To the editor:
The Caribou City Charter is about to be reviewed by a charter commission. It is being said that the charter does not need to be revised. It is true that a few small adjustments need to be made and they could be done with amendments to the charter. This does not fix some of the major problems the charter fails to address.
First, the charter has no mission statement. It does not tell city officials what the voters of Caribou expect of them. There is not a business that does not have to provide a mission statement before it can receive a license to do business in the state of Maine.
Now the city of Caribou is a licensed corporation within the state of Maine with each voter of the city being its shareholders. No place in the charter is this being stated.
The charter also does not state what the purpose of city government is for. This then places no control over the government and those who manage the government.
What we are witnessing throughout the nation is an abuse of power by government officials whose charter has been formed in a similar matter. There are a number of citizen voters in Caribou, who have seen this major shortcoming in the charter and are dedicated to see that this situation is corrected. It has become necessary for those citizens to force the issue and bring the charter into review. It is now up to the rest of the voters of Caribou to ensure the commission that will be established has representatives that will look at the charter and make those necessary revisions.
I urge each and everyone to vote in the November elections and elect persons who will have an open mind as to what will be best for the future of the city of Caribou.
Maynard St. Peter
Caribou
