A black hole is an area of space that has so much mass concentrated in it that there is no way for a nearby object to escape its gravitational pull.

The citizens of Lewiston have a similar black hole, namely the Bates Mill complex. There seems to be no way to escape the pull of taxpayer money that is poured into that site every year. Millions of taxpayer dollars have been shoveled into that area and lost since the inception of renovations by former city administrations and their pipe dreams. Money continues to be lost while the city tries to form an exit strategy.

What am I getting at here? The front-page story, “Retail of two cities,” (Dec. 7) describes how Lewiston is being left behind while major chain stores bypass this city and build new developments in Augusta, thus luring many L-A shoppers there. Augusta had the foresight and wisdom 10 years ago to begin giving TIFs to developers to attract new business ventures and commerce.

I quote from the SJ story: “Both Lewiston and Auburn have public policies that discourage tax breaks for retailers. The reason, they say, is twofold: first, since local money to fund tax breaks is limited,” (see black hole), “it should be directed to projects with big payoffs; and second, fairness.”

Is Bates Mill a big payoff? How about fairness to the taxpayers and not putting the city into these boondoggles in the first place?

Jim Bossie, Lewiston

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