This letter is to express my utter dismay of the Waterville City Council’s contemplated funding reduction for the public transportation program.

As an elderly, handicapped retiree, I, along with a great number of citizens who do not own a car, rely on the services of subsidized transportation to conduct our daily affairs. I use a KVCAP bus to transport me weekdays to Mt. St. Joseph’s to visit my wife, who has Alzheimer’s disease. My visits and those of friends and relatives, in addition to the wonderful care she receives at St. Joseph’s, are her only sources of comfort and support in an otherwise drab existence.

I also use the bus to shop and bank in downtown Waterville. Without KVCAP funding, I’d have to resort to budget-crippling, unaffordable taxi service, which would diminish my visits to my wife drastically, depriving her of my much-needed attentions.

For the council to resort to such a niggardly recourse to budget viability at the expense of society’s most vulnerable — the low-incomed and disabled — is unbecoming of a civilized democracy and a shame on its treatment of them.

At one time, we contributed our time and resources to this country’s growth. Now it’s time for the heirs of our efforts to step up to the plate on this, our time of need, and support us.

As these seven councilors assemble to decide the fate of a great number of us, we urge them to seek other cost-cutting measures. And to decide the matter with their hearts, and not their minds.

Joseph R. Durocher

Waterville


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