Dear Editor:

I, like many other taxpayers, was amazed, no disgusted would be a better word about the "potential settlement" of the CSD's $100,000 to be paid by the taxpayers because of the actions of others. No Way!

Finding the money to settle this law suit cannot and must not be taken out of the school's educational programs, as Superintendent Eileen King says by, "...looking at anticipated revenue versus projected revenue, we are also looking at projected staff changes...I am making every effort I can to absorb the $100,000 out of the current budget.' Statements like this mean only one thing, the money our CSD receives is money that has been appropriated to the school to support its staff and educational programs. It comes from OUR hard earned tax money. To use it for other than it was appropriated and approved is an outrage, misappropriation of dedicated funds, if not illegal.

Selectman Daniel E. Harris, Town of Boothbay, said it best in several ways after the Superior Court decided the school district should pay the $245,000, covered by insurance, and that each of the two charged 'employees of the school' should pay Mr. Lewis $50,000 of which $5,000 is compensatory damages and $45,000 punitive damages for willful or malicious conduct. The jury itself found that the two individual employees should pay these punitive damages for acting outside the scope of their employment, not the school district, and not the taxpayers. The judge affirmed this action!

If in fact the school district HAD 'settled' the Fred Lewis lawsuit for $320,000.00, as said in the 21 February, Boothbay Register, that means to me that after the case was adjudicated by a jury and court of law, that some of OUR tax moneys, legally appropriated and dedicated to school missions, has now been misappropriated because of this settlement. Tell all of we tax paying citizens, this is not true and the $100.000 'punitive' settlement money has not been misappro-priated to pay this award by those we either elected or appointed to positions of trust. This is NOT a debt that should be levied against the taxpayers and must never become an issue of debt to us! NEVER!

Mr. Harris said it best that if public money is used to pay punitive damages it makes the school district and its constituent towns that much poorer. I'll add my comments to reinforce Mr. Harris' points. Just take a look at the roads in this area, especially Ocean Point Road and River Road; deplorable and unsafe conditions are an understatement! Where is the money coming from to repair these roads and other infrastructures? Latest reports are there is only enough money for patch work, which is only a temporary stopgap? How much was your last fill-up at the gas station? Did you wince when you received your last home heating bill? Do our schools have all the money they already need that this money can be siphoned off to pay fines? Are you ready to give what few discretionary funds you have left to increased state and town taxation, especially real estate tax increases in part, because of all the snow with the added expense of equipment repair, fuel costs this year, and increased salaries, well earned I might add? I know I don't!

In summation, give this current settlement some very serious thoughts and consider what could be next? If we citizens do not take a stand NOW, we will all be facing some 'added on' higher taxes, made even higher because of this recent misappropriation of dedicated school funds.

Bill Wilson

East Boothbay

Dear Editor:

As a Mainer-in-exile, one of my weekly joys is to receive and devour the Boothbay Register. Until my family and I can make our annual pilgrimage back to salt air and "the way life should be," the Register serves as a lifeline to what is in my very soul, my home, the Boothbay region.

I feel a compelling need to respond, at least in part, to an anti- Bill Clinton novella which was published in the paper on February 21, 2008. Rather than counter the alleged crimes of the Clintons as cited in the not-so-short story, I would like to offer the following observations:

This treatise of Clinton crimes could only be amassed by someone who vehemently hates Bill and Hillary, and most likely most other prominent Democrats. Containing obviously "cherry-picked" statistics and non-contextual facts, this letter is the worst case of political diatribe I have ever wallowed through. Surely you don't have to go back some nearly eight years to find piles and piles of presidential malfeasance.

All I know is that when Bill Clinton was president, oil was $22 a barrel. Twelve million new jobs were created during his two terms. Under his and NATO's leadership, the genocide in the former Yugoslavia ended - with a treaty signed in Dayton, Ohio. There was one major attempt at disruptive terrorism in 1993 against the World Trade Center - none other during the remainder of his terms in office. Americans could afford gasoline and heating fuel. We were respected as a nation by the international community. And our federal budget at the end of his service to America hosted a $326 billion surplus.

I submit to you that President Bush has weakened the dollar, done nothing while oil has skyrocketed, ruined the career of a dedicated CIA operative in a cowardly, vindictive fashion, all while establishing himself as the chief executive who has taken more vacation time than any other occupier of the Oval Office.

In the face of looming recession, he wants to make his tax cuts for the rich - permanent. He has overseen the horribly botched attempts at relief for victims of Hurricane Katrina (heck-uv-a-job, Brownie) and seen to it that our wounded soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan can recuperate in only the finest mold-encrusted conditions. Mullah Omar is still on the loose, as is Osama bin Laden. The debacle in Iraq has been waged for various reasons - 1) find and destroy weapons of mass destruction, 2) defeat al-Qaeda, 3) bring democracy to the Middle East, 4) all of the above.

The battle in Afghanistan was crucial. How sad it will be if the Taliban come back. They are a cancer that should have been completely destroyed, but the neo-cons had a better idea - invade Iraq. While all eyes are on the Iraqi conflict, the great tragedy will occur when Afghanistan crumbles, and the forces of Islamic misogyny and extremism regain power. Bush marched us off to a war that was unnecessary, unwarranted, and based upon an understandable desire on the part of our countrymen to avenge 9-11. When we leave Iraq, whether it be in five years or 100 years, as John McCain has suggested, we will leave it a chaotic, murderous mess. And the real politick result will be, in part, oil at $150 to $200 a barrel.

If these were your goals, Mr. President, all I can say is, "Mission accomplished."

When the historians have their say, President Bush may not be viewed as "dripping sweat all over the furniture" of the Oval Office. But he may very well be seen as one of our worst presidents. He has weakened our military by getting us bogged down in Iraq. He has burdened the American consumer with policies that do NOTHING to stop escalating oil, fuel, and now food and other goods pricing. The Iraqi military campaign has cost nearly one trillion dollars, which we as a nation cannot afford.

