I am grateful to the Rockland City Council for donating $14,000 to the Lobster Festival Corporation on my behalf. Okay, not the whole $14,000, but my $1.92 portion of it as one of 7,291 or so residents who, by virtue of the power invested in the Council, agreed to waive the Harbor Park usage fees and donate $14,000 to that Corporation.

Sure, I read somewhere that Linda Bean is sponsoring the entire Maine Lobster Festival, and there are many other significant sponsors, and that $14,000 resident contribution must pale in comparison, but in some small way it rather elevates Rockland residents to sponsorship status, something many of us never thought possible. And, it's just $1.92; although the multiples add up, (as any public radio station will attest), and, in this case, the City Council has matched that $1.92 by more than 7,000. And, as Lobster Festival Corporation representative made very clear to the Council, the waiver of Rockland's park usage fees is what enables the Festival Corporation to apply that money to regional projects.

And, while I was pretty sure that Rockland's budgetary carcass was down to the wishbone, there must be other monies available for, say, the new Public Works garage, or to restore diminished services, reinstate laid-off staff, for road repair, or for emergency heating assistance, and it would be presumptuous of me to think that my $1.92 might well be applied to those needs, rather than in support of the Lobster Festival Corporation's benevolence. It's true that some city councils, like that in Huntsville, Ala., make charitable donations with "leftover tax money," but Rockland is a much smaller town.

Surely, the Rockland City Council does not view itself as a charitable foundation, and would not disperse resident taxes without return, and I, and other residents, can rest easily that the Council's decision is in the best interest of the Rockland community.

Maggie Trout lives in Rockland.