Maine voters should reject Question 1 with a “no” vote on June 8.

Tax reform of any sort is an incredibly complex and difficult exercise, but our elected representatives developed an offering that meets most of our needs in an exceptionally challenging economic environment.

Reasons to vote “no” on Question 1 and support tax reform:

The reform package allows us to continue assisting our most vulnerable citizens, and hence protects both the public and private sector jobs that perform those services. Maine money helping Maine people — what a concept.

Because Maine protects its citizens, we all have a higher quality of life.

The reform package lowers income taxes.

The reform package gets visitors to our state to cover more of the cost of maintaining “Vacationland” for them. It isn’t just the scenery that people come to Maine for, it’s the people.

We have to take care of the people our visitors meet here. Abandoning our people to roam the streets and wharves in bad condition is bad for business.

Maine people asked for tax reform, and our Legislature delivered. Our legislators and state employees are smart, hard-working people.

A “yes” vote is a waste of the tax dollars and time we spent to consider and craft a proposal that a majority of our representatives could support.

The legislators who put this package together know more about this issue and the trade-offs involved than almost all of us. Let our legislators do their job.

There are obstructionists who clamor for tax reform like it was the Second Coming, and then when they get it, clamor just as loudly against it.

These people waste everybody’s time and money. Be sure to vote on June 8, and vote “no” on Question 1.

John Henderson

Auburn

Bond issues all deserve support in June 8 voting

Maine has had some gloomy news lately, but we are in a position to create jobs and save lives by passing the bond issues that are on the June 8 ballot.

Question 2 will provide clean energy jobs and make important investments in the University of Maine and Community College Systems.

Question 3 will invest $47.8 million in important transportation projects, including highways, rail and marine infrastructure.

Question 4 will provide funding for redevelopment of Brunswick Naval Air Station and agricultural and forestry investments.

And Question 5 provides over $10 million for badly needed wastewater projects — critical to one of our basic needs, clean water.

Because Maine is such a rural state, we are very dependent on good roads and safe bridges. Citizens should demand that the important transportation, energy and other jobs be a priority.

Voting “yes” on Question 2, 3, 4 and 5 will create jobs at a time when they are desperately needed.

Tom Gorrill

Gray

Maine voters have the opportunity to make a win-win investment on June 8 by supporting Question 2.

This $26.5 million bond issue supports a University of Maine-led effort to develop an offshore wind energy demonstration site, a critically important step in further development of an industry that can create green jobs for our state, not to mention provide a clean, low-impact source of alternative energy.

Moreover, passage will provide $15.5 million in energy-saving improvements throughout the University of Maine System, the Maine Community College System and at Maine Maritime Academy.

Let’s get out to the polls on June 8 and support an issue that will generate some much-needed economic activity, make better use of our public higher education facilities, and invest in an alternative source of energy.

Kevin Freeman

Chair, USM Corporate Partners

Scarborough

I urge Maine voters to take a close look at Question 2 on the June 8 ballot.

The $26.5 million bond calls for a $15.5 million investment in our public educational facilities across the statewide University of Maine System, the Maine Community College System and Maine Maritime Academy. Specifically, funds would be used to make these buildings more energy-efficient, driving down costs while improving the learning environment on Maine campuses.

Another $11 million would fund development of an offshore wind energy demonstration site.

This project, under the auspices of the University of Maine, would position Maine as a leader in this new industry and has the potential to create some 15,000 green jobs right here in Maine.

The funds from Question 2 will be leveraged against federal matching funds of $24.5 million.

I believe this is a unique opportunity to make a solid short-term investment in Maine’s public higher education infrastructure, as well as a long-term investment in making Maine less dependent on foreign oil and a leader in alternative energy.

Ed McKersie

President, Pro Search, Inc.

Member, USM Corporate Partners and Board of Visitors

Portland

Today it’s worth pondering cost of our addiction to oil

 

Memorial Day is the day when we honor the sacrifices of servicemen and women, and it is also one of the starting points of the summer, during which many Americans take to the roads for travel and vacations.

This Memorial Day, we should strive to understand the connection between national security and energy, and to start working on solutions here in Maine that can end our oil addiction.

We are seeing one of the most devastating consequences of this oil dependency as BP’s oil disaster worsens every day in the Gulf of Mexico.

Continued oil dependence could mean more tragedies like the BP disaster. If we remain dependent on oil and if we allow more offshore drilling along our coasts, it leaves us open to spills that destroy the local economy and environment.

We must end our oil addiction. It’s time to call on President Obama to create a solid plan for ending our country’s dependence on oil and to move us toward a clean energy economy.

Jaremy P. Lynch

Harpswell