One of the joys serving in town government is the diversity of issues that come across the selectmen’s desk in Pownal. The latest, as reported during the selectmen’s meeting of Oct. 20 was a rumor of skunks being deported from Winslow Park in South Freeport to the wilderness of Pownal. Apparently, according to the rumored […]

I believe wholeheartedly in teaching my children about honesty, respect and community. So I am discouraged, probably like many of you, at this contentious battle going on regarding RSU 5. I will always maintain that those who yell the loudest are most often times the same people who do not have the actual facts to […]

DURHAM – In the spring of 2013, an event occurred in Durham that could “raise the hair on the back of your neck,” as one of the three people who witnessed it says. Janet Smith, the town’s administrator at the time, was with Road Commissioner Shawn Bennett and a state building inspector. They were making […]

The burden of proof for the success or failure of the consolidated school system should not be placed on those advocating for its dissolution. Rather, it should be placed on the regional school unit itself. During the last several months of debate, RSU 5 has not proven that it improved academics, increased sports offerings, or […]

Over the past five years during the formation and launch of the RSU, it has become clear that conflict and differences in priorities are dramatically hurting progress and the quality of our schools. During that time, I kept thinking that we’d turn a corner, that “there has to be a way to work through this.” […]

The RSU 5 arrangement originally was and continues to be fundamentally flawed. Consolidation was a legislatively imposed administrative and financial structure determined by nothing more than proximity on the map, and false threats of penalty. It is indisputable that consolidation was state cost shifting, numbers shuffled on spreadsheets to appear as administrative savings. Our three […]

The RSU 5 arrangement originally was and continues to be fundamentally flawed. Consolidation was a legislatively imposed administrative and financial structure determined by nothing more than proximity on the map, and false threats of penalty. It is indisputable that consolidation was state cost shifting, numbers shuffled on spreadsheets to appear as administrative savings. Our three […]

I am joining six of Freeport’s seven councilors in voting for RSU withdrawal. The RSU is slower to adapt and less capable of the long-range fiscal planning that is historically a strength of our town. I served on the Freeport council for six years, three before the RSU, and three after turning over properties and […]