‘Government of the government’

To the editor:
    Isn’t it convenient that all of a sudden the council workshops are now aired on television? Of course the real workshops that would have really mattered were those that dealt with department heads and their “wish list” budgets, of which they will be successful in getting approved by council without any questions asked. The city establishment and department heads just aren’t in tune with what citizens would like to — and should — see so they would make some sort of judgment call on how the city is picking their pockets. Why all the secrecy?     Open your eyes folks. It’s a government of the government instead of a government of the people in Caribou. The arrogance of this mayor, who doesn’t want any input from the citizens at meetings, is unprecedented. As bad as some councils were in the past, the citizens always had a little chance to voice an opinion.
    How can this council come up with a reasonable and sustainable budget without input from citizens at large? Only two on this council have a business background, and have any experience in payroll management. The other councilors wouldn’t know the time of day about such things.
    Another travesty of justice is how taxes are assessed in Caribou. A lot of new homes, along with others are clearly undervalued, and do not pay their fair share of taxes, making it more intolerable for those who must pay for more than their share. The tax assessor and city manager do not seem to know what should be done, and will not make any attempt to correct this. Meanwhile we pay the price for mediocrity in our town government.
    I would like to hear from any citizens in Caribou who would like to organize some form of a think tank to be able to communicate to our city government our displeasure of how things are going. If you’re content with the status quo, then just do nothing, but please don’t cry about high property taxes and the unfairness about how we’re taxed if you don’t get involved. Live with it, but remember if you have children or grandchildren they’ll be the ones paying for your apathy. I, for one, don’t want that on my conscience.
    Citizens, stand up and be counted. Get involved.
Wilfred Martin
Caribou