Letters To The Editor – I Did Not Sign The Petition

To the Editor:
It is Tuesday, May 3, 2011, and I have just been asked to sign a petition. I did not sign the petition. What was it regarding? The purchase or attempted purchase of the Berlin Lumber site by the Town of Berlin.
I have stated in the past through personal conversation and publicly through the Eastwick Press that I, for one, am absolutely against the Town of Berlin, a public and non-taxable entity, purchasing this piece of property for a handful of very important reasons.
I am absolutely against self-aggrandizing government and its sister, government-for-the-sake-of- government. When a privately owned piece of commercial property is purchased by a government entity, regardless of how low the purchase price paid by that public entity, it is forever taken off the tax rolls. Even if portions of the Berlin Lumber site, if purchased by the Town, were rented out at fair market rates this is not a business generating jobs in our community.
Berlin does not need more government spending, we need more private sector jobs. After the incredibly selfish and short sighted actions of the teachers’ and administrators’ union, I wonder if this community as a whole even has a grasp on the fundamentals of economics or finance or where their salaries come from if they work in the public sector.
Without tax paying businesses employing community members who then in turn pay taxes into the municipality’s coffers, there is no tax base to pay for infrastructure maintenance and repair.
I’m curious if any of the supporters of the Berlin Lumber purchase ever count the number of “For Sale” signs in this small town. Why on earth would people want to sell their properties here? There are so many great jobs available locally, and the school district does such a great job educating the dwindling numbers of students. Right.
Economic development does not come from the public sector. When I was serving on the Planning Board I had the opportunity to talk with a gentleman who had done quite a lot of urban renewal development in the greater Boston area. I asked this gentleman how a small town government could entice employers into the area. He responded with this:
“The way you get businesses into a town is you create the business as an individual. You employ people in the town, and if you are lucky enough to have a handful of town officials who understand their tax base is in having businesses in that town, then you have a chance. Otherwise the town government is likely to be an obstacle.” I stepped down from the Planning Board shortly thereafter.
Obvious to anyone who reads the papers or watches the news the Town of Berlin is not alone in this upside down thinking. We have people all over the country who expect someone else to pay their bills, largely those who work in the public sector. Do these people work hard and deserve good pay? Sure, for the most part. However, greater public sector spending is not the economic engine that pays the bills.
It is interesting in looking at the most vocal proponents of the Berlin Lumber purchase. Largely this group of people appear to be over the age of fifty-five (55). In conversation with another person in the community who is under that by a long shot she said, “Don’t these people get it? There isn’t any reason to stay here. Anyone my age (low 30’s) can’t get work here. It’s just a dying bedroom community.”
Well, I didn’t sign the petition. I’m hopeful that somewhere there is a private sector employer who will purchase the Berlin Lumber site and offer jobs to our local community, or better yet, bring people in to buy all the houses that are for sale. And just maybe the people who work for this hoped for employer will have children that will attend our school and they will demand better performance from the district employees, and they will spend the money earned at their local jobs in local markets like Hewitt’s or they will purchase the laundromat, upgrade it and make it another “spin-off” business.
OR, maybe not.
Morgan Hartman
Black Queen Angus Farm, LLC Berlin