Thumbs down to the lack of interest for participation on a charter commission to develop a charter for York County. Though the process would no doubt be tedious, having our own local rules to follow would help the county avoid problems in the future, particularly by describing in detail the responsibilities of county commissioners and other elected officials and providing a structure for governing.

Instead, we will have to continue to rely on state statutes that govern county operations, which are sparse and at times, vague. The charter commission would have been composed of six elected members ”“ one from each of the five commissioner districts and one at-large ”“ plus three appointed members. Kudos to the two people who stepped-up to run for the spots.

Thumbs up to the Summer of Service program in Sanford, made possible through a $62,000 grant to Sanford schools through the federal Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act. The program has provided opportunities for more than 125 youth to participate in gardening, bicycle rehabilitation, recycling, trails maintenance and photography ”“ all interesting and beneficial programs that provide opportunities for hands-on learning.

Thumbs down to the wrangling in Old Orchard Beach over whether or not two councilors have a conflict of interest with matters involving OOB365. Most often, those who are civic-minded enough to serve on the council will also be involved in other community groups and they should not be punished for doing so. Councilors Sharri MacDonald and Michael Tousignant, who are part of the downtown promotion group, should certainly recuse themselves from any votes that would lead to monetary gain for the group, but should not be excluded from casting their votes on other matters affecting the group. OOB365 is not a private business, it is an effort to keep the town lively during the off-season. Councilors should be commended for being involved and seen as valuable liaisons to the council.

Thumbs up to the City of Saco for moving forward with possible sale of the Main Street windmill. The underproducing, misplaced and broken unit may fetch a nice price in the Midwest and hopefully help the city recoup some the cost of this poor purchasing decision. Councilor Jeff Christenbury was right in saying that the city had good intentions, but “sometimes, when you’re the first to try something, things don’t work out.” Perhaps the city can find other ways to “go green” with better returns.

Thumbs down to the City of Biddeford for the way administrators and councilors handled the racino proposal from Scarborough Downs. Though city officials have been in talks with the racetrack for months, the public heard about it for the first time on the same night that the council voted on the issue. The proposal was not noted on the council agenda. Now the council has already voted, with very minimal public input, to place a referendum question on the November ballot asking residents whether they want harness racing and a racino to locate in the city. Resident Matthew Hight made a good point when he said putting the issue on the ballot “is not a neutral act” because it will create a campaign to convince voters. Though public hearings will be held before polling in November, the public should have been given a heads-up that the council was considering such a major issue ”“ before their vote.

— Thumbnails is a Monday feature of the Journal Tribune’s opinion pages. If you would like to respond, please write the Reader’s Forum via e-mail at jtcommunity@journaltribune.com or by dropping your letter off at our Biddeford or Sanford offices.