“The Supreme Court has ruled that they cannot have a nativity scene in Washington, D.C. This wasn’t for any religious reasons. They couldn’t find three wise men and a virgin.” -Jay Leno

Lane/Tommy: First and foremost we have to thank the Windham Town Council for another year of entertainment that was complete with fits and verbal abuse for both fellow councilors and private citizens. One could attend those meetings for free but that might change. We believe that the council should charge an admission fee but they will first have to all agree that all council decisions will come from staging mud wrestling contests. For the New Year we sincerely hope that the council will get down to the business of doing government business but the odds will only be improved if the Maine Legislature will finally understand what tax relief is really about.

Lane: I forgive Councilor Bob Muir for his outburst at the Dec. 11 council meeting, especially the threat about him preventing a columnist from being elected in the future as a town councilor. I quote the Windham Municipal Code of Ethics reads: “No town official may use his/her official authority or position for the purposes of influencing or interfering with or affecting the results of any election.” I would like him to know that he will receive some much deserved publicity from it because we do believe it was a complaint he had about not receiving publicity like another town councilor. (YouTube sounds like a great outlet for such remarks.)

Tommy: The taxpayers received a Christmas present with the school consolidation plan that promises to reduce the tax burden that Mainers suffer under but it appears that every school superintendent in Maine is extending their contract so they can’t be fired under this new plan. It appears that those school superintendents care much more for their generous pay and benefits and couldn’t care that the rest of us either starve or freeze to death. Heck, I would love to earn $126,000 a year plus free benefits like the Windham Superintendent of Schools does. In case you don’t know, he is the second-highest paid superintendent in this state and his salary exceeds that of the superintendent of Maine’s largest city!

Lane/Tommy: We hope that the taxpayers of Windham (other towns as well) don’t spend all their hard-earned money on Christmas. With the approximate cost of $30,000 per snowstorm for the Windham Public Works Department (PWD) and what looks like a winter with heavy snow, it won’t take long for that department to eat up its budget, even with new plow trucks. However, we do appreciate their dedication to making our roads safe during these storms.

Tommy: One Christmas present we would have loved to receive is the Keddy Mill torn down by a developer and 85 condos, some costing half a million dollars, standing in its place. The present we did receive is a $2 million plus bill from the Portland Water District and the Windham Town Council, which could end up in court either from the water district not receiving payment for the cost of overruns or the owners of septic systems who will refuse to pay extra taxes so people in South Windham on the sewer system can flush their toilets at a reduced cost. How’s that for a Christmas present? Next year’s Christmas present to taxpayers will probably be the cost of storm drains running the Keddy Mill condo project which, if true to government form, will also include a cost overrun. Merry Christmas again.

Lane: Another Christmas present Tommy and I sincerely appreciate is the Windham Fire and Police Departments doing their best to save taxpayer dollars by watching the cost of purchases where they can. A couple of good examples are the purchases of a demonstrator fire truck and a used vehicle as a maintenance truck for the Public Safety Department. I wish the Public Works Department could do the same. Whether in good weather or risking their lives during emergencies such as a major winter storm, Tommy and I are grateful of the police and fire departments for their first-class performance.

Lane/Tommy: There are two presents that we wish we could have received. The first is more global warming, which seems to have disappeared during the month of December. We are also confused how someone could win a Nobel Peace Prize for speaking out about global warming when it not only remains to be verified, but has nothing to do with peace. In the end, our greatest Christmas present should have been Peace on Earth and that’s a present that humanity will likely never see but we can hope for the best.

I am Tommy Gleason. And I am Lane Hiltunen. And we are from Windham. Together, we approve the following message: Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!