Pem Schaeffer’s letter to the editor of June 5 (“Reject budget for Brunswick schools,” Page A6) is a surprise. He speaks out against the schools and their budget, but has been not only absent from town meetings but mysteriously silent as well.

While the Brunswick Town Council negotiates its way from less than 30,000 square feet of combined office space for “town office needs” (police, municipal and recreation offices) to more than 95,000 square feet of space in new or newly acquired office spaces, I have wondered at many of these council meetings, “Where is Pem Schaeffer when it really counts?”

This is an unprecedented and, in my opinion, mostly unneeded expansion of town square footage which promises to expand operating expenses for the town tremendously.

Few accurate estimates are included in current budgets or future estimates. The McLellan Building “swap” — certainly not a swap by my definition — cost taxpayers more than $7 million. But that’s just by my estimation, since figures have not been forthcoming from the Town Council or manager despite repeated requests.

In the “swap,” we lost rent and other trade-offs to Bowdoin College, and we get 33,000 square feet — up from less than 11,000 square feet currently.

The new Police Department — admittedly, much needed — is 20,000 square feet, at a cost of more than $6 million. The new Rec Center at the former base — a minimum $5.7 million in value — is 42,000 square feet, up from 11,000 at the current Rec Center. And we do not know the “fitout” costs for the new Rec Center as yet. Nor can we estimate transportation costs to individual taxpayers in both time and money.

You can’t go from less than 30,000 square feet to more than 95,000 square feet without extra costs for operating expenses.

Are we hiring lots more workers? Do we have “oversized office suites” planned in this space? Do we need bigger, more luxurious offices? Are we using the McLellan Building for “document storage,” as one memo states? The most expensive office space in town, at $25 per square foot, used for “document storage”?

And why is the town trading such valuable real estate as its Federal Street holdings for as little as $250,000 — appraised at more than $800,000 and assessed at more than $1.6 million — to Coastal Enterprises Inc. to build a massive new office building and parking lot?

Remember, Town Council put almost $2 million into the old Times Record building, then tore it down.

I sat with two other real estate brokers over the weekend. Between the three of us, we have more than 100 years of experience in this market, and we all just shook our heads as to the real estate moves of our Town Council, the mantra being, “Buy High, Sell Low…or just tear it down.”

So, I’m wondering where you’ve been, Pem? I’ve been tempted to call you, but figured you just got tired of no reponses from much of the Town Council, like so many others I’ve heard from.

No, it seems you just want to shortchange the schools, but not the municipal budget. What gives?

I note your conservative council colleagues — (David) Watson and (Gerald) Favreau — also voted against the schools but gave the municipal budgets an unquestioned thumbs up. Again, what gives?

For that matter, where is The Times Record when we need you to accurately report what happens at Town Council meetings, which citizens speak up, and what they say?

At all the budget meetings I attended, so many folks who gave their opinions against these moves were mostly ignored.

The process is flawed — deeply flawed — and needs to be fixed. Other towns are taking steps to remedy unresponsive town government.

Taxpayers, take note. Or don’t be surprised when it hits you hard, and soon.

In the meantime, don’t take your frustration out on the schools. After all, they are still using the “temporary” mobile classrooms from more than 40 years ago. Disgraceful!

We can do better, but we must prioritize.

JANE MILLETT, of Brunswick, has been a Realtor in the Brunswick area for more than 35 years.