UPDATED: APPLL Issues Statement Saying New Ordinance Will Likely Eliminate Cruise Ship Visits Altogether
More Court Documents Filed, Bar Harbor Chamber and APPLL Relationship Discussed
This story has been updated to include Charles Sidman’s reaction to the statement by APPLL.
BAR HARBOR—The Association to Protect and Preserve Livelihoods (APPLL) has released via its public relations consultant, a statement for immediate release about what it stands for.
The statement reads,
“APLL is an independent group of citizens and businesses who have come together to preserve and protect local livelihoods currently at risk from unfounded and unwarranted efforts to constrain a certain kind of tourism in Bar Harbor. Our objectives are today and have always been to foster collaboration among our members and the community to present a cohesive case advocating for a welcoming spirit toward visitors no matter who they are or how they arrive.
“The recent citizen’s initiated ordinance imposes a limit on cruise ship “persons” disembarking to Bar Harbor at 1,000 persons per day cumulatively, every day of the year. The practical effect of the limit is to bar cruise ships altogether and to create a de facto ban of visits by cruise ship passengers and crew coming to Bar Harbor at all.
“The ordinance has created what we believe to be an unconstitutional and unwarranted law that will effectively destroy an important source of municipal and business revenue by creating a bar to passengers and crew being able to disembark at Bar Harbor from ocean vessels.
“Cruise tourism contributes significantly to municipal revenue and serves as vital shoulder season support for the local economy. We take our stand out of economic necessity for our members, our town, and our state (all of which could lose tens of millions of dollars every year should this ordinance ever be enforced and the Bar Harbor cruise business be destroyed). We also will keep a critical focus on and persist in efforts to advance facts against ill-conceived, subjective, and arbitrary measures that seek to eliminate what we believe to be desirable and legal visitation.
“APPLL and its members have always been in favor of sensible voluntary caps and as such have urged collaborative efforts to support visitation into the spring and fall shoulder seasons while reducing seaborne visitation during our already busy summer season. We have witnessed the effect of the voluntary caps since 2008 and further adjusted by the town under the Memoranda of Agreement (MOAs) in 2022.
“It is crucial for all of us to rely on thorough research supported by empirical evidence (including, for example, multiple economic and pedestrian impact studies published by Dr. Todd Gabe of the University of Maine) and to disseminate accurate information about any other impacts of ocean-based tourism such as air and water quality studies (demonstrating the lack of impact on local resources). Good and verifiable information provides a sound foundation for a good, open, and data-driven public process.
“There is no verified support for the severe daily per person limits imposed by the initiated ordinance. There is also no data-driven support for the claims in the “Purposes” section of the initiative relating to public health and safety claims presented to the Town in March 2022. Most importantly, the initiative and the resulting town ordinance restricts visits by cruise ships to 1,000 persons per day (whether passengers or crew) that would apply every day of the year. It does so without regard to the level or intensity of land-based transportation (which all acknowledge is up to 90% of the visits to Bar Harbor each year) and without any realistic plan to address land-based visitation. Instead, it discriminates against only cruise ship visitation.
“The drastic effect of the ordinance on cruise ship visits to Bar Harbor (as published by Cruise Maine and the Town of Bar Harbor in September 2022) has been supported by evidence that the 1,000-person daily limit will eliminate 95% of cruise ship visitors coming into Bar Harbor. The truth is that it is simply not possible for the vast majority of cruise lines to include Bar Harbor on their itineraries if they cannot offer an opportunity for all passengers and staff to disembark. The ordinance will likely therefore eliminate cruise ship visitation into Bar Harbor altogether.
“Instead of this arbitrary and inflexible 1000-person limit being applied every day of the year, APPLL supports and agrees with the use of voluntary caps that are the products of collaborative, inclusive, and open public discussions. Those have been in place since 2008 in order to maintain a healthy and balanced level of cruise ship visitation. APPLL does not endorse unbridled or unlimited visitation by visitors regardless of mode of transportation nor do we support everyone visiting all at once.
