I am a member of a great local organization, the Mid Maine Chamber of Commerce. A rare complaint that I have for our group is that it requests taxpayer dollars from communities in the name of "Economic Development."

Does the Chamber of Commerce help the local economy? Yes, we do. However, we should be able to do it without taxpayer funding.

A business group such as ours should not be on the public dole. I bet we can do just fine without the support. All you folks working on the Waterville municipal budget, please give this a thought.

Lee Bushey

Waterville