Wait. Did I miss the part where Town Councilors castigated former Town Manager Sutherland and APPL for "tearing apart our community, refusing to solve our problems with dialogue and politics instead of litigation, costing money, and keeping town staff from focusing on other issues that are even more important to our community"?
Right. Never happened.
We used the power of the ballot box. And see where that got us with the Town Council.
After years of getting nowhere with cruise ship booster Town Councilors/Managers, Bar Harbor residents turned to a Citizens Initiative to propose a return to more balanced and sustainable cruise ship tourism numbers. Former Town Manager Sutherland and the Town Council used town funds to campaign against the Citizens Initiative. Nevertheless, the initiative got on the ballot and won support from the majority of voters. Then the Town Manager and Town Council refused to enforce the law and worked with opponents of the law to overturn it. Including colluding with opponents on a suit against the town. Enter AAPL by name. The Town Lawyer instructed by the Town Council worked with APPL to come to an agreement acceptable to opponents of the initiative. To show his sincerely sensible allegiance to APPL, the Town Manager also sensibly surreptitiously added many many ships to a previously approved schedule. Wicked Town Manager Sutherland. However, not too smart Town Manager Sutherland - got caught on tape telling APPL how to get around the Town Lawyer's strategy so they could get all of everything they wanted. Town voters be damned. Sensibly, the Town Council disappeared the Town Manager overnight to spend more time with his family. Sensibly with a platinum parachute of 6 months pay off and then some - a Non Disclosure Agreement and their word to let him double dip on unemployment insurance. Because it was mutually sensible that no one spilled the beans on where the bodies were buried. Are you with me so far? From documents submitted to the court, it became clear to the judge that the Town Council was neither sensibly nor sincerely defending the rights of Bar Harbor voters. And allowed an intervenor on behalf of the town to participate in the proceedings. Enter Charles Sidman by name. Despite the sensible best/worst efforts of the Town Councilors to give APPL a win, the judge decided the law was with the voters. Yikes!
How'd that happen? But the sensible Town Council decided the sensible thing to do was pretend *that* never happened and go ahead with the sensibly and surreptitiously packed schedule of cruise ship visits. In hopes APPL will win their appeal. And it would be back to cruise ship business as usual. And when someone says wait what, what the what, not so fast. The Town Council starts sharpening their knives and waggling their pitchforked tongues. Because in Bar Harbor, the one thing it is definitely not sensible to do is ... stand up for the constitutional rights of residents. It doesn't comport with our island ways.
Wait. Did I miss the part where Town Councilors castigated former Town Manager Sutherland and APPL for "tearing apart our community, refusing to solve our problems with dialogue and politics instead of litigation, costing money, and keeping town staff from focusing on other issues that are even more important to our community"?
Right. Never happened.
We used the power of the ballot box. And see where that got us with the Town Council.
After years of getting nowhere with cruise ship booster Town Councilors/Managers, Bar Harbor residents turned to a Citizens Initiative to propose a return to more balanced and sustainable cruise ship tourism numbers. Former Town Manager Sutherland and the Town Council used town funds to campaign against the Citizens Initiative. Nevertheless, the initiative got on the ballot and won support from the majority of voters. Then the Town Manager and Town Council refused to enforce the law and worked with opponents of the law to overturn it. Including colluding with opponents on a suit against the town. Enter AAPL by name. The Town Lawyer instructed by the Town Council worked with APPL to come to an agreement acceptable to opponents of the initiative. To show his sincerely sensible allegiance to APPL, the Town Manager also sensibly surreptitiously added many many ships to a previously approved schedule. Wicked Town Manager Sutherland. However, not too smart Town Manager Sutherland - got caught on tape telling APPL how to get around the Town Lawyer's strategy so they could get all of everything they wanted. Town voters be damned. Sensibly, the Town Council disappeared the Town Manager overnight to spend more time with his family. Sensibly with a platinum parachute of 6 months pay off and then some - a Non Disclosure Agreement and their word to let him double dip on unemployment insurance. Because it was mutually sensible that no one spilled the beans on where the bodies were buried. Are you with me so far? From documents submitted to the court, it became clear to the judge that the Town Council was neither sensibly nor sincerely defending the rights of Bar Harbor voters. And allowed an intervenor on behalf of the town to participate in the proceedings. Enter Charles Sidman by name. Despite the sensible best/worst efforts of the Town Councilors to give APPL a win, the judge decided the law was with the voters. Yikes!
How'd that happen? But the sensible Town Council decided the sensible thing to do was pretend *that* never happened and go ahead with the sensibly and surreptitiously packed schedule of cruise ship visits. In hopes APPL will win their appeal. And it would be back to cruise ship business as usual. And when someone says wait what, what the what, not so fast. The Town Council starts sharpening their knives and waggling their pitchforked tongues. Because in Bar Harbor, the one thing it is definitely not sensible to do is ... stand up for the constitutional rights of residents. It doesn't comport with our island ways.
Sit down John.
From the 1972 film 1776
https://youtu.be/DqAdlkJDt7k?si=L8HSILglAoE8ZbnK
Mystery Science Theatre 3000 riffs on Here Comes The Circus and all of the acts.
https://youtu.be/dYmcD5YPGR0?si=2qyqBfvPZThADFtj