“In that regard, during the 2023 season, APPLL respects that the Town is relying on the caps in place. All visitors and the businesses and residents of Bar Harbor benefit from balanced and common-sense levels of visitation especially during the crucial shoulder seasons. APPLL and its members stand ready to work with the Town and its residents to address balanced cruise ship visitation that will support our member businesses and employees consistent with Bar Harbor’s tradition of open and welcoming hospitality.
“Signed by APPLL Board Members: Kristi Bond, Shawn Porter, Tom Testa, Heather Davis, and Eben Salvatore”
The Bar Harbor Story has reached out to the town’s representatives for a response. Interim Town Manager Sarah Gilbert said that the town can’t comment at this time. Sidman has not yet responded, if he does we’ll update the story. We had a short turnaround for comment. The update is below.
Charles Sidman said in reaction to the statement,
The false propaganda and inaccurate statements above, written by a no-doubt expensive public relations firm and worthy of Vladimir Putin’s pronouncements on the necessity of Russia invading Ukraine, is telling in the extreme. Not only does it denigrate the judgment and character of the majority of Bar Harbor’s citizens who want and have voted a vision for their town other than to be the exploited cash cow of a narrow set of businesses local and otherwise, it denies their right to do so according to their own judgment and experience without faux-science studies acceptable to the beneficiary businesses. Further, depending on the manifest non-good will of the exploiters to reach voluntary agreements and acceptable compromises has proven inadequate, bringing us to the present day of direct citizen initiative and self-governance. Finally, following the money always leads to the major actors and motivations.
As closing commentary from an immunologist, I would like to briefly describe cancer, a subject I studied extensively for many years at the Jackson Laboratory and other top scientific institutions local and worldwide. First, cancer cells care only about their own growth and well being, usually at the expense of the host that they eventually kill. Second, tumor cells try to evade detection and control by mimicking and camouflaging themselves as and among normal body cells. Third, highly promising new modes of treatment called immunotherapy function by revealing these cancer cells as the foreign threats that they are, so that the body’s own defenses can then recognize and reject the invaders. The analogy between cancer and APPLL’s membership and behavior should be evident to all.
FEDERAL CASE UPDATES
Since May, there have been numerous documents filed in APPLL’s federal lawsuit against the town’s cruise ship caps, which limit disembarkations by passengers to 1,000 or less each day. That citizens’ referendum was led by Charles Sidman and passed 1,780 to 1,273. Sidman was granted defender intervenor status in the suit. APPLL has also been joined by other businesses that work with cruise ships such as B.H. Piers, L.L.C.; Golden Anchor L.C.; B.H.W.W., L.L.C.; Delray Explorer Hull 495 LLC; Delray Explorer Hull 493 LLC; and Acadia Explorer 492, LLC. It was also joined by the associations of Maine pilots who bring in the ships. The suit was filed in late December, 2022. An early case summary is here.
The case is scheduled to go to trial this summer. The current 2023 schedule is unchanged. Several of the recent filings include requests for confidentiality, motions to extend time, and witness lists as well as objections. Some of those filings are below.
CHAMBER AND APPLL
The Bar Harbor Chamber and APPLL have inspired news stories after the Chamber’s board recently voted to join APPLL, but not support its lawsuit against the town of Bar Harbor over cruise ship disembarkation limits, which create fines if more than 1,000 persons disembark a cruise ship each day. That lawsuit is ongoing with an anticipated decision this summer.
According to the Chamber’s Executive Director Everal Eaton, “APPLL joined the Bar Harbor Chamber as a member in March and approached the Chamber early in the year about joining them when they first inquired about membership. The vote happened during our April board meeting at the end of April, after several months of discussion among the board. We had all but one board member in attendance at the meeting. During the meeting, we had seven votes in favor, one vote opposed, and one recusal. The board member who was unable to attend, asked to be added to the record as voting opposed as they would have voted opposed had they been able to attend in person.”
It has been reported in both the Quietside Journal and the Mount Desert Islander that the Chamber wanted to join APPLL but not be linked to the lawsuit against the town. Eaton confirmed that was the Chamber board’s wish.
