“If you have always done it that way, it is probably wrong.” -Charles Kettering

Lane: As the Windham Town Council is settling into its new routine and setting agenda items for future discussion, as are other councils and boards of selectmen across Maine, here are some of my thoughts on what the councilors should be discussing in the future. Yes, some are going to be considered extreme and against past practices. However, although it is great to learn from the past, one must also prepare for the future and my opinion is that that is where Windham has failed. Of course, it’s not that it hasn’t been tried and the Comprehensive Master Plan was a great start for this town. Unfortunately, personal agendas and power plays have been seen throughout various boards and commissions and I have certainly questioned those personal motives as to the outcome desired.

First and foremost, Windham’s budget process has to be more open than in the past and presented in such a manner that a citizen does not have to be an accountant to understand it, both from the school and municipal sides. As a matter of fact it seems like the budget process is rapidly disappearing from the public eye. I personally would love to see the formation of a budget oversight committee for the complete budget formation process and then continue to watch as spending goes on during the fiscal year.

I say that because of the Windham School Department suddenly and magically discovering $500,000 to replace the superintendent of schools buildings. During the budget debate and a candidate’s forum night, school board members praised their proposed budget as “down to the last cent and some items had to be cut.”

Isn’t it amazing that just a few short weeks later a budget miracle happened and $500,000 mysteriously appeared to replace those buildings? I say something stinks because it is my opinion and the opinion of others that the former buildings could have been restored. There are citizens demanding the return of their tax dollars.

Boards and committees are fine to have if used properly and to the frequency to accomplish town business like reviewing ordinances and future planning. It just seems things start out gung-ho and then deteriorate to the point where a particular board or commission becomes silent and incompetent.

I am glad to see citizens volunteer to assist their town prepare for the future. What I hate to see is when someone’s personal agenda is the only reason he or she is on a board. It is time for this council to step forward immediately to reinvigorate those boards where it is necessary, form new boards that are needed like a budget committee and do away with those boards that are no longer necessary.

I have to ask this council why the citizens of Windham have lost services like the transfer station, bulky waste and the leaf and brush pile while the budget continues to increase along with more employees and, I add, well-paid employees with salaries far above neighboring towns with good benefits that many Mainers don’t receive?

In the state of Maine, it certainly appears that the local and state governments have become the new Tories that might cause citizens to rebel again but that is another column. I didn’t say armed revolution, which I have been accused of in the past.

Maine’s Constitution was signed in 1820 when Maine became a state. Maine’s economy was based on agriculture and the Constitution was based on that.

Although it has been amended, there are changes that must be made in order for Maine to move into the future and Windham’s Town Charter is no different. I realize the Windham’s good old boy network has feared those changes for years and the reason is power. First and foremost, this council must find a better method to entice citizens to vote on the budget rather than the Town Meeting.

Windham’s population has boomed while attendance at the annual meeting has declined. I say let’s vote on the budget by secret or absentee ballot on Election Day in June. I know many citizens agree. The Charter must be amended in order that citizens can recall any member of the town council or school board when deemed necessary. If we voted them in, we should have the power to vote them out. Any elected official who fears this change shouldn’t have been elected to our local government in the first place.

The last charter change I would like to propose pertains to spending of tax dollars, no matter whether they are property taxes, fees, surcharges, permit fees or impact fees. Just as the Maine Legislature has found a loophole around spending limited by the State Constitution, so too has the town of Windham. What is even worse is that more and more spending of large amounts of tax dollars are now included in the loopholes, and that’s bad.

If I write anymore, I will be sounding like a liberal.

Lane and Tommy of Windham, tired of seeing the various levels of government in Maine get the gold mine while the taxpayers get the shaft, have asked for state funding to observe New Hampshire’s government in action. Although the leasing of a private Learjet and limousine might seem extravagant, they will only accept the same benefits like medical insurance and retirement as Maine legislators receive if their friends agree.