This may be a bit too complicated for board members to understand but "conflict of interest" does not mean members must not have a view or opinion concerning a particular issue. Rather it means they should have no fiduciary or deeply prejudicial stake in an issue that would all but guarantee that a particular stance would be automatic. A clear, no let me rephrase that, a glaring example of this sort of obvious conflict would be the Italian fellow (sorry I can't recall his name) who works for Ocean Properties and yet continually serves on boards directly overseeing the often questionable - if not downright illegal - actions of his employer. My guess is were he to advance a single idea contrary to Ocean Properties best interests he'd find himself with a broom in his hand and a parking lot to clean up? In all honesty the thing that most disturbs me is that many Bar Harbor board members seem to have far too flexible opinions and are more likely to just hold up a wetted finger to determine from which direction the wind blows.
Carrie here's a screenshot of the emaiL Imreceived just so you know I haven't lost my mind...
Bar Harbor Story
Winston Shaw liked your comment on UPDATED: Bar Harbor Accidentally Broadcasts Private Session About Complaint Against Appeals Board Member.
This may be a bit too complicated for board members to understand but "conflict of interest" does not mean members must not have a view or opinion concerning a particular issue. Rather it means they should have no fiduciary or deeply prejudicial stake in an issue that would all but guarantee that a particular stance would be automatic. A clear, no let me rephrase that, a glaring example of this sort of obvious conflict would
Winston! I actually did just find that you have two free subscriptions! Hopefully, they are both you. Do you want to send me an email and we can figure this out? I don't want to blast your email out here for everyone to see.
Oh my gosh, Winston! I don't think so at all. In there it says "Winston Shaw liked your comment" so maybe you inadvertently liked your own comment? I can try to look through those to see when I get a second.
And there could be another Winston Shaw account out there, but they aren't subscribed here, so I wouldn't be able to track them down very effectively.
wondering the council is ONLY questioning MsRyan about her opinion and not every one of the officials who clearly have strong opinions, pro and con cruise ships in Bar Harbor.
It is ludicrous that Cara Ryan was regarded as too strong a cruise ship critic to be approved by Matt Hochman for the Appeals Board. After all, it was Matt Hochman who as a sitting Town Councilor, engaged in a highly vulgar industrial strength criticism of a local citizen, and suffered essentially no consequences.
Hypocrisy aside, BH’s Code of Ethics states if a member or someone else feels there is a conflict of interest compromising impartiality, the question can be raised, and the body’s membership can vote to recuse or not.
Cara Ryan took the most impartial path of all. She recused herself from a vote to avoid any appearance of partiality.
Most importantly, if Cara Ryan herself and the Appeal Board members ended up voting that she did not have a conflict of interest, and she voted, I would trust her to put aside her personal views, and follow the laws and rules that govern all Appeals Board decisions.
Bar Harbor should be thankful that caring and lawful citizens like Cara Ryan volunteer to serve the best interests of all in the community.
She is not serving to advance the bottom line of one of the largest hospitality corporations in BH. Thank you, Cara
In response to the post about not accepting cash for Park entrance fees: While I certainly don't condone the actions of Jason Langley and am appalled at the lack of civility that pervades society, evidenced by his behavior, I do have a question about Acadia National Park, a government entity, not accepting cash when printed on our government's money is the statement, "This bill is legal tender for all debts, public and private."
i just received an email reporting that "Winston Shaw" liked this. Unless there are more Winston Shaws in the area something is wrong here since I am indeed "Winston Shaw" and although I obviously agree with my postsI did not intentionally give a post I wrote a like... so please subtract one like😅
Winston, we can't unlike articles for other people. When I look at the likes on this article, I do not see your name. Maybe it's a comment rather than the article itself? Also, we do not have two Winston Shaws in our subscriber base.
