Excellent article on the pronounced tendency for "unwatched" pots to boil over. Hancock County government costs keep going up and up and up and there never seems to be the political will to turn the burner down a bit. That said one minor correction needs to be made RE your comments on the lobster fishery: Lobstermen do not generally go "down below" to relieve themselves. I"ll leave it to the reader's imagination as to what location they opt for when the time comes. As to electronic tracking of lobster boat movements please tell me that's an April Fool's joke launched several months early. Lobstermen guard their preferred fishing grounds more closely than their wives. The idea of them allowing Big Brother to collect that invaluable data for possible loss (or sale) to the mega corporations lusting to take over the last truly independent fishery isn't merely laughable it's totally absurd! Where do I mail in my contribution for the legal defense fund? There simply has to be something left in America that isn't monopolized by Big Business!
Seems to me that the obvious solution is to consolidate the police and fire departments on MDI as a separate taxing district or even better consolidate all police service under the Hancock Sheriff. This would allow flexibility in assigning officers and help out those towns that are unable to hire. This should include dispatch functions as well. Problems to overcome, but it could be done and has the potential for savings of taxpayer dollars.
I would like to add that the County Sheriff also has to service the 5 Cranberry Islands if there is a criminal issue. They might be more efficiently and economically served by one of the Marine services from one of the towns closest to them.
Excellent article on the pronounced tendency for "unwatched" pots to boil over. Hancock County government costs keep going up and up and up and there never seems to be the political will to turn the burner down a bit. That said one minor correction needs to be made RE your comments on the lobster fishery: Lobstermen do not generally go "down below" to relieve themselves. I"ll leave it to the reader's imagination as to what location they opt for when the time comes. As to electronic tracking of lobster boat movements please tell me that's an April Fool's joke launched several months early. Lobstermen guard their preferred fishing grounds more closely than their wives. The idea of them allowing Big Brother to collect that invaluable data for possible loss (or sale) to the mega corporations lusting to take over the last truly independent fishery isn't merely laughable it's totally absurd! Where do I mail in my contribution for the legal defense fund? There simply has to be something left in America that isn't monopolized by Big Business!
Thanks for researching this and writing about it so thoroughly - seems like a smart place to focus on to help better wrangle our budgets.
Seems to me that the obvious solution is to consolidate the police and fire departments on MDI as a separate taxing district or even better consolidate all police service under the Hancock Sheriff. This would allow flexibility in assigning officers and help out those towns that are unable to hire. This should include dispatch functions as well. Problems to overcome, but it could be done and has the potential for savings of taxpayer dollars.
I would like to add that the County Sheriff also has to service the 5 Cranberry Islands if there is a criminal issue. They might be more efficiently and economically served by one of the Marine services from one of the towns closest to them.
Whew. Formidable. And only the tip of the iceberg of the work you do to investigate and report. ThankYou.