Dear Editor:

I figured since I have been on the board of trustees for eight years that I should attend the “vote no” meeting held Sunday. After all I at least should hear how this group was going to repair not one but both schools for a mere third of the price that we are proposing. It started with a slide show that hammered scary stats at the small crowd! The problem was that they hand picked stats from different times to use. For instance they chose Covid and flood periods to show how horrible the school is doing with attendance but chose this year’s budget to scare us into thinking it is going to jump 15 percent a year. However, I know they were fully aware of the fact that for the past three years there was federal money for Covid relief that kept our budget from going up its usual inflation (5-6%) but this year the funding ended and the increase represented a three-year jump.

They asked the audience if there was anyone that could tell them what would happen in five years if this trend continued? This went on for some time and finally someone asked them if they were going to unveil the plan that they have been advertising and soliciting? After all it is what they have been telling everyone and is how they got over 400 signatures. Their response was “we don’t have a plan, we’re not experts.” This was a real eye opener because I’ve been thinking, how in the heck are they going to do this?

This took me back five years ... when we brought it to the attention of the town officials. We, the trustees, told them we needed to bond for $10 million to address these issues. I remembered that the very same woman that fought us then was the one speaking for the "vote no" campaign. Imagine if she would’ve just worked with us back then? We would have been able to fix the issues before Covid inflation. In 2020  it’s estimated that cost of construction rose 40 percent alone. How much is this group going to cost us by the time they are done fighting?

I encourage you to please vote Yes!

Ronnie Campbell

Boothbay Harbor