I just wanted to say briefly that I wholeheartedly throw my support in the new Sanford High School and Technical Center referendum taking place on Tuesday, Jan. 13.

I would like to think I have been a part of this process from the beginning when it was first made public. From the very first meeting I attended for a subcommittee, all of the straw poll votes, all of the informational meetings, everything I could get my hands on. I was a sponge absorbing information.

I think of myself as a critical thinker. I’m a single mom so I live on a tight budget. I would also like to think of myself as being good with my money. I’m conscientious of where my money goes. With that said, I wanted to take the time to say thank you to the school department, city manager and architect for giving this project much thought and consideration to the taxpayers of Sanford.

From the very beginning I saw the list of “extras” if you want to call them that and the dollar signs accumulate. They have managed over this time period to whittle this list down and whittle the cost to the taxpayer down. In turn, they still have given us a state of the art school.

It’s this type of radical rethinking and approach that Sanford needs to face tough financial times. We are on the right path. This school is exactly what this community needs. If we vote this down, it’s not as if the state of Maine skips this $100 million dollar project and sends everyone a rebate check in the mail. This project still gets built but just in some other community who is willing to take the money and this opportunity and also wasn’t on top of the need list like Sanford is currently. If we don’t take this opportunity now, not only will some other community get it but we will still have to build a school with the whole burden being on the taxpayers back. Our schools are in need.

Please I ask of you to think about this when you go to the polls on Tuesday, Jan. 13.

Emily Sheffield, Sanford