When you vote in November, I hope you ask yourselves the same question Ronald Reagan posed years ago in a debate with then President Jimmy Carter:

"Are you better off now than you were four years ago?"

Danny Beal

Kansas City, Mo.

Boothbay Harbor

Dear Editor:

Congratulations St. Andrew's Home Health! You deserve your success!

I have had the opportunity to use your services on three separate occasions recently and have found each and every one of these people are sympathetic, helpful, knowledgeable, understanding and caring.

I applaud each and every one of you for your success. All of you go way beyond your 'call of duty' which is the reason why you 'shine.'

Thank you all!

Elizabeth Kleinert

Boothbay

Dear Editor:

This is a follow-up letter to Dan Harris's letter last week. Dan is a great guy and a good selectman and a lawyer. These are my views on the subject in discussion [Fred Lewis lawsuit].

Two school management employees were confronted with a situation concerning another school employee that required immediate action, which they correctly took.

It turns out that a few days later, they were informed that the information was incorrect. Did they notify the employee and the public about this information? No. They let it go as it was. Why? Who knows?

The employee sued and won as he should have.

Finally, a settlement was reached between the two parties and the school's insurance agrees to pay a portion of the settlement covering the school system. They did not pay the "share" attributed to the two school management employees.

Now we hear that the school committee is going to try to come up with the money to cover these two guys (sorry, the word gentlemen does not apply here).

Sorry, but if the school can come up with the $90,000 to $100,000 needed, then either we, the taxpayers, have been duped into giving them too much budget money to start with, or our students are having programs cut to pay for it.

I believe these two guys should pay for what they transpired and did - not the taxpayers or students. They should pay for their own screw-up.

Also, one is still employed by the school system. Why? What kind of an example is this for our kids?

Dear Editor:

"Frankly, New Jersey has a government its people cannot afford." Quote from Governor Corzine… Fits Maine, doesn't it?

Declaring that New Jersey had reached an irrevocable "turning point" because of years of bad fiscal habits, Gov. Jon S. Corzine proposed a budget on Tuesday that would reduce the state's work force by 3,000 people, close three departments, and prune expenses for services including colleges and hospitals.

Maybe B-31 can take lessons from Gov. Corzine. "We must turn away from the era of spending and borrowing beyond our means, once and for all."

We can start reducing the state's work force right at the D.O.T. Have you seen any of their "regional headquarters?" How many bureaucrats do you need at the D.O.T.? Who decides how many "planners" the D.O.T. needs? I can tell you of a few that needs to be fired. And I ask YOU… Have you checked out the Nequasset Bridge project - the one that has Route 1 shut completely down? Tell me, if you were a "planner" for a job that would completely block off Route 1, the major coastal through-fare for our region, wouldn't you specify that the work be undertaken seven days a week, weather permitting? Wouldn't you specify work to be undertaken from dawn until dark to facilitate the reopening of Route 1? This past weekend (2/23-24), beautiful clear skies, 40+ degrees, IN FEBRUARY, I drove up to see the project? No one there… a front end loader sideways across the bridge! NO work in progress. I guess "URGENT" to the D.O.T. just means "give us another $100 million"… That was the spin on the last "bond" measure the voters passed.

It just gets better and better! Right now, ALL Route 1 traffic is being diverted off Route 1 onto the George Wright Road (the old Route 1 of years ago), past the Nequasset Road that intersects with Route 1, then exiting back onto Route 1 just before the bridge by the Taste of Maine Restaurant. Get this, traffic coming down the Nequasset Road CANNOT take a right onto Route 1 where there is ZERO construction, but is forced to continue down Nequasset Road to a stop sign before entering the George Wright Detour Road. And, any customers of BFC Marine or to Kennebec Rental, towing boats or equipment, CANNOT simply turn right and go towards Bath on Route 1, but are forced to go LEFT back to the Nequasset Road and then jam with the traffic on the Detour Road! WHY isn't traffic from the Nequasset Road and those businesses allowed to travel on Route 1? Why isn't Route 1 in use south from the Nequasset Road towards Bath, with a stop sign at the bottom of the hill where Route 1 and the George Wright Road intersect? This would keep the Nequasset Road traffic OFF the detour road, and any south-bound traffic from Kennebec Rental and BFC Marine as well.

"Planning" … D.O.T. style … Since the George Wright Road was known to be used as the "detour road," wouldn't it have made sense to have filled in all of the pot holes BEFORE closing Route 1? No, the other day I encountered the D.O.T. blocking the detour road with their sign out: "Caution, patching in progress." This must be the same "planners" who gave us the traffic pattern at Cook's Corner a few months ago when repairs were made to the overpass bridge in the south-bound lane. Barrels forced ALL traffic to MERGE just BEFORE the Cook's Corner turn-off. After you merged, you then traveled about 200 feet before you then could pull right onto the Cook's Corner exit! Cook's Corner gets a lot of traffic and simply having the "merge" AFTER the exit would have allowed all that traffic to not interfere with south-bound through traffic.

B-31 wants to merge school districts, the jail system, and cut agencies budgets. How about we merge the Turnpike Authority with the D.O.T. with the Turnpike Authority running the whole show, NOT the D.O.T., thus eliminating the bureaucrats there. How about ONE agency headquarters and closing/selling the D.O.T. Regional offices, eliminating the heating, maintenance, and upkeep of those facilities. How about eliminating ALL duplicative departments, thus eliminating those employees there. How about creating a new D.O.T. that isn't an insult to our Maine common sense, and not a danger to our very lives on our highways.

Bobby Bradley

Boothbay Harbor