Residents just trying to live here and survive

To the editor:
    My answer to councilor Martin’s letter to the editor about his comments on my editorial insinuating that he was part of the rubber stamp five sure got his attention, didn’t it? I want to apologize for calling them the rubber stamp five and change it to the common senseless group or the factless and illogical group of five, or maybe we accept the will of the bureaucrats group of five. Just a little twist on what he thought they should have been called, folks.     This will be my last word on this subject, but I would wish that councilor David Martin would look at his past and short voting record and admit that he sure has positioned himself well with the group of five that I spoke of. I would humbly ask of him if he could see it in his heart to take a long hard look at what items he voted on and the higher taxes needed to fund said items and programs and put more energy in trying to save money instead of falling in line with the spending habits of some of his peers on the city council.
    Also, seeing that he works in our educational system (which in my view is a direct conflict of interest) I’m anxious to see how he defines himself. Will it be as being in the common sense type of mode or any of the other categories he so eloquently alluded to in his past letters to the editor and how he reacts to the school systems budget. Only then will we see what kind of metal he’s made of.
    I also want to make it perfectly clear that I realize that some in our community look upon me as just a ranting and raving maniac about property taxes every year, but I have to say that I have children and grandchildren that are now and always will be longtime natives of Caribou, and I don’t want to leave out the fact that we are inundated with an elderly segment of society who also call Caribou their home and are financially strapped to the limit on how much they can afford to pay for property taxes. My feelings are deeply rooted in their dilemma on how to come up with the money to pay just to live here and survive in these inflationary times.
    Face it folks, we are at the top of the list of some of the highest property taxes in the country according to what we earn in the private sector. The state and federal government faces the problems of lack of funds and what are they doing about it? They’re cutting back. So you would think that a light would go on in the heads of our illustrious leaders of our community and provide them with the impetus to also at least consider to cut back on future spending programs before it’s too late and we all end up broke. That’s not to say that if you just look around, you may see that we’re already in that situation (broke).
    To answer councilor Robert Albert’s remarks in his letter to the editor and his insinuation that I should have considered him in the same mold as the two on the council who have experience in creating jobs and payrolls in this community, I say to him, are you out of your mind? Do you actually think that the job you had managing the bowling alley on Loring Air Force Base is the same as private sector industries and businesses who have to be creative, competitive and very conservative just to stay alive in the world of commerce as it is at this point in time? Third world competition, which radically erodes our position in the world of economics, has made it more difficult to be in any kind of industrial or business enterprise in this country today. I have to say to him (councilor Albert); get real, you were never even close to being in the same situation they’re in. You had a cash cow to buoy up your expenses or losses so you were never in the same category as them. As a longtime business person in the private sector for a lot of years and having owned and operated three businesses in this community, I think I’m well qualified to confirm what I’m saying.
Wilfred Martin
Caribou