This may be a bit too complicated for board members to understand but "conflict of interest" does not mean members must not have a view or opinion concerning a particular issue. Rather it means they should have no fiduciary or deeply prejudicial stake in an issue that would all but guarantee that a particular stance would be automatic. A clear, no let me rephrase that, a glaring example of this sort of obvious conflict would be the Italian fellow (sorry I can't recall his name) who works for Ocean Properties and yet continually serves on boards directly overseeing the often questionable - if not downright illegal - actions of his employer. My guess is were he to advance a single idea contrary to Ocean Properties best interests he'd find himself with a broom in his hand and a parking lot to clean up? In all honesty the thing that most disturbs me is that many Bar Harbor board members seem to have far too flexible opinions and are more likely to just hold up a wetted finger to determine from which direction the wind blows.
Winston, we can't unlike articles for other people. When I look at the likes on this article, I do not see your name.
Carrie here's a screenshot of the emaiL Imreceived just so you know I haven't lost my mind...
Bar Harbor Story
Winston Shaw liked your comment on UPDATED: Bar Harbor Accidentally Broadcasts Private Session About Complaint Against Appeals Board Member.
This may be a bit too complicated for board members to understand but "conflict of interest" does not mean members must not have a view or opinion concerning a particular issue. Rather it means they should have no fiduciary or deeply prejudicial stake in an issue that would all but guarantee that a particular stance would be automatic. A clear, no let me rephrase that, a glaring example of this sort of obvious conflict would
Winston! I actually did just find that you have two free subscriptions! Hopefully, they are both you. Do you want to send me an email and we can figure this out? I don't want to blast your email out here for everyone to see.
Oh my gosh, Winston! I don't think so at all. In there it says "Winston Shaw liked your comment" so maybe you inadvertently liked your own comment? I can try to look through those to see when I get a second.
And there could be another Winston Shaw account out there, but they aren't subscribed here, so I wouldn't be able to track them down very effectively.
wondering the council is ONLY questioning MsRyan about her opinion and not every one of the officials who clearly have strong opinions, pro and con cruise ships in Bar Harbor.
It is ludicrous that Cara Ryan was regarded as too strong a cruise ship critic to be approved by Matt Hochman for the Appeals Board. After all, it was Matt Hochman who as a sitting Town Councilor, engaged in a highly vulgar industrial strength criticism of a local citizen, and suffered essentially no consequences.
Hypocrisy aside, BH’s Code of Ethics states if a member or someone else feels there is a conflict of interest compromising impartiality, the question can be raised, and the body’s membership can vote to recuse or not.
Cara Ryan took the most impartial path of all. She recused herself from a vote to avoid any appearance of partiality.
Most importantly, if Cara Ryan herself and the Appeal Board members ended up voting that she did not have a conflict of interest, and she voted, I would trust her to put aside her personal views, and follow the laws and rules that govern all Appeals Board decisions.
Bar Harbor should be thankful that caring and lawful citizens like Cara Ryan volunteer to serve the best interests of all in the community.
She is not serving to advance the bottom line of one of the largest hospitality corporations in BH. Thank you, Cara
In response to the post about not accepting cash for Park entrance fees: While I certainly don't condone the actions of Jason Langley and am appalled at the lack of civility that pervades society, evidenced by his behavior, I do have a question about Acadia National Park, a government entity, not accepting cash when printed on our government's money is the statement, "This bill is legal tender for all debts, public and private."
PS When I selected reply to the appropriate post, I was taken to the post that bore no relationship to the one to which I wished to reply.
That's bizarre, Martha. I'll send in a message to Substack and see if they can figure out why.
Thank you, Carrie.
i just received an email reporting that "Winston Shaw" liked this. Unless there are more Winston Shaws in the area something is wrong here since I am indeed "Winston Shaw" and although I obviously agree with my postsI did not intentionally give a post I wrote a like... so please subtract one like😅
Winston, we can't unlike articles for other people. When I look at the likes on this article, I do not see your name. Maybe it's a comment rather than the article itself? Also, we do not have two Winston Shaws in our subscriber base.