Tell It To George is a collection of thoughts from here and away, from people who want to get their two cents worth in, without using their names.

The School Board says that it does not understand what is happening to its budget. It has now flunked twice! That is what is happening.

Doesn't one of the School Board members attend a $50,000 a year university?

If you flunk a term paper, do you submit the same failed work a second time, hoping it will pass the second time?

Wouldn't it be nice if our new long-term contract Supt. of Schools decided to earn his pay and show the people a tax-saving long-term plan to deal with declining revenues and declining enrollments instead of acting like a typical bureaucrat, seeking to expand his financial domain?

Well I'm glad we finally have a bypass route, one that is going to ruin one of the biggest potential taxpayers in Wiscasset. As we quietly tap our fingers and whistle, waiting for the Point East Mirage to manifest itself out of the fog, we have two men trying to build what will be the most outstanding upscale housing area, only to learn the bypass will chop their efforts in two.

This lovely development overlooking the Sheepscot River, just getting started with all of its graceful wide roads, lovely vistas, and landscaping and underground utilities would bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in taxes - but apparently it is doomed to be a ghost village because the state MDOT folks want to build a road through it that nearly no one will use, except in July and August.

Too bad Wiscasset people didn't get more involved in what the state was planning. Too bad Wiscasset people thought the bypass would never get built. Too bad Wiscasset town officials don't just camp out in the MDOT Commissioner's office until he pulls the plug on this wasteful, stupid, unneeded project.

You might check out the pollution off Davis Island, from the people who live on Fort Road. These are the same people who are concerned about the Sheepscot River!

One of the houses belongs to a selectman, even.

Do they treat their filth in any way? Why don't they connect with the Edgecomb water and sewer service? Or do they just like to hassle people?

I'm not a resident and couldn't vote, but last Saturday Westport held its annual town meeting and I attended as a non-speaking guest.

I would guess maybe 95 people showed up initially and a good number of them disappeared before the meeting was over. Part of the reason some got discouraged was WICIC's [Westport Island Citizens' Information Committee] insistence on changing the location and the wording of the LD1 article. First Selectman George Richardson said they are mandated to add this each year. Using the state's wording and recommendations, the selectmen added it at the end of the warrant.

WICIC tried, but failed to change the state's wording. They did, however, move the article to the beginning. It passed in favor and the meeting plodded on. Trouble is that took nearly two valuable hours of people's time. It's usually placed at the end of the meeting with good reason. If voters don't go over the cap amount, they can disregard it altogether; if they go over the cap, it gives voters the opportunity to allow the selectmen to do as the voters choose or not.

WICIC came with their usual handout and agenda. They stuck to their guns and controlled the entire meeting. They lectured anyone second-guessing the school committee on the grounds that they are elected and represent the town and people should respect them (to which I agree), but in the next breath they totally disregarded the ELECTED budget committee and the ELECT-ED road commissioner. In fact, some were overheard threatening to produce a petition to disband the budget committee.

Remember, the elected budget committee was THEIR idea, but the members elected were not their choices. Sour Grapes? Yeah, I think so.

Send "Tell It To George" entries clearly marked (this way, we won't use your name) for the "Tell It To George" column, by mail at P.O. Box 429, Wiscasset, ME 04578.

Or hand carry them to our office on at 47 Gardiner Road (don't mail them to Gardiner Road, because they will be sent back to you by the post office); just put them in our mailbox right next to the front door.

Or, walk right in and give them to us.

Or, send them to us by E-mail, at wiscassetnewspaper@verizon.net.

Or, fax them to us at 882-4280;

Or, if you're not good at writing, leave us a voice mail on our answering machine after hours, at 207-882-6355 (speak slowly and distinctly). Please make sure your entries a r rive by noon on Tuesday for publ i cation in Thursday's issue.