The York County Advocacy Group, made up of local councilors, selectmen, county commissioners, town managers and a city administrator, recently held a meeting with the county’s legislators, at which members laid out their legislative goals for the region.

We’re pleased to see this group getting together and coming up with ways to improve life for county residents, as well as improving business opportunities and education.

Jan. 18 is the deadline to submit bills for consideration in the next legislative session, and the advocacy group’s meeting has given legislators direction on which issues they want to see submitted.

The main goal discussed was more funding for York County Community College, and specifically the school’s new integrated manufacturing program. The program is intended to train skilled workers for jobs at companies like Pratt & Whitney and General Dynamics.

This is an important goal, and with the recent failure of a bond to support new equipment for this program, the area’s legislators will need to advocate for more funding for YCCC through budget processes or other bills. We hope they can come together to get this program fully funded in the future, so training can be provided for as many students as possible.

The group also discussed the lack of state funding for K-12 education, and concurred on the need to push for more education funds from the state to reduce the burden on taxpayers. This is also an important goal, and the county’s delegation ”“ along with legislators around Maine ”“ needs to push for the state to fully fund its obligation to education.

That is why these meetings and communication between all facets of state and local government are so important. And while it is good that the group met, we’d like to see them go even further by making a commitment to meet regularly and more frequently.

Kennebunkport Town Manager Larry Mead pointed out that the delegation from Aroostook County is well-known for its self-advocacy, as leaders there develop a plan and work across party lines to achieve their goals. Sanford Town Manager Steve Buck served as the city manager in Caribou for 11 years, and noted that Aroostook County has so much success because of its close and constant relationship with its legislators. The towns in that county keep in touch with legislators weekly, through a series of conference calls in five county locations.

Everyone in attendance at the York County meeting acknowledged the success of Aroostook legislators and agreed that communication and working together is imperative to the area’s success. However, the group didn’t seem ready for a weekly commitment to keeping the lines of communication open. Instead, they set their next meeting for Feb. 9. Two months is a long time, and municipal leaders will be ramping up for budget season, making those regular meetings even less likely in the spring.

We’d like to see them commit to convening more frequently to agree upon a clear set of goals for the county, as far as legislation is concerned, and communicate those goals to our representatives in Augusta. The political playing field and the issues of the day change rapidly, and it seems Aroostook County leaders have found a smart way to stay on top of it all by touching base with each other weekly.

York County’s elected representatives can certainly make that same effort to communicate through regular meetings and discussions, so that the county’s agenda will be pushed at the state level and residents here will see the fruits of those labors. They’ve already made a good start.

Ӣ Ӣ Ӣ

Today’s editorial was written by City Editor Robyn Burnham on behalf of the Journal Tribune Editorial Board. Questions? Comments? Contact Managing Editor Kristen Schulze Muszynski by calling 282-1535, Ext. 322, or via email at kristenm@journaltribune.com.