“As time goes on we get closer to that American Dream of there being a pie cut up and shared. Usually greed and selfishness prevent that and there is always one bad apple in every barrel.”

Rick Danko, member of The Band

As always I watched the Windham council meeting of 10 January where there were discussions about the 21st Century Down Town project, the Windham Police Department and even filling the vacant Windham town council seat although truthfully, some of the council seats appear vacant with someone sitting in them. Two of those discussion items are going to cost taxpayers. Do any of the citizens of Windham realize how many people are applying for assistance from the town? If I am not mistaken, I understand in the last month that figure was over 400 while some on the Town Council have no problem placing another multimillion dollar tax bill on property owners in our town.

What I find really interesting is the comment by the director of the Windham Economic Development Committee that it would help when it comes to improving the North Windham business district. Let’s see, that entity received a loan from the town of Windham for the improvement of the area around Whites Bridge Road and Anglers Road. Has that loan been paid off yet? Truthfully, I haven’t heard but it seems to me that they asked for an extension of that particular loan. The WEDC, as far as I am concerned, exists off the one of the biggest mistakes ever made within the town council chambers in Windham. Yep, they live off of tax dollars that should have been placed in the general fund in Windham. That’s another story for a future column for sure.

Can any citizen believe that some of the Windham town councilors would place a $10 million to $50 million bond rather than spend money to fully staff the Windham Police Department? That means beautifying the North Windham Business District with the property taxes of Windham citizens without enhancing the very protection that our Public Safety Department provides. If business owners want their properties improved, then they alone should pay for such improvements. I will still shop there, especially those businesses that really want us as customers in the first place, and there are several of them where I am more than glad to spend my money. One town councilor mentioned that every Windham municipal department wants a piece of the pie when it comes to funding so why should the police department be any different.

I believe that the public safety is priority No. 1 for any municipality. I know that it would be impossible to place a police officer on every mile of road in Windham as well as fire and rescue personnel on every street corner. But in Windham what I see coming from the top of our local government is priority for a new Public Works facility. It’s too bad that there isn’t another existing building in Windham that could be used, such as was done for the new South Windham fire station. I supported that project because it made financial sense to do , but that makes me wonder what will become of the old fire station on Route 202 by the Gorham line. However, what I didn’t like about the bond that was passed to purchase that building was that it wasn’t enough to pay for the entire project, so the town councilors found hidden money somewhere to make up the difference. That tells me the municipal budget has hidden surpluses in it but I am sure the school budget does as well.

Since I mentioned spending, I wonder when the Windham Finance Committee will meet again. Even more importantly when will those meetings be televised? I certainly consider it a very important committee that should be available for all to see. Another committee I feel is important is the Appointments Committee. I know that they sometimes don’t have any applicants to interview, but is that because they only meet once a month?

Lane Hiltunen of Windham wonders why some of those promoting tolerance instead practice intolerance.