RSU a competitive advantage

I am writing to urge you to support the town of Durham’s continued participation in RSU 5. As a taxpayer and parent, I believe this decision is one of the most important decisions we may ever face as a town. Merging with Freeport and Pownal has enabled our children to attend top-notch schools, enjoy the variety and depth of programming available through the RSU 5, and minimize costs while maintaining quality.

In these challenging economic times, it is very tempting to see a separation from the RSU 5 as an economic solution. However, the strength of our community, any community really, rests on the strength of our families. Families form the building blocks of a community, they bring children, who vitalize and invigorate. In order to ensure that our community can compete as a residential destination for prospective families; hoping to raise families, we need to keep our schools strong. I believe that remaining in RSU 5 gives our community a competitive advantage by providing solid schools without the drawbacks that come with Freeport or Pownal. (Freeport with its emphasis on attracting retailers and Pownal’s high property costs.) Thus giving our community an advantage in marketplace.

As parents, we have chosen to send our children to tuition-charging schools. We, however, remain committed to the RSU 5, even if that decision costs us more on own property taxes. We believe our community’s children are worth the investment and good schools return our investment with solid neighbors, increasing property values, and a stronger, more vital community for the longterm. We do not have to drive far to see small towns with poor schools on the decline.

Our town’s children have benefited from our association with RSU 5. My own daughter has run with the Harraseeket Harriers and attended camps and afterschool programs that are not available through our town. We would lose access to so many vital programs like foreign language, advanced placement and special education, to name just a few. All of which would be greatly diminished, if not totally eliminated, if we were to sever our connection to the RSU. Freeport High School is a strong academic option, providing depth and variety to our young people as they begin to build their future plans for college and beyond. Many of our neighbors made the decision to buy in Durham on the strength of Freeport High School’s standing within the state.

Sometimes small towns can be short sighted. People can get caught up in the worries they have today and miss the benefit of holding fast and making the current situation work. Our grandparents knew what it meant to sacrifice today for tomorrow –many of them were veterans, farmers, or folks that earned college degrees at night while they raised their families. It would be a real shame if our children lost critical life-changing opportunities, because a few people scared us all into pinching a few pennies.

As the old quote goes: “The future belongs to the young.” We are the stewards of town today, tomorrow and down the road. Ensuring that children have the best educational opportunities ensures our town’s future. Please let us keep that in our minds when we decide on the quality of our children’s education. We owe our community nothing less.

Mary Fallon

Durham

Advocate for all

I write in support of Rep. Anne Graham for District 109, parts of Gray, North Yarmouth and Pownal. In her first term, Anne has shown that she is a fair-minded and principled moderate, receiving bipartisan support for the four bills she sponsored. All four were passed by the Maine House and Senate, three unanimously, and two were signed into law.

In addition to Anne’s sensible, centrist approach, she has also demonstrated great compassion for Maine’s most vulnerable citizens. Last winter, when the governor proposed cutting personal care assistance for severely disabled Mainers receiving MaineCare, I called Anne. I explained that these kinds of programs are cost-effective because they help disabled people remain in their residences rather than be placed in nursing homes, a much more expensive option for Maine taxpayers. Anne listened, offered me encouragement, and suggested that I put my concerns in writing and present them to the Appropriations Committee. I was unable to attend this session, so I sent Anne a copy of my statement. At the Appropriations Committee Hearing, Rep. Graham acted as my advocate, giving voice to my words, entering my statement into the public record. Anne has earned my gratitude and my vote. She stood up for me then, and now, I urge the voters of District 109 to stand up for her.

Please join me and vote to return Rep. Anne Graham to Augusta so she may continue to advocate for us all.

Kim Mathews

Pownal

The bigger picture

I’m a senior at Freeport High School and I love everything about it. I mean, I certainly don’t pay taxes or anything, but it seems like from what I’ve read that that is what everyone is mostly concerned about.

Shouldn’t people also focus on what is best for their kids? I may not be impacted by this (Durham possibly leaving RSU 5), but my brother and other children in the younger grades will be the most. Walking into Freeport my freshman year, I was welcomed with open arms. Making friends with teachers and peers was easy for me. I felt comfortable and fit right in just like I did at Durham when I started kindergarten. The teachers are great and if at any moment someone needed help, they’d be there for them as soon as they could.

