Earl Brechlin
Two-year council candidate
Earl Brechlin
The Bio:
Earl Brechlin of Bar Harbor currently serves on the planning board in Bar Harbor. He has also served the town as a member of the Warrant Committee and the Conservation Commission.
A Registered Maine Guide, Brechlin is a former Maine Journalist of Year and is the author of eight books including adventure and hiking guides to Maine and Acadia National Park, and postcard history books about regions of Maine, Cape Cod, and New England. His latest book, “Wild! Weird! Wonderful! Maine!” celebrates the state’s unique history, geography, and cultural quirks.
He brought the history, magic, and beauty of Maine’s North Woods alive in his a book of evocative essays “Return to Moose River,” published by Down East Books in 2018. In 2019, the book won the John Cole Award for Maine-themed Non-fiction from the Maine Literary Awards.
After two stints as editor of the Bar Harbor Times, he was the founding editor of the Mount Desert Islander a weekly newspaper that repeatedly won first place for general excellence from the National, New England Press Association, and Maine Press Associations. He is the holder of more than 100 awards for news and featuring writing, and photography.
He was inducted into the Maine Press Association Hall of Fame in October of 2022.
Along with serving on the board and as President of the New England Press Association, Brechlin also was President of the Maine Press Association several different times.
An adjunct faculty member at College of the Atlantic for 17 years (Journalism), Brechlin worked as an editor, journalist and investigative reporter in Maine for more than 37 years.
For three years prior to retirement, he worked as Communications Director for Friends of Acadia. He is a former board member and instructor for the Acadia Senior College and is the recent past President of the Bar Harbor Historical Society where he currently serves on the board.
Along with volunteering doing trail work in Acadia National Park, Brechlin has also been a board member of the Island Housing Trust, the Bar Harbor Youth Hostel Committee, the MDI YMCA, the Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce, and the Trustees of the Bar Harbor Congregational Church. He also served on the board of incorporators for MDI Hospital, is a Past Master of the Bar Harbor Masonic Lodge, and served as scoutmaster for local Troop 89 for ten years.
He and his wife Roxie (Sawyer), a retired school teacher, live on the Eagle Lake Road.
THE QUESTIONS
Why do you think so many people are running this year?
Having a wide diversity of candidates is emblematic of a community where many citizens from all walks of life feel comfortable with offering to share their skills, knowledge, and life experiences with their neighbors. Bar Harbor faces many serious challenges and the more suggestions on the table on how to address them, the greater the likelihood of finding workable solutions.
Why are you running? How does your why for running delve into your bigger life purpose?
I have always been interested in serving the place I love and believe I can make positive contributions, informed by my deep understanding of the town’s history and culture and institutional knowledge of what has, or hasn’t, worked before.
How would you try to create more trust between people not on town boards/committees and those who are?
By reminding people of the incredible openness of the political process, encouraging their participation, and involvement, at all levels, from running for office, speaking at public meetings, and attending town meetings.
The last year or so the news has been full of cruise ships, short-term rentals, and affordable housing. This isn’t saying that those aren’t all tremendously important, but what are some of the things that we might not be focusing on as a town that needs to be focused on instead?
I believe all those issues, and others, are symptoms of a greater malady, namely the threat that over-commercialization, and the elevation of Bar Harbor as a commodity, poses to our sense of community and the ability of people of all income levels and backgrounds to be able to work and live here.
Do you have any ideas for increasing revenue to the town and alleviating the tax burden on property owners, ideas that don’t involve property taxes?
I requested that State Rep. Lynn Williams submit a bill in the legislature that removed the restriction on using municipal parking revenues for parking and street purposes only. I, along with Jill Goldthwait and others, testified during public hearings and the bill passed and was signed into law. Those dollars can now be used for any capital expense, such as school construction. With an estimated revenue of $3 million, even if only half that is allocated to the school in the future, it could lessen the potential debt service impact on taxes by half.
I also reached out to staff of a member of Maine’s Congressional delegation about the possibility of federal dollars, especially in light of the fact that 30 percent of our town’s land area is untaxed in Acadia National Park.
There’s a school bond on the ballot and a school that’s in dire need of repair. How have you educated yourself on the potential reconstruction of the school and what are your thoughts on how the council and school board can work together to lessen the tax implication for the residents?
Along with looking for other sources of revenue, I believe that once initial bids are received the contractors involved may be able to suggest common-sensical ways to lower costs without sacrificing educational mission or health and safety.
As a follow-up to that, how do you prioritize education for Bar Harbor students and in what way do you see that the school does or doesn’t fit into a future, healthy community?
Local schools in just about any Maine community are its heart and soul. Bar Harbor has always prioritized education and over succeeding generations that has meant sacrifice. The heavy lift people of our time are being asked to make is no different than when the current schools were built. While exploring ways to consolidate or share services and costs with other towns should also be a priority, no community benefits from hamstringing efforts to educate the next generation.
What skills do you bring to the table that you think other candidates might not bring?
Throughout my career as a reporter, I often had to interact with folks having a really bad day. I often dealt with folks who perceived our interactions as adversarial. But preventing that initial resistance from becoming confrontational is key. Being a champion of everyone having an opinion, and really listening to what people are saying, is paramount.
What’s a question that I should be asking you that I’m not asking?
Nothing I can think of.
What have you done for yourself that you’re the most proud of? What have you done for the community that you’re the most proud of?
What I’m most proud of is coming to Bar Harbor 47 years, falling in love with the place, and never leaving. Smartest thing I ever did. I think what I’m most proud of is my work with the excellent board, staff, members and donors of the Bar Harbor Historical Society to help acquire, create, and now operate a museum of appropriate stature and scope to tell the diverse stories of this incredible place and people.
Astronomer Carl Sagan once said that life is a way for the universe to know itself. Ultimately, that’s what has been done at LaRochelle Mansion and Museum.