I read last week’s paper while I was away on holidays and thought I must have attended the wrong meeting on July 7th. When you get older you sometimes get more forgetful, so I diligently watched the workshop with the secession group which I found on the city’s website to see if I had talked about Van Buren and their Public Works Dept. and their cost to maintain roads. I was certainly hoping I hadn’t, because I have never taken the time to investigate Van Buren’s Public Works Dept.
Well I watched the whole meeting and thank goodness my mind is still working OK. I did spend a lot of time comparing Caribou and Fort Kent and explaining how inaccurate the secession committee’s comparison was between the two communities, and stated that Fort Kent uses a private contractor to plow 32 miles of their roads. I guess I mentioned that their cost to do so has gone from $5,000 a mile to the present $8,600 per mile, but what the heck, the secession budget is just an illustration of what it could be, and 70 percent increases in costs mean nothing in an illustration. They only count in the real budget.
The secession committee’s letter to the editor stated that “Mayor Aiken has criticized our numbers and used the town of Van Buren’s contracts as an example at the workshop we held July 7, 2015. He stated that some of Van Buren’s contract plowing was over $8,000 a mile and implied that it would cost Lyndon as much”. They then go on to quote numerous figures about Van Buren’s public works costs. I don’t know if these figures are right or wrong but based on my previous experience with this group I could make a very educated guess.
Wouldn’t you think, if you wanted to quote something from a recorded video that everyone has access to that you would at least go back and watch it yourself before doing so. You probably would unless you are the secession group and want to try and make everyone believe that what you say is right and other people are wrong.
The secession committee also stated in their letter, “The constant criticisms and insinuations by Mayor Aiken that we have not done our homework and don’t know what we are talking about is no more than an effort by this city official to confuse and discourage the residents of the seceding area. We have dedicated hundreds of hours in our studies.”
I would suggest next time you want to refer to something I said in a public meeting, just take a few hours to study it and try to get it right. I really wonder why a group that has spent hundreds of hours studying their numbers keep stating that they do not intend to discuss their budget illustration with anyone. Oh sorry I forget, “It’s government of the people, by the people, for the people.” We just don’t have the definition of who those people are yet, although I think I know who five of them are.
This column is strictly the opinion or view of the writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of the City of Caribou’s administration staff, its employees, or other council members. Gary Aiken may be reached at garyaiken@hotmail.com
