In his July 28 guest column in the Sun Journal (“Bond issue not good for Maine”), my colleague, Rep. Scott Lansley, R-Sabattus, launched an attack on the bond package that passed the Legislature on July 29.

Rep. Lansley’s comments were not only slanderous to the hardworking legislators who crafted a bond package that will create over 4,600 jobs in Maine, but were also in direct opposition to the opinion of most of the voting public. Mainers consistently approve bond packages by popular vote, and for good reason. They leverage federal money that we do not have to pay back, they are proven to create jobs and spur economic development, and they provide for necessary infrastructure improvements and worthy projects such as Land for Maine’s Future.

I found it interesting that Rep. Lansley later backpedaled on his statements during a press conference in his district by saying that he would, in fact, support a bond for the creative economy. When confronted with the fact that by rejecting bonds, he was rejecting jobs and development in his community, Rep. Lansley claimed to have been “misquoted” in the column that he wrote himself.

I think the people in Sabattus and Greene, the towns that Rep. Lansley represents, deserve the funding for transportation repairs and other development projects that their representative voted against. Fortunately, enough of my legislative colleagues agreed, and the people of Sabattus and Greene will have the opportunity to make that decision on the ballot this fall.

Rep. Sonya Sampson, Auburn

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