Dear Readers,

Tradition says editors are supposed to make a list of New Year’s resolutions. It is supposed to be a sort of a to-do list for the coming year. So here goes.

Let’s resolve to settle this St. Andrews Hospital mess. There are a lot of folks, some of them a bit on the elderly side, who are terrified at the thought that the local emergency room will soon be shuttered. 

Bill Caron had his Maine Health minions run the numbers and thought they were doing the right thing, but instead of crafting a valid business model the community would applaud, they created a public relations nightmare. 

In any industry, issuing a statement that says, in effect, “it is my way or the highway,” is a bit on the counterproductive side. 

Let’s resolve to park the egos at the door, sit down at a table and work it out. 

Let’s resolve to work out a deal that will keep local David Stimson, a local boatbuilder, in town and working. It is a natural fit. 

We pride ourselves on the skills of our marine craftsmen and women. That is why the nation’s top tugboat company has its tugs built at Washburn & Doughty. “They build damn good tugs and are honest,” the Moran Towing company big boss once told me. From the schooner Bowdoin to the superyacht Scheherazade, their East Boothbay neighbor, Hodgdon Yachts, turn out as fine a boat as you can find anywhere in the world. 

They are just examples. There are yards and builders who turn out top shelf work, too. We have a culture and a community that celebrates boats and boatbuilders. It just makes sense for the town, the boatbuilder and his neighbors, to find common ground. I hope they do.

Let’s resolve to keep an open mind with the proposed offshore wind power project. That said, I don’t know if it will be good or bad for the local economy. I don’t know if it will be good or bad for the sea, or the sea lanes, the fishery, or the view from shore. 

I do know we sure could use a new industry in our little town, especially one that is out to sea and out of sight from the shore and we all need electricity. 

We will hear more about the project in the future. Let’s listen and study the proposal’s pros and cons. It could be good, it could be bad, but we won’t know if we don’t listen to all sides.

Let’s resolve to do a bit more for our most vulnerable citizens, our children and our seniors. Funding a sheriff’s detective to work on cases involving seniors, including abuse and scams should be a no-brainer for new county commissioners. The same goes for juvenile cases. 

And it wouldn’t hurt for county and local law enforcement members to drop in for a chat at the region’s schools a bit more often. 

Letting the kids know that the police are real people, people concerned for their safety, is not a bad idea either.

Finally, let’s resolve to solve the fiscal problems of the Two Bridge Regional Jail, or at least put a big dent in it. 

If the state wants us to house state prisoners from other towns in our facility, the state should pay the bill for their upkeep. 

The last time we checked, the state pays a daily rate to feed and house prisoners – a rate that is less than the daily rate local kennels charge to house a dog overnight. 

We understand the state has fiscal problems, but they are not the “Lone Ranger” in that regard. 

Local schools, local governments and the county commissioners are also doing their best to spend taxpayer dollars carefully. The state should do the same and not balance their corrections budget by shifting the costs to us.