Jeers to federal funding of grants for Androscoggin County. Federal grants apparently operate outside of government oversight. Elected representatives should take note.

Now I know what Auburn’s Mayor Jonathan LaBonte meant when he said he would “find the money to cement the pieces.”

If such money is available to fund grandiose plans to connect trails from L-A to Jay, and Lincoln Street to the ocean, I contend that the money would better serve the community to entice businesses that create jobs, feed the needy and care for the homeless (just to name a few).

I lost track of the many federal grants doled out to Maine and L-A in 2011. I plan to keep track in 2012. For example, it was reported in the Sun Journal on Dec. 31 that a grant of $603,631 was given to a Maine ocean lab to study iron oxidizing bacteria. Eh? Imagine that grant multiplied by 25 states or 1,000 communities — the figures would be staggering.

The only time that current trails are used is when there is an event such as the balloon festival. Otherwise, few people are seen using them on a daily basis.

Reviving the riverfront is a good idea, but not in this economy. To proceed in that venture at this time would serve only to boost the egos of the elite, visionary sesquipedalians.

Serendipity? Indeed.

Albert R. Grandmaison, Lewiston