For the past three years, I have been on the Waterville City Council. I chose to walk away, disillusioned from divisiveness that simply wouldn’t go away.

I write this to make people think. If I reach one or two, I have done more than many.

The first step to bring people back together is to assure all online comments are signed with full names only. The constant claims of voter fraud and Waterville being the only place in Maine that does not tax colleges is simply wrong. Claims that teachers make six figures is too. Yet they say it and sign “xxx, Maple syrup or true blue.”

Waterville citizens need facts. Online is a great place to gather background information, yet unnamed individuals create controversy with sites like Waterville Resistance and Waterville Leaks. These should be investigated. Who writes them? If the writer uses excerpts to make claims, shouldn’t they be required to prove it to you?

If I told you there were 14 planets in our solar system and they all paid taxes to a neighboring community, would you question that? It is time to demand comments be factual.

There is a quote we should begin to practice more, to bring people back together: “Try being informed instead of just being opinionated.”

Use that when you read comments from unnamed sources, when anti-education supporters blame our schools and colleges for everything they perceive as wrong. Hold people accountable. There is no place to park? Prove it with facts. The city budget could be held at zero increase? Prove it with facts.

I wish Waterville the best moving forward. Growth and revitalization have tremendously improved. Yes, there are facts to back that up.

Steve Soule

Waterville

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