I’m confused. In the past in Falmouth we’ve elected people to Town Council to represent the rest of us. I thought I understood what “represent” means.

At Monday’s meeting, 100% of the citizens attending spoke against the council hiring (yet another) consultant, this time to the tune of $63,000. Not one citizen was in favor. But all seven of the council members instead voted for this spending. This is representation?

Chair Amy Kuhn stated that she had heard from many people (who apparently are invisible and silent) that they wanted the consultant hired. Later she back-pedaled, saying that what she meant was “many” people had contacted her because they were anxious to start the process of creating a new comprehensive plan, and I certainly include myself in that group.

These are two different issues. Does Amy Kuhn really think that everyone who has spoken about the need for a new comp plan is in favor of spending on a consultant?

However, our current councilors apparently feel that they and the rest of the 12,000 people in this town are incapable of creating a new comp plan without first hiring a consulting firm that has zero experience in Maine. Perhaps our councilors believe they are smarter than all of us and think that Falmouth citizens are unfit and incompetent of understanding what we ourselves would like to see in the future for Falmouth.

This council has a history of turning a blind eye to what residents ask. They do not engage in dialogue with concerned residents at their meetings and in my experience have never discussed citizens’ questions, concerns and comments posed at their meetings. They say they want input, but it’s hard to attend their meetings knowing our concerns will be ignored – no wonder so few people do so.

Marjorie Getz
Falmouth

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