“They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.” -Andy Warhol

Lane: Tommy is hobnobbing with the Kennedy and Kerry families this weekend which is something I find totally humorous. It would be something like me going to the White House when Jimmy Carter was president. Oops, that is something I did do. Tommy and I have had many discussions about changes to Windham’s Town Charter. We both feel that the recent election results in Windham for town councilors will bring a significant change to the political status quo that will return some sanity to the runaway spending that has taken place in Windham over the past several years. Hopefully that change will include the possibility of a change to Windham’s Town Charter and council rules for a start.

We firmly believe that citizens should have to right to speak at any council or board meeting in Windham. Yes, they are officials who are elected as our representatives but sometimes they appear to forget who elected them and the reasons why. They need our guidance from time to time, so it is necessary for us to be able to speak. Besides, doesn’t it make sense to receive more input from other sources such as us?

We are not asking to be able to filibuster a particular item of debate. When a citizen has an opinion even just a few minutes is more than enough to get that opinion across to others.

Many people we have spoken with are frustrated and ignore meetings because they feel excluded and thus humiliated. We recommend that this be a charter change to ensure that it stays in place and doesn’t disappear like it just a few years ago at council workshops. Hardly anyone attends workshops anymore so a rule change like allowing a set amount of citizens to speak within a set time frame at workshops could help improve citizen attendance at workshops.

The next two proposed changes to the Windham Town Charter will rock the foundation under those who have a lengthy period of elected office. The first change is to either abolish the Windham Annual Town Meeting or make it an informational meeting the Saturday before Election Day in June.

This year’s town meeting was no different than the one last year. Approximately 77 citizens out of more than 16,000 turned out to vote. There is no doubt that this method of approving our town budget is archaic and must change. People have to work, summer vacations are just beginning, some cannot travel because of handicaps and members of the military cannot return to Windham just for the town meeting.

It makes more sense to vote on the municipal and school budgets on Election Day by secret or absentee ballot. Every town that has made this change shows a much higher amount of voters turning out. We keep hearing how Windham must make changes to prepare us for the future. Procedures can be incorporated into the charter that establish the guidelines if a particular section of the budget fails to pass. Some towns just revert back to the previous fiscal year budget. Others allow additional elections until some kind of budget passes.

Another change that we propose to the town charter is the recall of elected officials and limiting the amount of appointed officials. We are tired of living in the Dark Ages where town officials ruled over citizens without possibility of recall and removal. This is 2007, not 1507. Our forefathers fought a revolution over tyranny and taxation.

Without the possibility of removal, except by their peers with nearly a unanimous vote that in 99.9 percent of time won’t happen, the citizens of Windham are forced to wait until someone’s term expires before having a chance to replace them. We have both lived in Windham for more than several years and can’t think of one instance where such a recall vote would be necessary but sometime in the future it will surely happen.

Another section of the charter that must be reworked is our right to vote on expenditures of over $25,000 after the budget is approved. If those items are a clearly marked line item in the budget when the funds are voted on by the council, then the citizens need not be involved. However, what has happened is that Windham has spent hundreds of thousands (probably actually millions) by stating that a particular expenditure was a line item in the budget.

When our budget is approved we only see line items like buildings and grounds, vehicle replacement and other broad items that don’t give us a clue on how the council will spend these funds. Again, if it’s not absolutely clear on how our tax dollars are going to be spent, then it’s time to return the power to people when money over $25,000 is spent.

It is time to move Windham into the future with a more workable government. The state of Maine, with its ancient Constitution of 1820 must also move into the future. What scares us a whole lot is that both local and state officials are saying to watch out for budget problems in the next couple of years. The people need the power in order to effect the changes that will be needed to avoid their financial collapse.

Lane and Tommy, of Windham, have acquired seeds from the money trees in Augusta and Washington, D.C. that will be offered for sale in the near future. These seeds, when fertilized with tax dollars and illegal contributions, will either bring political prosperity or a severe financial calamity.