To the editor:
This November, Mainers face a serious decision about who to send to Washington D.C. to represent them in the United States Senate. As a life-long resident of Aroostook County and an avid political observer, I have some recollections about one of the candidates and how he would look out for our region if elected. When he was governor, Angus King tried to eliminate funding for the Maine School of Science and Mathematics, the magnet school in Limestone. This school teaches our children the valuable skills of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) that are so important in today’s economy. What’s more, the Limestone school is ranked 14th in the nation for STEM education. When governor King proposed closing the school in his State of the State Address, he displayed an unbelievable level of poor judgment and lack of concern for The County.
Angus failed us at another time when we needed him. The Canadian Government was prepared in the late 1990s and spent millions of dollars in an effort to re-introduce Atlantic Salmon in the upper St. John River above Grand Falls, N.B. Canada. The plan was spearheaded by the international corporation called SALEN Inc. This would have been a major boon to the economy. As a recreational salmon fisherman myself, I was especially excited about the project. I was even appointed president of SALEN Inc. All the Canadians needed was a letter of consent from Governor King for the project to move forward.
Angus came up to a Mardi Gras event hosted by the University of Maine at Fort Kent and citizens supportive of the project. The governor went back on his word. As a result, the Canadians backed out of the project and the County lost out big time.
Angus King was born in Virginia, went to an Ivy League school in New Hampshire and has lived in southern Maine ever since. He visited us in the county occasionally as governor but only when he was campaigning or riding a motorcycle or snowmobile and showed little interest in our economic problems. With our jobs going overseas and our children leaving for greener pastures, we need to hold on to anything that will help us to insure a brighter future. The Limestone School is one of those things, and we need to make sure that we send people to Washington who know and understand our concerns, and who will defend our jobs and schools. We also need someone who will keep a promise, especially when it concerns a matter of economic importance to The County.
Charlie Summers, our current Maine Secretary of State, campaigned in The County heavily throughout the Republican Primary race this spring and won the region because he cared. He has been here a lot since, traveling as far as Fort Kent just to shake a few hands and hear our concerns. Charlie is a veteran who has been deployed in Iraq and a man of integrity, with small business experience. That is why I am voting for Charlie Summers for the U.S. Senate and I encourage you to do the same.
Phil Soucy
Fort Kent
