To the Editor,

            Please vote “yes” for a new Old Colony Voc-Tech High School. My wife and I are both in our 70s, property owners in Mattapoisett and on a fixed income. My wife and I always want to see a bang for our tax-dollar buck. So, we are very interested in avoiding new tax debt for projects we deem to be costly and of dubious benefit to the town. Projects from town meetings or in this case a special election. This is not one of those projects.

            Last vote Mattapoisett approved the new school; it was a no brainer, but unfortunately for we taxpayers and future OC students the other towns did not.

            The state is going to pay $140,000,000 toward a new building, which will expand the shops and increase enrollment from 560 students to 776 students. Old Colony grads tend to stay in our communities and eventually become taxpayers. Each graduating class will be helping pay off the new school debt to the towns of $148,000,000 when they become property owners. This school debt has an end date, and our taxes will go back down.

            The old school is in terrible shape; shops are small and crowded and many have to be brought up to code. So, this does not mean a “no” vote saves us taxpayers money. On the other hand, we shall probably pay more over time for a patch job on the old building, without any state aid.

            Old Colony grads have saved our towns thousands of tax dollars over the past decades, completing projects in all our towns. I have hired Old Colony grads for electrical work as well as auto repair and carpentry projects, and I bet many of you have as well.

Ray M Cabral, Mattapoisett

The views expressed in the “Letters to the Editor” column are not necessarily those of The Wanderer, its staff or advertisers. The Wanderer will gladly accept any and all correspondence relating to timely and pertinent issues in the great Marion, Mattapoisett and Rochester area, provided they include the author’s name, address and phone number for verification. We cannot publish anonymous, unsigned or unconfirmed submissions. The Wanderer reserves the right to edit, condense and otherwise alter submissions for purposes of clarity and/or spacing considerations. The Wanderer may choose to not run letters that thank businesses, and The Wanderer has the right to edit letters to omit business names. The Wanderer also reserves the right to deny publication of any submitted correspondence. All letters must be typed and submitted directly to: news@wanderer.com.