This viewpoint is in response to the letter in the American Journal on April 6 titled “Esty Right to offer Parking,” by Ray Richardson.

I found Ray’s letter, applauding our former mayor’s actions to provide Flannery Properties with 90 parking spaces in the CVS parking lot without council review, to be appalling. Obviously, Ray shows a lack of understanding of our democratic form of government in Westbrook, and yes, we DO have a strong mayor form of government. However, we also have seven elected city councilors, who have demonstrated on occasion that they can be strong also. What seems missing is Ray’s lack of appreciation for both branches of our government.

I think anyone who applauds the former mayor for subverting the legislative process is outright wrong. The last time I checked the charter, I believe that we still have a democratic form of government in Westbrook. Anyone who short-circuits our charter, needs to be admonished, not applauded. As I stated earlier, we have a democratic government and not a dictatorship. A good friend once said to me, “there is very little democracy in a dictatorship.” This action by our former mayor, whether it was intentional or not, shows a complete disregard for our democratic form of government.

How would Mainers feel, if our governor took it upon himself, to give away 200 parking spaces at Sebago Lake State Park to a developer to use for economic development, without running it by the Legislature. Do you think he would be applauded? I think not, not by a long shot.

As you have probably guessed by now, I am a strong believer in representative government. If I had my way, I would have the mayor elected to a four-year term, full-time status and paid benefits. Also, I would stagger the terms for councilors, primarily to insure that we always have veterans on the council. They should probably serve four-year terms, also.

I firmly believe in a stronger separation of powers in our government, with our council operating on their own. The “joint” meetings of the council and mayor have been going on far too long. It’s a clear violation of the city charter in regard to separation of powers. If any information from the mayor and his administration is needed, let it be requested by the City Council. If the mayor needs to get information from the council, let it be in writing. The president of the United States does not sit in on the working of the Congress of the United States. The governor of our state does not sit in when the state Legislature is in session. The mayor of Westbrook should not be sitting with the City Council at their meetings. This is definitely ignoring “the separation of powers.”

We need to continually nurture our representative form of government. We will certainly reap the benefits of our endeavors by doing so. The People’s government can and will survive only if “we the people” continue to cultivate the garden of democracy.

With the challenges that we have in today’s ever-changing world, it would be extremely beneficial in strengthening our form of government by adhering to our charter.

Paul LeConte

Westbrook

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