Support for Sterling, Giroux

To the Editor:

A few years back, we had to battle an effort to build an extension onto the municipal building at a multi-million dollar expense, a proposal for a new multi-million dollar library, and a new multi-million dollar public safety building for the ambulance.

If these projects had been approved, they would have added to your taxes and our town's debt significantly. Luckily, we had some forward thinking people who understood the potential for massive tax reductions for the mill and hydro station, and how that would affect the tax rate. They worked to prevent theseprojects from happening. Unfortunately, they were unable to prevent the money set aside for sidewalk maintainance from being used to develop the walking trail by the library.

The current board of selectmen and town manager have been working hard to bring business and jobs to our community. No longer do we have arguments between board members. They have worked together in a professional manner to discuss issues and make decisions.

These efforts, although started 30 years late, are producing results that will be seen within the next year, if we do our part and support them. It is now up to the citizens to decide whether or not we want our town to move forward, or continue to decline.

We need to approve the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) districts as a tool to help attract business. The TIF program shelters added tax evaluation from affecting our subsidies from the state. The monies can be used to help fund additional economic development efforts, or assist a proposed development in bringing jobs to our town.

Either way, we benefit as a community. We also need to approve the selectmen's recommendation for funding economic development in the General Government budget. The funds are essential to complete footwork needed to secure some of the businesses that have recently expressed interest.

But providing the selectmen with the tools is not enough. We also need to make sure that the people we elect are ready to make good decisions. We cannot go back to the turmoil of a few years ago, with long winded speeches and dramatics used to divide our community. We cannot go back to decisions being made behind closed doors by a minority of the board. We cannot go back to a time where we need a Superior Court Judge to decide what is right and what is wrong.

We need people on the board who can make those decisions on their own, and be on the right side of the law. A wrong decision will most likely undo all of the progress that has been made over the past couple of years.

I have confidence that Jeff Sterling and Eric Giroux have the qualities required to move our town forward. I ask that you support them in the ballot box on June 14th.

Kevin N. Saisi,

Rumford