Former Biddeford Mayor Alan Casavant — now the vice president of the non-profit Biddeford Cultural and Heritage Center — appeared before the Biddeford City Council Thursday to present his organization’s annual funding request.

Before the meeting started, Casavant was seated next to me in the back row of the council chamber. We made some small talk as we were waiting for the meeting to begin.

We both agreed that this is going to be a brutal year for budget making in Biddeford. We both agreed that we were glad that neither of us were sitting on the other side of the council dais.

We both listened as presenter after presenter approached the podium to make their various pitches for some municipal funding. Representatives from McArthur Library, the Heart of Biddeford, the Biddeford Mills Museum, Seeds of Hope, Biddeford Community Gardens, La Kermesse and so many others each waited for their turn to explain why they should receive some modest funding from the city.

This part of the annual budget process is called the “social services” portion of the budget. These are organizations that are not part of city government or operations. These are all non-profits struggling to keep pace with inflation in an uncertain economy.

” “I also believe it is important — critical — that city government
try to find ways to bring people together . . .
to chat, to laugh and to find commonality.

— Alan Casavant

It’s easy to say we cannot afford these things, but ask yourself: can we afford to lose these things?

Laura and I are feeling the same economic pinch as many other families are feeling all across the country. We are in the process of trimming some fat from our own household budget. We really don’t have much of a choice in the matter, but there are some things that may look like fluff but are actually essential to our quality of life.

When it was his turn to speak, Casavant approached the podium with a certain amount of gravitas. He is the second-longest serving mayor in Biddeford’s history, first elected in 2011 and then re-elected five more times before stepping down last year,

Casavant reviewed details of his organization’s request, but it was his summary that caught me off guard and left me wondering if maybe I should reconsider some of my own thoughts about this year’s city budget.

“I realize you are facing a very difficult budget year,” Casavant said. “”But I also believe it is important — critical — that city government try to find ways to bring people together . . . to chat, to laugh and to find commonality.

“They’re not gonna find that from social media. They’re not gonna find that from their cellphones.

“People need things like festivals, musical events, historic awareness and social interaction to bring everyone together; to build community, which is also the responsibility of this council,” Casavant added.

The room erupted with vigorous applause, and I saw a glimpse that made me think: Biddeford is much more than a city. It is a community. So the question becomes, what is the value of community?

I honestly don’t know, but it’s something worth thinking about.

Disclosure: I served as Casavant’s campaign manager in 2011 and 2013.

Randy Seaver is the editor of the Biddeford Gazette. He can be reached at randy@randyseaver.com

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