I was taken aback by watching the South Portland City Council meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 6. It started with the city-hired consultant from Frontline Construction Services who brought very little to the table for recommendations on what to do with Mahoney Middle School, quite literally. The one-and-a-half-page recommendation offered nothing more than support for the city’s desire to place municipal offices and the library in it, while keeping the gym and theater. No real costs were provided. There was even a question as to whether or not the floors would support the weight of the books from the library. While I’m typically not a fan of hundreds of pages of overly stuffed reports, this one certainly wasn’t worth what they paid for it. And then we had the school bond questions. The city wants to borrow $12 million to install artificial turf with a life expectancy of 10 years, and pay back $18 million over 20 years. Does that honestly make sense to anyone? It really seems like our city leaders want to spend a lot of money that we just don’t have. And at a time when most taxpayers are carefully minding their own budgets, tightening their own belts, and trying to put food on their tables and oil in their tanks, well, the city is ordering filet mignon from a Michelin-rated restaurant. They prove once again how easy it is to spend other people’s money, and it’s time to reel them in.

Bud Munson
South Portland