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Penny-Wise and Pound-Foolish

As a veteran who served to protect the voting rights of Americans and has lived in Deep River for almost 49 years, I was happy and proud to see so many residents (approximately 400) turn out for the Town Meeting on Dec. 11 to vote either on the Pay-As-You-Throw ordinance which would have cost us a maximum of $2 for each trash bag.

But I wonder why when it comes time to vote on the Region 4 school budget, which is in the millions every year, and this past budget had a side item of $9.7 million for new and fixing existing neglected athletic fields, yet only approximately 150 voters showed up to vote on this budget. The Region 4 budget is 72% of our tax dollars, i.e., for every $1,000 we pay in personal property taxes, $720 goes for the Region 4 budget. It seems to me the residents and taxpayers of Deep River are being penny-wise and pound-foolish. Foolishly, they are more worried about nickels and dimes rather than dollars.

The residents and taxpayers of Deep River should pay attention (especially to the mold problem at John Winthrop Middle School) to the upcoming Region 4 school budget. Please turn out to vote!

Richard Nagot

Deep River