May 14, 2010
Dear Editor,
Three thousand years ago the blind poet, Homer, said: Even the fool is wise AFTER the event. The modern Irishman puts it: If you saw shells, you'd guess eggs. Even our present selectmen for whom any sign of legitimate PROGRESS is considered a breach of group unity, know SOMETHING is terribly wrong in the direction our beautiful town is headed - they just can't figure out what to do about it.
In fact, the current flock of candidates for selectman are mostly either present or former occupants of the board and it is obvious that even if one, or at the extreme range of probability, two, have a grip on the situation, if elected or re-elected, they will spend their term in office hopelessly and helplessly OUTNUMBERED, while Rumford continues its slide into the abyss of economic catastrophe and political and moral derangement.
The chaotic and disordered element in this town, and we are not only referring to the people who flock here on relief looking for title eight housing or psychotropic drugs, can be measured by the double homicide which happened two blocks from the public library. In fact, that is the day our view of the trouble this town was in crystallized. There are three instructive lessons to be learned from that incredible event.
First, is the fact that the house in which the victims resided is STILL on Pine Street ready to spontaneously combust at any moment. So much for evidence of concern on the part of the current crop of selectmen to conditions in their fair town. Second, is the unbelievably stupid comments made by the family of both of the unfortunate deceased, illustrating the pandemonium that exists in many families in Rumford today. Third, both of the murderers were recent graduates of Mountain Valley High School and one of them was apparently on the honor roll there. Both of them close on the heels of that quadruple murderer in Hartford who had significant Rumford and MVHS connections.
What's to do? Remember back when YOU were in high school and were facing a multiple choice test? For every question there were at least four answers and you could circle only one. Many of them were devious, two or three seemed to be correct at first glance but left out an important piece of information. Then you circled NONE OF THE ABOVE. What we propose to your readership as a solution to this dilemma is a unified WRITE -IN campaign for the three open seats on the Board of Selectmen. A campaign that is based on the theme of NONE OF THE ABOVE.
Many of the more than half-dozen candidates who have tossed their hats into the ring this year for the unprecedented three openings are no doubt good people. Some of them have been selectmen before and some of them are selectmen now, but none of them can answer the question: How are you, if elected, going to prevent our beautiful town from being flushed down the toilet? We know this because the town has been sliding down the drain ON THEIR WATCH. Much as we respect their efforts now and in the past, they have not been up to the tremendous job that is required. Possibly some are individually able and even gifted administrators, but with no unified plan they will spend their elected terms butting heads, dissing one another and passing staggering and unjustified tax increases. To say nothing of passively permitting parts of the town go to rack and ruin for lack of proper code oversight, and the prudent employment of eminent domain to keep the fire hazards at bay and the property value of the rest of our houses from disintegrating..
Our unified slate of candidates, intelligent, mature, Christian and willing to serve, intend, if elected, to build on the tremendous civic heritage that was given to us by the committed energy and foresight of Rumford's founding and subsequent town fathers AND a blue plastic ox cemented in the ground at the edge of the Rite Aid parking lot with blue hoof prints leading to the Paul Bunyun statue on the other side of town IS NOT what we have in mind.
We propose the following platform upon which to conduct a whirlwind three week write-in campaign: First: A promise to ROLL BACK, if possible, the unethical and very likely illegal 20% property tax increase of last fall when New Page AND Brookfield Power applied for AND WERE GRANTED massive and unjustifiable re-valuations. Why? These two companies occupy some of the most expensive and desirable real estate in the entire U.S. of A. and significantly impair Rumford's ability to take advantage of its full business and recreational potential. To say nothing of the fact that when the property values of residential homes plummeted recently, we did not see homeowners (especially older residents on fixed pensions ) receive a tax break. Something smells here and it isn't the dead fish in the Androscoggin River.
Second: A promise to form a coalition of contiguous towns (or we could just do it on our own at more cost) to take over the hydro-electric plant at the Falls by eminent domain and to operate the plant (only a handful of knowledgeable people are required to actually RUN it) for the BENEFIT of every property owner in the area. In towns in other states which have a river running providentially through their borders, where municipalities own this resource, residents HEAT their homes with electricity with an average YEARLY bill of two hundred dollars. We want to give our voters the right to benefit from the Androscoggin's powerful presence in our town.
