After reading highlights of the activities in Farmington and Waterville honoring the works of Martin Luther King Jr., my eyes wandered back to the front page to another headline, “Planner’s hours cut amid job overhaul,” with a photograph of City Planner Ann Beverage.

It appears that in trying to come up with an economic plan to take care of an overworked Code Office, City Manager Michael Roy is writing Beverage out of the post she has held for 26 years (I thought only TV programs did that).

Although Beverage has not announced plans to retire, and indeed seems not to want to retire yet, Roy seems to have confused her professional life with her personal life. He is making decisions based on his knowledge and assumptions about Beverage’s personal life: “Her husband is retired” and “She’s in her early 60s.”

Are there not in Roy’s line of economic reasoning shades (not too subtle) of ageism and gender bias based on marital status? And to add insult to injury, while Beverage is carrying out her part-time planner’s duties, Roy would “have someone learn from Ann while she’s here” because as he sees it “the important thing is to not lose Ann’s expertise and planning functions.”

I hope that when Beverage decides to retire, the city will honor her longstanding commitment to the community.

Priscilla Doel

Vassalboro


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