“When we joined APPLL, we communicated to APPLL that we were joining in support of the Bar Harbor Welcomes All campaign and made it clear that we were not to be linked to the lawsuit in any way. We support the town returning to the MOA that was accepted in August before the referendum and that we are currently seeing in action right now. We believe that it gives the town the flexibility to adjust the numbers to find the right balance between the needs of the businesses and the needs of the community. Part of our mission statement is providing exceptional service to visitors, and we realize that finding the right balance is crucial to achieving our mission there. Overcrowding and unsustainable tourism does not create a good experience for all parties involved. On the flip side, the referendum does not give the town the flexibility to adjust as needs change. With all of that in consideration, we felt that the best role we could play is that of convener – being able to bring both sides to the table and try to find a compromise that allows all to walk away happy. Because APPLL is a relatively new organization and we acknowledge that it is a divisive issue, our board is analyzing our membership with APPLL on a quarterly basis to ensure that the Chamber is not being used to support the lawsuit against the town,” he said.
The MOAs are memorandums of agreement that the Town of Bar Harbor entered into with each cruise line that visited the town. That system would be displaced if the town and lead petitioner and council candidate Charles Sidman wins the lawsuit. Then, the changes outlined in the citizens’ petition would come into effect.
It is not the Chamber’s first foray into subjects that are political. In December, the Chamber organized a lobster buoy tree to raise money to support lobstermen. The group also hosts business roundtables and other events about potential hot-button topics.
Eaton also stressed that there is a diversity of views held by Chamber members and their politics and needs.
“That is a point that we came back to at the board table,” he said about making the decision to join APPLL. “We know that we have members with a wide range of perspectives on this issue, as well as others facing the business community, and we wanted to make sure that those perspectives were taken into consideration. It is the reason that we felt that the Bar Harbor Welcomes All campaign was something worth supporting and a point where all our members could get behind.”
According to Eaton, the Chamber board decided to join APPLL because of the Chamber’s own mission statement.
“I want to start off by saying that we know that cruise ships are a polarizing topic within the town and our board acknowledged that within our membership, we have varying degrees of perspectives of what is the best approach forward. Our board did spend several months discussing APPLL,” he said. “We came back to our mission statement: The purpose of the Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce shall be to promote the business interests and general welfare of the town of Bar Harbor, Hancock County, and surrounding areas while providing exceptional service to visitors. In light of that, we felt that the Bar Harbor Welcomes All campaign was something that fit our mission and that we could not afford to not support it as an organization representing the businesses in town.”
APPLL and 12 other nonprofits are listed as Chamber members. Those include Island Connections, Friends of Acadia, Acadia Repertory Theatre, Bar Harbor (MDI) Rotary Club, Eastport Area Chamber of Commerce, Maine Seacoast Mission, Open Table MDI, Downeast Horizons, Island Housing Trust, ArtWaves, The Summit Project, and Healthy Acadia.
According to Eaton,
“We are members of several membership organizations that tie into our organization’s professional development or represent the industries that make up our town. Typically, we do not make announcements when we join these organizations, but they do allow us to stay on top of issues that will affect our members in one way or another or allow us to better serve our members and meet our mission. Some examples of these include the Maine Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (MACCE), Maine State Chamber of Commerce, Hospitality Maine, Maine Tourism Association, and DownEast Acadia Regional Tourism (DART) to name a few.”
The Chamber has a history of supporting causes and taking stands on issues like the support for the lobstering industry at the end of 2022.
“The Chamber is a 501(c)(6) organization like other chambers of commerce and associations. That does allow us to take stances on issues affecting our membership that is in line with our mission. It is probably no surprise to anyone that we live in an increasingly politically fragmented society that often leads to a with-me-or-against-me mentality in much of our public discourse,” Eaton said Wednesday. “When it comes to issues, the Chamber has the opportunity to function as the bridge between government, businesses, and citizens. Through that, our place is trying to find the ‘sane middle’ in many of these discussions. This takes many forms with events such as the roundtable we had this morning that provided information on the Paid Family and Medical Leave Benefits Program that is being currently discussed in Augusta to writing letters against aquafarming in the area that we took last year due to the environmental impacts it would have had on the local fisheries to rapidly updating our members as new information and policies came out to protect our community against the COVID-19 virus.”
