When people hear the words “First Amendment,” they think about Freedom of Speech
and Freedom of the Press. But the First Amendment contains more than that. It
also includes Freedom of Assembly and the Right to Seek Redress from the
Government.
I’m so angry about the fact that there are 4 councilors in this town who have
denied me and every other voter our Constitutional 1st Amendment rights. They’ve
taken away our right to seek redress from the local government. It’s as simple
as that.
In the referendum last November, the people decided in a landslide vote to
fund MAGIC at only $25,000 for Fiscal Year 2005. In a recent Council vote,
4 councilors voted to fund MAGIC from the 2005 Fiscal Year at $75,000, expressly
against the wishes of the voters.
I used to be proud of Millinocket. I was down in Augusta a few weeks ago and
was ashamed to tell people where I’m from. I talked to several representatives
and senators who questioned just what the town council was doing. One asked
about why the council was overriding the peoples’ veto in funding MAGIC and
giving away $130,000 with no accountability.
I believe Millinocket is the only community in the nation that funds NGOs and
other organizations with absolutely no accountability.
They have funded a for-profit project without any background checks on the
principals. Well, in this case, you can’t find out who all the principals are
because it’s an LLC. But the signing member – the only one we know of – had no
background check done.
If you look at the recent past, Brims Ness was thoroughly investigated as was
Allagash Valve, Avenger Boats, and MonoLite. As far as I know, no one’s checked
out the principal in the “community center.” The question now is has anyone
checked out his character?
I leave you with a little food for thought. This is the legal definition of
racketeering:
- The extortion of money or advantage by threat or force;
- A pattern of illegal activity that is carried out in furtherance of an
enterprise which is owned or controlled by those engaged in such
activity.
Gordon McCauslin
Millinocket, Maine
