Oppose South Portland bond to relocate public safety buildings | Letter

South Portland should reject the proposed $88.6 million bond to relocate its police and fire departments.

For years, the city has grossly neglected existing facilities, then asked taxpayers to finance expensive replacements. Neglected athletic fields helped produce a $4.6 million bond. Meanwhile, basic services like trash collection are in jeopardy, and a $204 million Mahoney School renovation (which included police and fire) — developed without a budget and featuring a rooftop garden — has merely been postponed, not abandoned.

The proposed police station reflects the same disregard for taxpayers. The city has already paid $2.5 million for a former Walgreens in an area plagued by vacant properties. It now proposes demolishing the turnkey building on the site. In effect, taxpayers bought an expensive, empty lot.

Why did City Hall spend millions on a police station site before voters even approved the project?

David Bertoni
South Portland

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Tagged: letter to the editor