Bond said,
“We are thankful that the Chamber understands the importance of getting the message out that Bar Harbor Welcomes All! We are looking forward to working together collaboratively to spread that message to everyone that lives in Bar Harbor, works in Bar Harbor, visits Bar Harbor or contemplates planning a trip to our great State in the future. Regardless of the means of transportation, we want the world to know, we welcome all.
“We at APPLL are excited to continue our work after a successful kick-off of our campaign on May 4. Coming up, we look forward to sponsoring Bar Harbor Pride and also taking part in the Independence day festivities. We continue to support communications and the litigation to preserve and protect local livelihoods
“APPLL supports and agrees with the use of voluntary caps that are the products of collaborative and inclusive public discussions as the Town has done since 2008 in order to maintain a healthy and balanced level of cruise ship visitation. APPLL has never endorsed unbridled or unlimited visitation by visitors regardless of mode of transportation nor do we support everyone visiting all at once.
“In that regard, during the 2023 season, APPLL respects that the Town is relying on the caps in place. All visitors and residents of Bar Harbor benefit from balanced and common-sense levels of visitation.
“However, with any future enforcement of the Ordinance, the complete cancellation of cruise ship visitation will harm many many APPLL members, Chamber members, and Bar Harbor residents.
“APPLL as a full association has, in part, supported the lawsuit, but it has also uniquely expended efforts and its resources to communicate, including the Bar Harbor Welcomes All effort. As verified by cruise ship visitors, the overall crew and passenger experience is enhanced if we welcome all. The standard membership contribution of $250 for any single member (membership info available at APPLL.ME) could not begin to cover litigation. Together, with all of the members in the Association, we are stronger.”
Another aspect of the news story is that Chamber President Bo Jennings is running for a three-year council seat.
“If elected to the Town Council, I would step down from the Chamber Board, immediately. While many have stated they thought I could do both and be impartial, perception is reality. Stepping down from the Chamber Board would be appropriate to remove an appearance of a conflict of interest. The Town Council has too much work to do to be constantly discussing/debating COIs. Removing that appearance of conflict will allow me to better serve all residents of Bar Harbor,” Jennings said last Wednesday.
Other Chamber members, such as John Bench, Salvatore, and Heather Sorokin have served on school or municipal boards and committees in their respective communities.
The Chamber’s board consists of: President Bo Jennings (Side Street Café), First Vice President John Bench (Cool as a Moose), Second Vice President Todd Graham (Acadia Corporation), Secretary Stephanie Clement (Friends of Acadia), Treasurer Brenda Fernald (First National Bank) and members, James Allen (Lulu Lobster Boat Ride), Victoria Conner (My Darling Maine Island Boutique), Eben Salvatore (Ocean Properties), Heather Sorokin, and Lauren Tucker (Acadia Bike Rentals).
LINKS TO LEARN MORE
https://www.visitbarharbor.com/staff-board-of-directors
Disclosure: About a decade ago, my daughter had a summer job with the Bar Harbor Chamber. Last year, I was the recipient of its President’s Award for the creation of the Bar Harbor Story and Bar Harbor Kids Book Festival, Park Street Playground reconstruction, and other community work, and for my work with national nonprofits and service agencies such as We Need Diverse Books, ShelterBox, and Rotary International.
Second disclosure: While looking at the witness lists, it appears that I, as well as the editor of the Mount Desert Islander and founder of the Quietside Journal are on one witness list sent by Sidman’s attorneys. I have not been contacted by any attorneys about this, but if feels like I should tell you all.
Ha! I have witnessed the shopping bags carried by over 20,000 passengers. Only 1 in 5 on average buy an inexpensive souvenir costing 50.00 or less. Appll and the Chamber claim 10’s of millions pour in yearly. That is totally dishonest. The net profit from 1 in 5 carrying a 50 dollar souvenir is only at most 250,000 per year. And not much more than 470,000 in net profit to the whole state of Maine.
Extraordinary investigative reporting. Essential reading. ThankYou.
Worth the slog to see how APPL operates.
Short version: specious rhetoric and scare tactics, hyperbole and distortions.
But very important to read to see through APPLs rhetoric and tactics. And to get a sense of the law.