I know that plenty of my peers that graduated from Durham and went to Freeport would agree with me on this. I’ve met some of the best people in my life at Freeport High School and couldn’t imagine it any other way. We’re all a big Falcon family there and it’s sad for me to see many people from our community that are not taking the time to see the bigger picture in all this. I even went to a meeting with my mother not too long ago and with just a little over an hour I was filled with information that I had no idea about before. I think people need to be proactive when wanting facts about this instead of believing rumors that could or could not be true.

Chelsea Washburn

Durham

Rare combination

I’m a big believer in political leaders who can see the big picture but who also are practical enough to get things done. That is a rare combination. Over the last few years, I’ve gotten to know Sara Gideon and to observe her work on the Town Council here in Freeport. The council is a non-partisan body that has a wide array of views and opinions. Sara has really shined as a councilor who listens carefully to all sides of issues, is respectful to everyone and tries to find common sense solutions to the problems that a small town faces.

I support her wholeheartedly in her race to serve us in the state Legislature and believe she will do an outstanding job there. Because of her experience in business, Sara understands that what the people of this area need, more than anything, is for elected officials who will work together to get this economy moving. She also cares deeply about ensuring that everyone has a fair shake at reaching their fullest potential.

Perhaps most importantly, Sara understands that while government has an important role to play in the economy, in providing infrastructure and the best possible schools, our funds are not unlimited and must be used wisely.

For those reasons and others, I hope you’ll join me in supporting Sara as our state representative.

Alan Caron

Freeport

Committed candidates

I support Jim Cassida and Melanie Sachs for Freeport Town Council.

I’ve served with Jim on the council this last year, and he brings to the table decades of experience in environmental issues and law. He has devoted countless hours to guiding the council toward well-reasoned solutions, has an understanding of complex, tough issues, and is open to all ideas and people.

Melanie is also deeply committed to Freeport, and will bring great energy and a fresh perspective to the council. I urge Freeport residents to vote for Jim Cassida and Melanie Sachs.

Kristina Egan

Freeport Town Councilor, District 3

A good value

I am writing today to address concerns I have regarding the upcoming vote taking place in Durham having to do with the withdrawal from RSU 5. There is an abundance of inaccurate information floating around regarding impending tax hikes, and other disingenuous information. I feel that this information is being put out there seemingly for the purpose of scaring some into wanting to withdraw from the RSU.

I do not claim to be an expert, but I have attended all the meetings, read all the materials made available to me and spoken to members of the original RSU exploratory committee. I was distressed to learn from them that no one associated with the withdrawal petition had taken the time to speak with these folks that had spent literally years researching this.

I would like to start by addressing what seems to be the most common gripe, which is that the tax increases felt by residents in the past few years have primarily been caused by the formation of the RSU. This is false. A town-wide property value re-assessment in 2010 resulted in property tax increases for about a third of Durham residents. That combined with the fact that state aid for education has decreased over $100 million since 2009, leaving towns to make up the shortfall. Also, Durham’s state property valuation has increased almost 6 percent since 2009. This increases Durham’s state-mandated contribution to local education costs.

Also being overlooked are payments on the portion of the new school (Durham Elementary) not funded by the state that began in 2009 (larger gym, gabled roof, geothermal heat system.) These were approved by and voted on by the residents of Durham and would have increased our taxes regardless of the RSU. No one likes tax increases, but to claim that these were caused primarily by the formation of the RSU is false. Also making the rounds is a rumor regarding a 200 percent budget hike that will not be made public until after the vote. I have spoken with the town selectmen and was told not only do they not want to address such ridiculous rumors, but I was also reminded that the town must vote on and approve all such budget increases. Hence that rumor too is false.

RSU 5 is an especially good value for Durham residents. We have 30 percent of the students and yet pay only 13 percent of the school budget thanks to the deal we were able to obtain with our partners. And RSU 5 was just recognized in a recent study by the University of Southern Maine Center for Education Policy, Applied Research and Evaluation as a “more efficient” school district meaning money is spent wisely.

