation, hoping that it will just go away but in most cases it just gets worse. In the private sector they come up with the solution to the problem then they fund it and it gets corrected.

Now you would think that this is only common sense but over the years the City Charter rules have diminished common sense to the extent that the average citizen has no say. The ridiculous answer you get when you try to question city policy is go to the polls and vote someone else in. Now you know that won’t work. Even the most well intentioned individuals that run for office have to live within charter rules in the city where they live.

The key is a common sense charter that benefits all instead of only a few within the inner circle of power. In Caribou the inner circle of power lies in the public sector with their majority vote that steamrolls over the private sector for their own personal gain. This means that city government in Caribou is too large and domineering and should be shaved back to an attainable position. More emphasis should be on privatization of certain departments or entities (do we really need a full-time tax assessor or code enforcement officer to name a couple?) and zero based budgeting should be put in place to assure that every tax dollar in the city budget is being spent in a rational manner and with more transparency.

What is wrong with accountability and common sense that Caribou city government has appeared to have lacked for years. After being on the City Council nine years and trying to represent the citizens of this community with a common sense approach my opinion fell on deaf ears of my fellow council members because my contribution did not comply with the inner circle who benefited the most. They wanted everything for nothing and wanted to make sure that the ones who could least afford it would pay for what would benefit them. Also to add to this, believe me when I tell you that money is power and the elite in this community easily overpower the little guy and lack any feelings for them.

As citizens of the city of Caribou, you can influence what you would like in the City Charter to protect yourselves. Get involved and make your voices heard.

Wilfred Martin

Caribou