After I knocked off work yesterday, I repaired to one of only two watrering holes open on Wednesday this time of year. (Fear not, come summer, restaurants and bars abound.)

To my surprise, the door was locked. Unfazed, I went round to the back door and entered, where I smack into sizable meetingp of Concerned Citizens clamoring for lower taxes. "Republicans?" I wondered, but no, it was an amalgam of Republicans (mostly), Libertarians (a smattering) and some well known Democrats, all from in town, all unhappy with the cost of government. Oh, no, not the federal government, not the state government but the town government. No one in the room was under the age of fifty-five, save the chairman of the board of selectmen, an outspoken Libertarian in his forties.

There was no tea. These good burghers settled for pizza and coffee. After the meeting, they returned to their usual gargling of chardonnay and pinot grigio, but they stayed sober until adjournment. Their complaints centered mostly on the overall cost of local government with calls for regionalization to reduce costs. They of course never dared touch the the sacred cows in town government: the police and fire/rescue departments. Those two departments have grrown like crazy over the last twenty years as retirees have poured into town . Those folks will spend anything to feel safe in their homes and within quick reach of medical care. In Texas, they buy lots of guns. In Massachusetts, they buy lots of cops and EMTs.

And that is what pulled this otherwise disparate group together: they were the retired wealthy of the community, and they no longer approve of the property taxes they pay on their large and lovely homes here. My town, half wealthy resort community, half fishing village, has a very low tax rate, but also has very high tax evaluations, which means the levy has been growing steadily. They are pissed at the cost of the school system, because they educated their kids elsewhere; at the cost of the regulatory agencies which protect the charm and beauty of their neighborhoods; at the cost of coastal resource protection, though it was the town's watersways and beaches that brought them here. But the unionized cops and firefighters and paramedics? Inviolate, despite enormous layouts in pay and overtime. Ask yourself, does a town with a year-round population of 6500 need a police force of 31 officers? Does it need 3 full time ambulances staffed 3 shifts a day? In summer, the population grows to 35,000 for ten weeks. We used to hire "rent-a-cops" to help out, but now the police chief, who wants his fiefdom to grow, not shrink, considers that "unprofessional."

I remember when the fire chief sold the town meeting on a third ambulance. He claimed we already had the vehicle and we only had to stock it with supplies so there would be a spare ambulance in case of break downs. And all the white and blue haired folks up front nodded and said aye.

So, town goernment should shrink, but let's make the cuts where they are needed. I fI have to lose my job as town landing officer (and I have) then a doughnut loving cop the size of the Michelin man could be cut back to part time, dontch think?