I think it’s important that the people voting for withdrawal take a few important things into account when making the decision in November. First a vote to withdrawal will not decrease our tax load and in fact preliminary number crunching by the Durham Educational Exploration Committee states that it will have just the opposite effect. Leaving to go to another school will increase our taxes. Those numbers I believe will be released at the Oct. 22 public meeting. Also the participation we now enjoy on the school board will be gone. If we vote to leave the RSU, we will lose whatever decision making power we currently have. School choice as we had in the past is no longer an option. The state now requires a 10-year contract with an area high school for stand-alone towns without a high school of their own. High schools agreeing to guarantee spots for our kids will almost certainly want a guarantee in return that we will send most, if not all of our kids there.

And aside from the reasons I have listed above are what I believe to be the ones most easily overlooked. As of the coming school year, Durham elementary school children will all be attending Freeport High School and not just the majority that has been going the past few years. They will take the relationships that they have spent years building and move on together. They will do so smoothly with a flowing curriculum that has been years in the making so that all the Durham students and Freeport students are on the same page as far as what they have been taught. They will join the Freeport and Pownal students that they may have played sports with or known from another shared program. If we vote to withdraw, because we mistakenly think our taxes will go down, or we have an allegiance to another high school the we attended or our older children, or we think another school has a better sports program. They lose that.

I do not see anything to gain from this. We lose our sense of greater community. We lose millions of dollars we spent researching this. (not to mention additional money that tax payers will have to come up with for further studies) We lose our representation on a school board. We lose the contracts with the teachers that were three years in the making. We lose shared programs, special education, etc. We lose the curriculum that has been hammered out over years to help our children succeed in a very difficult world.

Don’t we want better than that for our kids?

David P. Jordan

Durham

Actions speak ?for themselves

A North Yarmouth resident, Lincoln Merrill, has been writing letters to local newspapers with vague and unsubstantiated charges directed at Anne Graham, the State House Representative from District 109. He also heaps praise upon Sue Austin, the challenger in the race for the District 109 seat, and it stretches the bounds of credibility to think that the Austin campaign has nothing to do with Mr. Merrill’s baseless attacks. Well, this is politics, but in Maine generally and for local races particularly, the politics of personal destruction are not in line with our values.

What are the charges leveled by Mr. Merrill? In his own words, “Graham is for high taxes and her votes are job killers.” He offers no evidence whatsoever that any vote has hurt job growth, nor can he point to any vote for higher taxes. Mr. Merrill further asserts that “Graham voted against Gray, North Yarmouth and Pownal residents 64 percent and 77 percent of the time,” basing this assertion on Chamber of Commerce and People Before Politics reports, claiming them to be “non-partisan.”

Neither group is anything like non-partisan. Both are spending heavily and working hard to promote right-wing candidates, and thus it’s no surprise to see that they target a centrist Democrat. People Before Politics was founded by those who worked on the Paul LePage campaign, so of course they support candidates who will rubber-stamp the LePage agenda. To say that a representative is “voting against” her constituents, without so much as one shred of evidence to corroborate such a vague and baseless attack, is truly scurrilous.

What is the reality? Let’s look at health care. The Republican leadership rushed through an overhaul that stripped the oversight function from the Maine Bureau of Insurance, leaving citizens and small businesses vulnerable to large rate hikes from insurance companies. Rep. Anne Graham brought forward a bill to require a review before insurance companies could foist these burdens onto the businesses and citizens of Maine. Who is “against” the citizens and businesses of Maine with “job killing” votes – Anne Graham who sought to protect them from unreasonable cost increases, or the Republican leadership? When Anne Graham authored a bill to provide tax relief to those who lost homes to fire, some Republicans voted to continue taxing people on uninhabitable property. Who then was “for high taxes”? Rep. Graham also authored legislation to protect public safety, strengthening laws against drug use by truck drivers and promoting CPR training. That’s four good pieces of legislation in two years – more than Sue Austin had done in her previous eight years in the Legislature.

As for the role that Sue Austin had in the “2010 tax rollback” that Mr. Merrill says she should be so proud of, that role was limited to casting a vote. When we elect someone to office, we have hired them to work on our behalf. Anne Graham has shown with deeds that she works hard for the citizens of District 109, and Maine. Actions speak louder than words, and Mr. Merrill’s unsubstantiated attacks can’t stand up against the facts. If you want to hire someone who will do more than just vote, who will actually work hard to protect your rights and interests, then Anne Graham deserves your vote.

Greg Teegarden, Suzanne Crowell, Jane Mittel

Pownal