Posted on 6/20/2007 by Matthew Quinn (Email)

                 It scares me to see the residents of Skowhegan fight so harshly against the tax override.  I hear many different viewpoints, and personally have tried to come up with my own opinion on the matter.  I work for the town. I am a call firefighter and in the winter I am hired on as a seasonal employee at the highway department.  Although I don’t live in Skowhegan anymore, I certainly have an interest in the politics affecting it. 

The fact is everyone in the surrounding area does, and should.  Skowhegan is the hub of activity for this area of Somerset County.  It is the crossroads of two major U.S. federal highways, as well as a few secondary state routes.  It has the potential to be an amazing place for business and industry, if only we let it, but fighting amongst ourselves over a tax override that will keep the town running certainly is not a productive way to attract new business.  If we want to better the town we need to come together as a community and make this town great!

            There is a serious mistrust in the leadership of Skowhegan.  People believe that they have padded their budgets and that there is a ton of “fat” to trim from it.  Depending on your opinion of “fat” budget items, there could be a ton of places to cut, or hardly any at all.

            The budget committee is a hard working group of taxpayers, as are the Board of Selectmen, and many of the department heads.  I feel pretty safe in assuming that they hate paying taxes just like everyone else, but, taxes are a necessity in this world,  and if we want the services we need to pay the price.  If we don’t want the services then we don’t have to pay. Unfortunately everything comes with a price.  If potholes and slippery roads are things we can live with then by all means cut the highway funds.  It may take a few extra hours to get your road plowed, but the budget would be lowered and your tax bill as well.  If you want to wait an hour or more for police protection, then we don’t need to budget for more officers.  We may have to look at a little more “art” spray painted all over the downtown, but our tax bill would be lowered. If you don’t mind waiting in line a little longer at the town office for licenses etc. then cut the budget.

            We don’t need to pay for fireworks or a library or fire prevention at the school, but we choose to.  Why?  Because we know that it is for the good of the town.  We know that funding a highway department and police department makes the town a better place.  We know that although we may not need a recreation department to survive, we fund it, because we know that it is for the good of our town the children that live in our community.

            I urge you to attend the town meeting on the 25^th.  Support the town!  Support your home!  Support the people who work for you!  Let’s work together to make Skowhegan wonderful!  Skowhegan is “a place to watch”, lets make Skowhegan “a place to prosper!”

Posted on 6/4/2007 by Ed Bossom (Email, 207-885-1573)

I have been waiting for updates on the progress of the proposed whitewater "Play Area" in Skowhegan on the Kennebec River.  Is there an access to update info? I''m getting anxious!