We learned in Junior High to cite our sources, but it takes more work to read and check those sources.

In her opinion piece (May 11) Krysta West mixes appreciation for her town, Readfield, with concern about affordability and the challenges for people on fixed incomes. Clearly, those challenges are not unique to Readfield, but the main point of her article is to oppose the proposal to have an established Maine company, Axiom, install a fiber-optic network for the entire town, as it is doing in Leeds, has done elsewhere, and has made proposals to do in Readfield and in Wayne.

“Spectrum … provides my internet … and I have zero complaints,” West write. I suppose it is possible that, as she states, West’s bill for cell-phone and internet service is only $60, even after two years of working from home. But the starting promotional price Spectrum currently advertises for its cell-phone and internet is over $60 and the promotional price for internet alone rises to nearly $75 after a year. Maybe she has a special discount.

West also refers to “troubled reports” apparently about Axiom, but the links provided in the online version of her column don’t mention the company she’s complaining about and the Google rating she cites includes nine whole responses, several of which include no comments at all. Three ratings of “1” with no comment and three with “5” and three others is not a very meaningful sample.

Readfield has negotiated a proposal with Axiom to allow for as low a price as possible on the internet service. The cost to a household would be about $40 for the internet service plus the estimated $20 for the debt service. Whether or not it’s a good enough deal is up to the voters in Readfield, but spreading slanted information from a platform like the KJ’s Community Compass doesn’t help people make a sound decision.

Jim Perkins

Wayne