The Sun Journal recently carried a picture of a Rumford selectman proclaiming that tax-acquired properties should be sold, since she didn’t want to be a slumlord.

That is all well and good; however, the comprehensive plan (approved by town voters in November 1998 by a 2-to-1 ratio) clearly charges selectmen with demolishing those deteriorated buildings and not selling them to perpetuate the problems they frequently cause. The plan also called for redeveloping that part of town, where most of those buildings are, into what would be called Rumford Falls North, a commercial/service area.

At about the same time, the Sun Journal carried a story about an entrepreneur who was looking for a site to build a composite plant for aircraft construction, possibly in Berlin, N.H. That would be a good match for a redeveloped Rumford Falls North, or, possibly, the industrial park.

That is exactly the type of opportunity that should be pursued by an economic development director, lest Rumford miss out on yet another opportunity. However, there is no such person in Rumford’s town government, despite the fact that selectmen were clearly assigned responsibility for hiring economic development staff at the time that the above-mentioned comprehensive plan was approved.

There are, indeed, some well-intentioned attempts at economic development by equally well-intentioned volunteers, but the time is long since past for hiring professional staff.

Rumford has to help itself proactively and cease waiting for some grand event to happen. It hasn’t, and will not.

Dennis Breton, Rumford