Dear Mr. Chaousis and members of the Rockland City Council,

I know your job is very difficult. Not only do you have a city to run, but folks like me get up in arms on occasion and try to second-guess your decisions. Sometimes we get irate and noisy and I imagine it's hard to listen deeply to the wisdom of your constituents amid the noise and accusation. In spite of the challenges of your office, however, you must listen to us and recognize that, as former Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives Joseph Mayo once told me, for every letter or phone call a public official receives there are hundreds of citizens who agree but do not speak.

Rockland provides important services to its citizens and to thousands of others who live nearby or visit form far away. It is easy to focus on the ambulances and police cars whose sirens punctuate our lives, but of equal importance are the institutions that create peace and well being and offer quality of life to those of us who are not involved in accidents, criminal activities and medical emergencies.

Two such institutions are the Harbor and Waterfront Department and the Rockland Public Library. These agencies offer services that enhance life and support healthy community growth. I cannot count the number of times I have met a newcomer to our city in one of these places.

Here, they learn why we love our community, and it is from this starting point that engaged and active citizens come.

Under Director Amy Levine, the Library provides a quiet place for those in our community who do not have a safe home. It offers resources far beyond the visible assets of books, computers and videos. Parents who are not confident readers bring their children here to learn the skills they lack. Citizens who cannot afford home computers and Internet service come to access a world that often forgets their needs. The Rockland Public Library houses our history and our future.

The people who work at the Library have studied hard and continue to devote much of their time to learning the best ways to access and share information in a rapidly changing society. I am surprised to hear that you are considering reducing the hours, not just of the facility, but of those who serve its mission. Do you really expect these highly-trained professionals to live on the wages of a 25-hour work week? What other work should they take on to supplement this loss?

As for the Harbormaster's office, anyone who has been active on the Rockland waterfront for more than a decade knows how much Harbormaster Ed Glaser has done for our city. What was once uninviting is now one of the most active and visited harbors in Maine, with a global reputation for hospitality and services.

Shlomit Auciello lives in Rockland