I am becoming increasingly alarmed at the number of people who continue to support Carol Palesky and the tax-cap initiative.

She and her supporters claim that town leaders are overreacting to this proposal, and that there is plenty of money to cut and still provide essential town services and education for our children, but fail to back this claim with any factual data. Town governments, however, are coming up with actual data regarding how much money they will have under this proposal, and the picture is bleak for many Maine towns. Town officials are not fabricating these numbers, they are doing the math. Carol Palesky and her supporters are not.

Additionally, there is the issue of trust. In a recent article, Carol Palesky and Eric Cianchette say that this referendum is not about her, but about tax relief. I strongly disagree. Any political movement or proposal of this type is automatically linked to its leadership. In this case, the leader has been convicted of embezzlement and aggravated forgery, has been deemed unfit to stand trial for bank robbery and has additional serious credibility issues. Town leaders have been elected by their constituents to do a job, and they are doing that now. Whom should voters believe?

Before voting, residents should go to their town officials and ask them what the impact of this proposal means for their town. Town officials can tell people. Carol Palesky can’t.

Ben Milster, Temple

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