The voices of the people were finally heard in Millinocket, and the people voted not to give the organization called MAGIC thirty thousand more dollars.
With this vote it was shown that it was not a minority that lost trust in MAGIC, the Millinocket Area Growth and Investment Council, and if the town attorney was right, there are over a thousand citizens that he considers ... KOOKS.
If the taxpayers are giving any organization their money, they should have a right to know where that money went, as does their elected officials on the council.
It is way past time that the citizens of Millinocket take part in the future of their town, not an unelected board of directors who have thus far shown only arrogance and abuse of power.
Millinocket is split, and the Millinocket Area Growth and Investment Council helped split this town by inviting the Wilderness Society and other preservationist groups into Millinocket after being forewarned that this would split our town in two. They chose to disregard that advice and in their power and arrogance we now have a divided town.
We are a town of hunters, fishermen and snowmobiling, each vital to our economic well-being. RESTORE, The Nature Conservancy and the Wilderness Society are all organizations that want to replace us with National Park in this area.
We will not survive as a community if a park takes place. We won't survive without an economy.
We need an economic developer who will listen to the people and work toward creating jobs, opportunities, and who will help bring our downtown back to life.
We need the citizens of Millinocket to take part in making Millinocket a strong community. It is your town and you must have a say in how you want it to be run.
MAGIC did not take control. They abused it. The citizens gave them control, and they have betrayed this trust. Do you want to become a gateway community? Or would you rather have jobs that will help our young people stay?
Get involved, and it is past time that you, the people, take part in helping to bring jobs to Millinocket. A small group of citizens have worked very hard to give you, the majority, the right to vote on MAGIC's funding. Now it is up to you to help those citizens bring our town back.
What did we have with MAGIC? We had no accountability, tax dollars wasted, and total control by a special interest group who refused to listen to the people; and yet you the people let it go on. Enough is enough. Let's take this town back, so that we can move forward, in the right direction this time.
