Letters To The Editor: Aug. 15, 2024

All Politics Is Local

Editor:

In his letter to the editor "Stick To Local Commentary," Jeff Palmer wrote: "My friendly advice is to stick to editorials on local matters where The Chronicle has strong knowledge and potential influence."

In response to that I offer this phrase that was popularized by the late, great Thomas P. (Tip) O'Neill Jr. (D-Mass.), who was the 47th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives: "All politics is local."

Mike Rice

S. Wellfleet

Employee Name Improperly Used

Editor:

I would like to express my surprise and disappointment over the lack of professionalism and journalistic integrity shown in your July 25 article titled "Port Violations Investigated" in which you name a 23-year-old college student by name as the person responsible for the alleged violations. The named employee is a bartender at The Port. He is not an owner. He is not a manager. He has no ability to grant permission or give authority to anyone to enter the premises after business hours. This young man's name should have been redacted by the Harwich Police Department and you should have known better than to put his name in print, as is the practice with the names of other witnesses. The Port, like many businesses, operates with a strict chain of command. In less than a minute, the named employee got a manager who spoke with Lt. Aram Goshgarian and promptly sent staff outside, by which time, Goshgarian acknowledged that the crowd had dissipated.

It should also be noted that the "crowd" of people in the area had not all been patrons of the Port but was comprised of patrons of several other establishments in the town walking towards the parking lots and waiting for rides. The Port is not required to have its security staff handle individuals exiting from those establishments, unaware of their condition. To do so could be detrimental to the safety of their employees. A time-stamped video will establish that there was no violation of the liquor license regulations at the Port on July 6 and that the Port manager, in fact, fully cooperated with Harwich Police within minutes of Lt. Goshgarian's request.

Judd Brackett

Harwich

Bridge St. Change A Good Move

Editor:

I was pleased to see that the Chatham Select Board has voted in favor of a reconsideration of the financing for the 90 Bridge St. project, and that they also voted to have that reconsideration occur at a special town meeting in September rather than wait eight months until the annual town meeting next May.

If constructed, 90 Bridge St. will be a multi-use facility, with a new shellfish upweller as its centerpiece. I will leave discussion of the other uses of the facility to others, and focus my letter on the upweller. The upweller is a critical piece of infrastructure supporting the shellfishing activities in Chatham. The current upweller is an old facility near the end of its life and is inadequate to meet the shellfish propagation needs of the town. It was unfortunate that, at the last town meeting, the 90 Bridge St. project was packaged in a warrant article with several other projects, creating an $11 million bond proposal that those at the annual meeting did not support. Reconsideration of 90 Bridge St., as a separate $4 million item, will allow voters to consider that project, and especially the upweller, separately. I believe it is more likely that they will support it on that basis.

Also, advancing the decision by eight months via a special town meeting will allow the project, which is already well underway, to proceed without interruption to completion. Given the precarious state of the existing upweller, this also seems like a judicious move.

If you are a shellfisher, friends with a shellfisher, a consumer of shellfish, or just a supporter of the shellfishing industry, I urge you to mark your calendar, attend the special town meeting on Sept. 16, and vote in favor of the bonding for the 90 Bridge St. project.

Stephen Lowe

West Chatham

Eagle Pond Appeal A Waste

Editor:

In your Aug. 8, issue I have juxtaposed page 1 “Eagle Pond Decision Rankles Harwich” with page 9 “Harwich Housing Costs Outpace Earning Capacity.” For the former, Housing Assistance Corporation’s mission and goal will feed into the latter. It is clear the Dover Amendment prevails on this matter. Instead of petty posturing, the select board should embrace this outstanding prospect for the future of our area. Seeking counsel is a waste of money. In your editorial “Housing Progress,” you mention walking the walk. I am hopeful. But this behavior of the board is at best petty and at worst discriminatory.

