Letters From Our Readers

Kay Rand and Jon Nicholson; Bo Jennings

Oct 16, 2024

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VOTE YES ON FOUR

As an island town, Bar Harbor is unique. There’s one road in and one road out. Our place is beautiful, but with limited room for growth the economy relies on tourism and the small businesses that support it. People come to our island from near and far to experience our beautiful vistas, travel our carriage roads, and sample our local cuisine.

They come by air, car, bus and ship. But no matter how they arrive, each is important since their patronage contributes directly to our ability to live here year round. Their visits support a local economy whose success pays for an expanded MDI Hospital, a fully serviced YMCA and an expanded Jesup Library and to help defray the costs of a new school. We rely on a healthy business community to subsidize the restoration of the Shore Path and Glen Mary Park and to help sustain our non-profit institutions. Revenue from tourism supports vital community resources like police and fire protection and contributes to the repair and maintenance of waterfront infrastructure.

In 2022, a small group initiated a purely local ordinance to drastically curtail national and international cruise tourism by prohibiting almost 90 percent of the daily number of guests and cruise staff who have historically come ashore. Their efforts ultimately led to an unwieldy and expensive town ordinance that, if left unaltered, will almost certainly kill our fall cruise season.

We know ships won’t choose Bar Harbor if their passengers and crew can’t come ashore.

Bar Harbor’s current ordinance effectively bans cruise ships altogether since most ships carry more than 1,000 passengers, the daily limit imposed by the current ordinance. This ban threatens our local economy and way of life. We must find a better way to support sustainable tourism.

Thankfully, over the last several months, the town worked hard with businesses and the cruise lines to reach a middle-ground solution all agreed to, which will preserve the cruise season while putting significant caps on disembarkation, adding cruise-free days and injecting predictability and stability into our important fall season.

There’s no doubt that cruise passengers contribute to pedestrian congestion, mainly in the fall. By contrast, during the high summer season, thousands of visitors arriving by car fill our roads, parking spaces and sidewalks as they settle in to enjoy eating, shopping and sightseeing. In the few months of the year when our town becomes a top cruise port, we welcome global visitors who stroll our streets but leave their cars at home. We have the infrastructure and expertise to handle cruise tourism.

By approving ballot measure 4, the voters of Bar Harbor can stand up for a balanced solution to tourism management, while ending unplanned and unpredictable expenses the town has and likely will continue to incur. While some residents wanted to force out cruise tourism, many others in our community believe it’s time to stop fighting and move on. This is a thoughtful ordinance our island community needs. Please join us in voting YES on 4 for a balanced solution to cruise tourism in Bar Harbor.

Kay Rand and Jon Nicholson are co-chairs of Vote Yes on 4 Committee.

MUSIC HARBOR IS TO GIVE LOCALS AN EXPERIENCE

As covered by the Bar Harbor Story and Mount Desert Islander, this weekend is the first ever live music festival called Music Harbor. On October 19 and 20 (Saturday and Sunday), there will be live music from noon to midnight! Six different venues across Bar Harbor, all with their own line up and hours of music, will feature over 60 hours of live music.

Marathon weekend brings in a lot of out-of-town visitors, and we look forward to seeing them, and of course all are welcome to any of the festivities. But Music Harbor was created, first and foremost, to give the locals something to do. You can walk from venue to venue to see the variety of acts, try the discounted drinks, and of course you have to check out our custom Music Harbor Lager by Baxter Brewing.

I know right now there is plenty that divides our community. However, Music Harbor is a place where everyone can come together and enjoy some of the most talented musicians from the island and around Maine. Debates at Music Harbor will be focused on "Wagon Wheel” vs “Sweet Caroline" Instead of "Yes or No on 4."

You can find each venue's hours of music, along with its lineup, at https://www.sidestreetbarharbor.com/musicharbor

Arrive early, stay late, and enjoy all of the amazing music!

Remember, on October 19 and 20, we are not a community divided - we are Music Harbor!

Bo Jennings is the founder of Music Harbor and director of operations at Side Street Cafe and The Annex.

CORRECTION: Though the original letter reads (Friday and Saturday), the music festival is actually on Saturday and Sunday. Many thanks to our reader who pointed it out. We have now edited the letter to reflect that.

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