“Public money is like holy water; people help themselves.”
Italian proverb

When it comes to guessing, our government at all levels certainly accomplishes that. I noticed two agenda items that the Windham town councilors had for their meeting the Tuesday after I sent in this column. One discussion item was appointing someone to the vacant Windham town council seat and the other, I presume, was about keeping the Windham town meeting. As far as I am concerned both of these subjects are scary when it comes to the present town council, but that is nothing different than town councils of the past in Windham. When it comes down to the nitty-gritty, council action on either one or both could change Windham’s future dramatically.

Unfortunately for all of us, there are plenty of examples what elected officials across our nation have done.

I believe many know my thoughts are to discontinue the Windham town meeting completely. I am sad to state that it is most unfortunate that elected officials of the past wrote the Windham Town Charter in such a manner that if the town meeting was discontinued, then the town councilors would decide the municipal budget. What they did was ensure that the fox was put in charge of the henhouse without the hens having any say with anything. Sounds strange, but the good old boy network was always good at that. One might even hear that a charter committee would have to be formed and then the world that is Windham would change or maybe cease to exist.

To be honest, I don’t think anything substantial will come out of discussing town meetings. My opinion is that the town meeting should be discontinued and the municipal budget put on the ballot just like the budget for RSU 14. What some town councilors might have stated is that it takes a town charter change and that’s dangerous. Oh, it’s dangerous all right, but only dangerous because the taxpayers of Windham might finally get the upper hand. Many citizens feel that the town meeting puts them in the town’s crosshairs because when they have to vote in such a manner everyone attending the meeting can see them. I agree with that thought, and it’s obvious that in the past some in government must have caused citizens to be fearful. It certainly was a persuasive feeling when I first moved to Windham.

As far as filling a vacant council seat, I have to say that no one can fill the seat that Tommy Gleason had. Yes, I used to think the town councilors should fill a vacant council seat as soon as possible but therein lies the problem. Do they have an established policy to follow? I have to believe they don’t. Do they advertise the vacant seat and let eligible citizens apply or do they decide behind closed doors? Or do they do it with phone calls or emails, which is something that just might have occurred with other decisions? Sorry, I do know the answer to the last question. What ever the answer they come up with, the public has to have input.

It seems like someone didn’t like the thought of the Windham town councilors decision to install new traffic signs in our town. I hope that I am not blamed for this foolish act of stupidity because I am against where these stop signs were placed. They were stolen from the new four-way stop at the intersection of Windham Center, Pope and Ward roads. What’s kind of sad is that I have been through that intersection recently only to see some cars failing to completely stop on the Windham Center Road. I couldn’t tell if they were the same ones who fail to stop at the stop signs on roads leading out of the Windham High School campus. Maybe there’s a slim chance someone couldn’t afford a stop sign at the end of a new private road somewhere in Maine. Just guessing, you know.

Maybe someone decided that it was high time they benefited from public money.

Lane Hiltunen of Windham believes it’s time to take back control of government at all levels.