I used to believe that the relationship between the American people and its government worked just like a good marriage should. Unfortunately that marriage seems to be falling apart which I blame more on the average voter than government itself and that’s not easy for me to say.

There is an abundance of people who have become clueless about politics and politicians in this country and that’s a direction that I don’t want this country to go. It’s not that I can blame them in some ways because there are some in government at all levels that want us to be mushrooms. I’ll try and be nice in explaining that means keeping us in the dark and feeding us what comes out the back door of barns.

Just look at the rise of Donald Trump in the Republican presidential primary. He certainly isn’t a polished politician and yet he leads the polls above seasoned Republican candidates. I have no doubt much of that is because he appears to be the anti-establishment candidate, and since so many voters are sick of unfulfilled campaign promises he is the one candidate that appeals to some people now. Truthfully I would only vote for him if Hillary Clinton was his opponent in the end but I sure hope that neither get to that point, nor do many other candidates as well.

The true shame is that many voters do not inform themselves as to the promises politicians make and if any of those promises are really fulfilled in the future.

I think there will be even more serious consequences in our nation if the citizens continue to sit back to see what government does to them instead of telling government what it should be doing at all levels. Right now we have government bureaucrats and bureaucracies going wacko in Washington. We have a president and Supreme Court that have created some form of legislation, although the Constitution of the United States does not give them the authority because that’s the function of the Congress, which is about as united as water and oil. Our former U.S. Attorney General as well as someone in the Internal Revenue Service were found to be in contempt of Congress and yet nothing happened to them. You darn well know if that happened to an average citizen like you or I what would happen. Just in case someone doesn’t know, the punishment for contempt of Congress is up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

I can’t say why voter apathy happens even at the local level like Windham. Someone running for Town Council unopposed is a perfect example of what I mean. To me, that means if someone is truly running to benefit themselves or some friends they will get into office and I have seen that on multiple occasions in Windham. That happens a lot easier if no one cares.

The same goes for many local issues as well. I don’t have many problems with contract zoning unless it happens more and more frequently, which is now happening in Windham. My belief is that contract zoning can be a cover-up for spot zoning and I have already concluded that might be occurring in Windham.

I certainly hear complaints from many local citizens and even from other towns as well. That’s fine and good but it’s time for people, including me, to tell government what we want or don’t want. Yes, there are some in government that could care less what we think, but I truly believe that if they heard from tons of people their attitude would change for the better.

Take the approval of a contract zone for the Mallison Falls Mill into apartments with the hopes of attracting young millennials from Portland. They will start families and the cost of sending their children to school will impact every property tax bill in Windham. Did even one councilor or citizen speak on this?

Lane Hiltunen of Windham believes it’s time for us to make a difference in politics or suffer the consequences.