This is regarding a front-page piece on Nov. 17: “Bond would beef up colleges.” Wouldn’t it be refreshing if the Governor’s Community College Advisory council’s report said they were exploring ways to increase productivity, without asking us to again dig into our pockets for more taxes and for our grandchildren to dig into theirs as well?

But why should they?

With the Taxpayer Bill of Rights not even cold in its grave, it should be embarrassing for Maine State Chamber of Commerce President Dana Connors to come back to the tax trough to solve Maine’s alleged problem of not enough trained workers. I happen to be a supporter of the community colleges. They and the L-A College campus are examples of government at its best. Yet, at least half of the voters recognize that more taxes and more borrowing cannot be the answer to every problem Maine faces. What is it they can’t hear about Maine being the most-taxed state in the nation?

Suppose we simply increased the number of students in each class by 10 percent. I would never recommend that for kindergarten or first grade, but I don’t see why college students and faculty couldn’t live with slightly larger classes for a while. Especially since the shortage of trained workers might well be temporary, as new businesses look elsewhere, given the neverending tax increases here in Maine.

James Tierney, Auburn