Third: A promise to SEE TO IT that the current owners of the mill commit to a plan to protect Rumford should they close down or move away. The paper mill, which was founded by the same man who literally designed our beautiful town, has changed hands several times since Hugh Chisholm died and now, instead of being a reliable benefactor of the town, it constitutes a threat, a massive threat to Rumford's very existence as we know it. We also know that the present owners have sold off their timber and the hydro¬electric plant which are necessary for the mill's long term survival. Why? Ain't they planning on sticking around?
What's going to happen if and when the current owners decide to pull out and leave the massive edifice of the plant behind? Who is going to pay to remove it or to re-direct its use? We think the mill should be required to contribute, apart from its fair property taxes, to a fund designed to mitigate the harm to Rumford tax payers should the mill shut down or its owners abandon it in future for any reason. They should be required to commit to a plan that does not leave Rumford holding the bag for the demolition of the existing structure or forced to make the tremendous, (and highly dubious,) effort to find a productive use for all that smokestack and steel.
Our slate of candidates, united in their desire to take Rumford back from the brink of economic and moral collapse, promise to MOVE towards our future as a self-supporting, self-directing municipality that says NO THANK YOU to Augusta every time funds arrive for homes for new mothers in jail or juvenile delinquents who should be in jail or ANOTHER non-profit mental health facility or probation office is planned for Congress Street (for God's sake!) in return for the governor making an appearance at a spaghetti dinner twice a year.
We promise to say YES to strengthen code enforcement, to ELIMINATE the slum tenements, and to cut the municipal budget that considers a $6000 blue cow an appropriate expenditure. We would like to see $6000 spent on providing milk and graham crackers to elementary school children, because we have seen the pallid faces and the listless bodies of our town's children and we do not like what we see. We will say YES to tightening our belts but not so tight we can't breathe. We will say YES to identifying and encouraging business to come into the town to SERVE our OWN populations, namely:
Our "Seniors": They represent over, we think we heard it reported, 50% of Rumfordians and we will see to it that this number goes up, that the advantages to the town of encouraging seniors to choose Rumford for their retirement (excellent municipal infrastructure, classic housing, many houses on one level, a community hospital and veteran's clinic, etc.) are circulated and that business which specifically cater to this population, (in-home aides, investment and pension counselors, landscapers and other home trades, companies that provide entertainment and tours to notable and religious sites in the area, etc., etc.) arrive as a result. We promise to promote every good idea that will attract law abiding, tax-paying, independent and resourceful seniors to our beautiful town.
Our "Children": We promise to improve and expand the educational and recreational opportunities that already exist here - perhaps enticing a start-up college or private high school to open and utilize the amazing infrastructure we possess. The Hotel Harris, for example, could be an administrative center for a junior college and talk about student housing! Many towns that host small colleges have a never-ending stream of revenue to small businesses. If we can accomplish self-sufficiency that means some of our children will WANT to stay here and will be ABLE to stay here and raise their families.
Our "In-betweens": These are our hard working and inventive men and women who will start up businesses to attend to the previous two populations and, if the mill does shut down and is appropriately dispatched, the recreational and tourist value of our beautiful town will increase ten-fold bringing many service jobs with it. Let's give them tax incentives and help with loans and grants. Rumford is not only a beautifully laid-out town, it is a town, apart from the necessary presence of the mill, situated in a natural paradise with recreational potential that far exceeds some of the tonier vacation spots in our fair state. IF we make the correct decisions NOW, Rumford will resume its rightful place as a magnet for families and small business, grandparents and grandchildren to locate here.
Little steps for little feet. Let's get our bullet slate of write-in candidates elected and common sense will, finalement, constitute a MAJORITY of three on a board of five for at least one year. We can accomplish this with the support and enthusiasm of our neighbors and friends. Join our candidates in their commitment to give a couple of years of what remains to them above ground in actively promoting these ideas and there will be no more controversy about Rumford going down the drain.
We invite your readership to find out more about our campaign. We Want Our Beautiful Town Back. Please phone us at the House of the Rumford Resolves, 364-3964.
Juliet Alexander
347 Pine Street
Rumford, Maine 04276
207-364-3964
