Letter to the Editor

Regrettable

Tue, 04/26/2016 - 10:30am

Dear Editor:

Paul Coulombe"s sense of obligation to perform his "civic duty" by donating vast sums of money to improve Boothbay's infrastructure has obviously caught the approving eye of Boothbay's selectmen. Acting unanimously to institute talks with Maine's Department of Transportation for both approval and partial funding, they seem to ignore a similar rerouting scheme sponsored by the same Mr. Coulombe and rejected by voters in 2011.

Regrettable.

More is needed. While there can be no doubt of our elected leaders' fidelity and honesty, their collective business judgment can and should be questioned, given that they acted on possibly specious, self-serving data and the subjectivity of a paid spokesman.

Considering the gobs of money Mr. Coulombe has spent furthering a curious agenda, the purchase of a moribund, bankrupt golf course and its refurbishing to bring it to championship levels, his acquisition of properties and land adjacent, and now, in the interests of safety and improved traffic flow, his commissioning and payment for a study which waffles between Boothbay's 40 percent growth needs and 60 seconds of delay to motorists having just endured the agony of the Wiscasset bridge, invites skepticism.

To achieve goals cited in his study, Mr Coulombe mentions local businessmen, assuredly on whose deep and caring community roots we can rely, urging him to take this action. Will they now be identified, step forward, ratify the action through common sense and need, further insisting that, beneficially, we must forego peace, serenity and beauty, exchanging this for blasting, bull-dozing and excavation in years to come.

Of course we crave good and noble works performed by the wealthy, decent, humanitarian efforts to ease tribulations affecting the common man. Conversely, however, too often we suffer heartbreak when "civic duty" is revealed as self-interest, or flim-flam practiced against honesty and goodwill. We cannot weld a broken heart.

Sadly, there is one telling statistic we cannot ignore. At the website, www.publicschoolreview.com/brhsprofile, there is a sobering revelation. In the last five years student enrollment in the Boothbay Region High School has dropped 26 percent. It is further noted faculty has remained constant.

Paul E. McArdle

Boothbay