I respectfully disagree with the Sun Journal editorial of Feb. 1, relating the Rumford political situation.
If Rumford selectmen and Town Manager Steve Eldridge had respected the town charter, the law of the town’s government, Eldridge would still be in Rumford.
If the selectmen and Eldridge had been accountable to the majority of citizens who voted to respect the charter, by a vote of 622-344, Eldridge would still be town manager.
One might relate the situation in Rumford to that during the last national election when citizens voted their disappointment with the direction of Republicans in the U.S. Congress by replacing them with Democrats.
The majority of Rumford citizens were disappointed with the direction of the selectmen and the town manager, so they voted to change direction. The Maine courts upheld that direction – the law of the town charter.
Yes, one should give Eldridge the credit he deserves. He proposed some positive projects that might have helped generate economic development for Rumford. However, we will not know that because of the wrong choices he and the selectmen made.
The resignation of Steve Eldridge as Rumford town manager is unfortunate. However, it did not have to take place. If the town charter and the vote of citizens had been respected, Eldridge would still be town manager.
As a Rumford citizen, I wish this had not happened, for the good of Rumford, the selectmen and Mr. Eldridge.
Tom Fallon, Rumford
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