Youth for Climate Justice endorse Carney

To the editor,

Maine Youth for Climate Justice is a statewide coalition of youth activists with a mission of fighting for an equitable and livable future, and we have formally endorsed Anne Carney for State Senate District 29.

We believe that Anne is the best candidate to represent Cape Elizabeth and the rest of the district because she upholds our values and will fight for our mission. Anne worked to protect the Maine coastline for years as the board president for the Cape Elizabeth Land Trust.

Evidence of Anne’s advocacy can be seen in the bills she proposed or sponsored last session, such as LD 1593, “An Act to Provide Maine Children Access to Affordable Health Care,” and LD 2033, “An Act to Ensure Proper Closure of Oil Terminal Facilities.”

To have Anne Carney in the Maine State Legislature again would be a win for the people, civil integrity and the efforts to mitigate climate change in our state.

Maine Youth for Climate Justice

Take checks and balances seriously

To the editor,

One of the first things we learned in eighth-grade history class was the principle of checks and balances: the three branches of government have different powers that complement each other, so that they can check the power of the other branches and balance each other out.

Congress has one of the most powerful checks in government: the power to impeach.

The power to impeach is not only a right, but a responsibility. When it was revealed that President Trump was withholding critical aid to an ally in exchange for help in the 2020 election, Congress should have denounced him and moved immediately to impeachment proceedings. The House did their duty and impeached Trump, but the Senate made a show of their distress at his obvious, unpatriotic abuse of power before eventually acquitting him. We all know which dismayed senator eventually cast one of the deciding votes.

I’ve spoken to thousands of young voters in my job as a NextGen Maine youth vote organizer. Many have lost faith in government in the past four years, in large part because of the disappointing performance of Sen. Susan Collins and others, but we can be won back by leaders with integrity, authenticity, and courage.

Maine needs a senator who will take checks and balances seriously and be willing to hold the executive accountable, whether it’s a Democrat or Republican administration. It is clear that Collins is too invested in her own political survival to speak truth to power. She cannot be that senator.

Joshua Velez
South Portland

City response was friendly, helpful

To the editor,

I recently reported a Ferry Village neighborhood concern to Claude Morgan, city councilor for District One. He immediately contacted South Portland City Manager, Scott Morelli, who then contacted me.

Mr. Morelli then took the problem to South Portland Patrol Officer, Rocco Navarro, and Public Works Director, Doug Howard. They both contacted me, including two visits from officer Navarro who took initial steps to research the extent of the problem, and is still monitoring it – one month later.

Almost stunned by the eagerness of our city to immediately help out a neighborhood, I watched as, within three weeks, city workers made much-appreciated improvements.

A long time ago, I grew up in small towns in rural New York state, with populations of 2,000 to 5,000, and this recent experience felt as personal, friendly and helpful as it might have, decades ago, out in dairy country.

Karen Sanford

South Portland