I got a kick out of Diane Cormier's plea to the City at the Business and Economic Development meeting a few weeks back. Her whining was falling on deaf ears. The only uptick was a few folks who stood up to say she had a right to be heard by the full Council. Hal and Pat should be commended for their stand on that issue. They also had their undies in a bunch over a statement submitted by Council Chair Stone. The biggest concern was the apparent bias of Chair Stone against Diva's. In the end, the statement was read, but it wasn't inflammatory at all. no slander, no NIMBY stuff, no bias, just a statement. To bad, I was hoping for a fist fight to break out. Cary Weston had all he could do to keep Ms Cormier in line, on and off the record. In the end, the Ordinance was not repealed or changed, and it looks like Diva's is well behind in rent. This might be the beginning of the end for Bangor's only Gentleman's Club. Maybe if she promised to give a percent of the lap-dance money to the arena fund, they would have helped her out. All payed with $1.00 bills of course.
I got a few mailings from our good "friend" Joe Perry last week. It seems he thinks we we're duped into voting out his tax revision bill. We're not as stupid as you think we are Joe. This bill was a farce, and even though some items had merit, most did not. The whole concept of shifting taxes to tourist has some appeal, but your team at Appropriations went waaaay over the line. The taxes proposed were so broad based that most folks would have been impacted. For example, taxes on auto repairs would have really sucked. I've got a 12 year old Volvo my kids drive around. It's pretty solid, but like any car that age, has an issue once in a while. Its not uncommon to dump $500 into that thing every year. The new tax would have added another $50 to the repair bill, something my daughter doesn't really have. And by the way Joe, she's not a tourist. But, on the other side...the lodging tax placed on hotels is a great idea. This would basically be completely paid by tourists. I travel quite a bit and Maine is one of the few States that does not have this tax. Maybe Bangor should consider a local option tax for the numerous hotels in the area. That might even keep my property taxes down, god forbid. This isn't rocket science people. Of course, our Council would put the new found funds into the "arena account lock-box" and STILL raise my taxes. So Joe sends me some glossy print flyer saying he's trying to cut taxes. Sorry Joe, nice try. Take your ball and go home, we're done playing games with you. Until we have real educated business people in Augusta (un-like Joe and Emily Caine), the taxes will continue to climb and Maine will be seen as a backwater State that's anti-business.
Speaking of Joe Perry, The son of the late, legendary clam cook Joe Perry (former owner of Perry's on Maine Street) has opened up a pub in Searsport. Thats right folks, Joe Perry Jr. has recently launched a new venture on Maine Street across from the Maritime Museum. The grand opening will soon be announced. He's working with former Perry's cook Paul Nelligan to finalize the menu and get the kitchen moving. Good luck to Joey and Mary Beth....and pass the tartar sauce.
Till next time...keep the faith folks
