To the editor:
Thank you (voters of Caribou) so much for the tremendous support I received in the recent election; I was so touched when I saw the number of votes I received. I am also very saddened that I am not eligible to hold the particular office for which I was elected. I decided the best thing to do in this situation was to write a letter explaining how this came about.
The taxes on my home are about $3,500. This is quite a tax bill for a single person on a partially fixed, partially fluctuating income. I have always paid my real estate taxes but I am usually late just because I have difficulty paying that amount. I am aware of the provision in the city charter that states that taxes must be paid before December 31 if one is elected to public office. I planned on having my taxes paid by that date this year. However, both of the one-year positions that were open were unexpired terms, so therefore I would have been expected, because of our charter, to step into the office immediately. I just found out the day before the elections that, because the terms are unexpired terms, the “taxes must be paid by December 31 for the previous year to qualify for a council position” according to the city charter, which would be Dec. 31, 2012. I paid my taxes after that date. Until the Monday before the election, I was not aware that this stipulation in the charter would affect me in this way. If I had run and been elected for a three-year term, I would not have had this issue.
I’m sorry things turned out this way, especially because of your support. I hope for your continued support in the next election.
Carol A. Pierson
Caribou
