Why are job predictions at racino less than before?

To the editor:

In this second letter about my opposition to the Biddeford Downs project, I want to comment that now the number of jobs projected has been cut in half to 500. 

The idea that these will go to Biddeford residents provides a false sense of security for employment since this could very likely not happen. Once again, the idea that businesses will flock to downtown to take advantage of the busloads from the racino seems preposterous. It seems the fight to have MERC leave Biddeford by the mayor has been forgotten and the new effort is toward the racino, yet the argument to have MERC leave is the same as having the racino come here – more employment.   

I still smell MERC and worry about the effects it is having on the health of the children and all others. So why will new businesses decide to invest in Biddeford if we still have the MERC incinerator in our midst?

Nancy Berg

Biddeford

Sullivan is ‘champion’ 

in democratic process

To the editor:

On Nov. 2, re-elect Nancy Sullivan. My biggest challenge as chairman of your Democratic committee is to involve as many voters in the discussion as possible with a clear goal of registering and talking to as many youths in Biddeford as I can. 

Sen. Sullivan has been a champion in this process. With her support and the support from our current delegation we have made huge gains. When tough issues arise, Nancy has stood strong for Biddeford. When it comes to education, Nancy is a fighter for our children’s future. As a teacher she knows first hand the issues our kids face every day. She is the candidate for the future and cares about the next generation of political involvement.

She is Senate chairman for the Joint Standing Committee on Legal and Veterans Affairs. She has become well known for working across the aisle to get the job done and is considered by many to be an independent leader and thinker in the Maine Senate. She tells me often her most important issues are education, the environment, the economy and of course, ‘health care, child care and women’s care.” 

Join me in re-electing a great leader and send Sen. Nancy Sullivan back to Augusta to fight for Biddeford.

Bil Moriarty

Biddeford

Business owner backs Worrell in election

To the editor:

As the owner of Volk Packaging, a company that has been in Biddeford for 43 years and employs 75 people who are offered health insurance, paid vacations, flexibility to care for loved ones and a 401K plan, I encourage the voters of Biddeford to put their support behind state representative candidate Marc Worrell.  

My employees, most of whom are Biddeford residents, have been negatively impacted by decisions made in Augusta. The high cost of health care, lack of affordable insurance options, high cost of electricity, taxes and regulations are choking businesses, and policies have created a culture of government dependency that cause our customers to leave Maine.

When our customers leave Maine fewer boxes are needed and companies that are still here hire fewer people. This ultimately leads to fewer new hires and less money for Volk Packaging to pay employees and give to local charities. In short, less money gets circulated back to the community.

We want to continue to grow, but we need legislators in Augusta who will be fighting for us, not against us, as I have personally witnessed on numerous trips to testify before legislators in Augusta.

I have four children, Marc Worrell has three, and we want those kids to be able to stay in Maine and have good-paying jobs when they are grown. It is critical that we elect legislators who know how to make that happen.

Please don’t vote for a party because you always have, but look carefully at what candidates offer for representation in Augusta on behalf of the great people of Biddeford. Marc’s opponent received a grade of 17.45 out of 100 from the Maine Chamber of Commerce. That’s not the business-friendly environment that brings jobs to Biddeford. It is time for real change in Augusta and it starts with supporting candidates like Marc Worrell. 

Derek Volk

Vice president, Volk Packaging Corp.

Biddeford

Cutler has history in ‘service not politics’

To the editor:

I am writing to explain my fervent support for the campaign of Eliot Cutler for governor. While the other candidates have experience in business and government, Eliot has history in service, not politics.  

While Mitchell talks about departments she’ll establish and money she’ll spend, LePage repeats his mantra of freedom and fewer taxes.  

Cutler’s detailed plan cuts waste, reforms welfare, revamps education and radically reduces health care and energy costs – obstacles facing small business and capital investiture.

Eliot knows you can cut waste, bureaucracy and broken systems that haven’t worked without eliminating services. Without nurturing our business climate, we’ll continue to bleed jobs, while budgets fail, our tax base shrinks, tax burdens increase and graduates flee the state, knowing they cannot prosper.

Eliot will restore dignity to Augusta and hope to our working class, invest in our education, small business, health and wellness. Until we reduce living costs and business costs and take control of a system where 30 percent of the state pays for 30 percent of the state’s public assistance, we cannot prosper.

As a former GOP delegate, some will say I abandon my principles because I cannot support LePage.  But Paul LePage has clung too firmly to the unruly right.  He is out of touch with Maine voters.

I hold firm to my principles, which were always grounded in liberty, equality and common sense. Eliot is our greatest hope for common sense leadership, fiscal conservancy and a profitable business climate.  

He is the boldest advocate for the advancement and prosperity of our state.

I must support Eliot Cutler for governor, and I urge all Republicans, Democrats, Greens, Independents, and Libertarians who truly have a heart for the prosperity of the great state of Maine to do so as well.

Jeffrey Schuhmacher

Biddeford