BUDGET, BUDGET, BUDGET
Biddeford’s annual budget process is always important and often controversial, but this year the stage has been set for a very harsh reality and some (likely) very tense and frank community decisions.
In case you missed it, you want to make sure to check out the Gazette’s exclusive coverage (including video) of last week’s joint budget workshop meeting.
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We’re all in this together, so let’s proceed like adults with respect, civility and healthy appreciation of fiscal realities on both sides of the debate.
The first public hearing on this year’s budget will happen on Tuesday (April 7) during the city council meeting, which begins at 6 p.m. at City Hall.
THE GAZETTE | Working hard to help you
To help you prepare for the ongoing budget debate, I am very proud to announce the Gazette has created a special section on our website that is dedicated to giving you easy-to-access information, including downloadable documents about both the city and school budgets. You can find that section here: FY 27 BUDGET
I am even prouder that both City Councilor Brad Cote and resident Emma Bouthillette – a former Portland Press Herald reporter – each took the time to offer our readers some good insight and thoughtful analysis about this year’s budget process. Brad’s piece here and Emma’s piece here.
Speaking of our readers, I also want to thank Jill Stewart for sharing her insightful thoughts this week about the fate of the city’s public access television station.
And speaking of proud (and a little chest thumping), I am so very happy that I finally got all 1,451 words of my much-ballyhooed feature story about Chuck Cote and Biddeford’s history finally off my plate and out the door.
Yes, I found a couple of typos after hitting the publish button, and I do hate that. For example, Babe Dutremble did not win any election in a landslide in 1997. I think he might have already passed by then. He did, however, crush it 20 years earlier, when Jimmy Carter was the president of the United States.
The very best thing that ever happened to me took place only because of an error in something I wrote “for the newspaper” in 2001. (More about that some other time).
But of the more than one thousand stories I have written, today’s piece about Biddeford’s history holds a special place in my heart. In fact, it’s now in my top three favorite stories of all time.
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We have some pretty big (maybe bombshell, or at least interesting) stories on deck for this week.
THE GAZETTE’S 3-Fs
In the meantime, the Gazette is now following a 3-F approach to every original story we publish (no, not that F) Instead: Feedback, Follow, Facebook.
Feedback is critical for us. Like it? Hate it? We need – and want – to hear from you. That’s the only way that we’re going to survive and get better.
Follow? There are no more paperboys or newsstands. Social media is now how we have to deliver the news. I’m still getting used to the idea, but the news industry is changing just like banking, telecommunication and travel.
If we stay stuck in old models, we end up like encyclopedias – we may look good but will just be collecting dust on a shelf. Please check us out on Facebook (and other social media platforms).
I am super stoked about what’s happening in our newsroom, and I look forward to your feedback, your follow and your engagement on Facebook!
Have a good week!
— Randy
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BIDDEFORD GAZETTE 