Chris Harris

Harwich

All Tingly Over Tingle Benefit

Editor:

Jimmy Tingle captured the crowd with his unique style of comedy and storytelling. He has the ability to add humor into his life’s events including life lessons. He performed to a full house at St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church July 27. The event raised over $10,000 to support CECH’s efforts to prevent homelessness in Chatham and surrounding communities on Cape Cod, from sponsor contributions, ticket sales and Fund-A-Need donations led by Jimmy at the end of the event. Our CECH members were deeply moved by the overwhelming support from the audience for CECH’s mission to help prevent homelessness in Chatham and its surrounding communities. It certainly was a wonderful night!

A big thank you to The Cape Cod Chronicle and all of our sponsors including Eastern Bank, Joan Aucoin, Cape Cod 5, Guthrie/Schofield Group, Got Stryper, Chatham Gardens, Chatham Village Market and Window Boxes on Main.

Erin Minichiello, president

Chatham Ecumenical Council Helping Prevent Homelessness

Legislature Deserves More Scrutiny

Editor:

Monthly $800 car payments on an Audi hybrid and a $2,900 charging station at home. A three-year tab of at least $6,000 at an upscale Boston restaurant where a wedge salad costs $23. Dinner tabs of $3,100 and $3,3700 at another high end Boston restaurant. An $1,800 purchase at a well known Boston wine store for "refreshments for late night working sessions." A three-year tab at a no-food cigar lounge where a cigar may set you back $85 and a pour of Remy Martin cognac goes for $480.

These are a few of the documented expenditures by some of our senior, rarely challenged for re-election, legislative leaders from political donations. Most have little need for lawn signs, TV ads and the other normal expenses of a re-election campaign. This is the legislature that has been in session for 19 months but required the usual overnight stay on the last day of the session, July 31, to pass some key bills and, shamefully, to fail to pass many others.

This is the Legislature found to be the least efficient in the 50 states by Fiscal Note, a global media company that analyzes governmental and business entities. This conclusion has been largely echoed by other analysts.

While the above expenditures do not involve taxpayer funds, they are no less scandalous. Even more outrageous, as often reported in the press, tens of thousands of taxpayer funds are routinely and without opposition funneled by these same senior lawmakers to pet projects in their districts, often of questionable value to large numbers of constituents.

It should be noted that not all legislators should be painted with the same broad brush and we should assume that they use donations and use earmarks appropriately. However, as citizens, taxpayers and voters, we deserve better. To that end, we should express our thoughts to our legislators and support the upcoming November ballot question permitting State Auditor DeZoglio to scrutinize the operations of what is clearly the longstanding culture on Beacon Hill.

Ralph W. Smith

Harwich Port

Story Needs Additional Information

Editor:

The Cape Cod Chronicle’s reporting of the Harwich Select Board meeting on our organization’s planned family shelter in Dennis (“Eagle Pond Decision Rankles Harwich; Legal Help To Explore Options,” Aug. 7) requires additional key facts, including that we have followed to the letter the standards that the town of Dennis has put in place for a project allowed for educational use under the Dover Amendment, and have gone far above and beyond what is required of us.

We participated in multiple planning board sessions where, sadly, we and the people we serve — Cape Codders just like us who suddenly find themselves without a home perhaps due to a no-fault eviction or due to domestic abuse — were disparaged. We also had productive talks with staff including law enforcement and public safety officials in both Dennis and Harwich. It simply is not accurate that we have not communicated with the towns.

Our project, which involves consolidating three family shelters into a single location and then turning the former family shelter sites into permanent housing for local workers, involves no exterior changes to the former nursing home building. The footprint remains exactly as it is today. The Cape Cod Commission has ruled by a wide margin that there is no regional impact. There will be far fewer auto trips than occurred during the previous nursing home use, with its many shift workers. Any children living at the shelter will not be attending schools in Harwich unless the family came from Harwich.

It is disheartening to see the lengths that Dennis officials, and now the town of Harwich — despite having no jurisdiction — have gone to block this project. Rather than talk of fighting this project and, literally, blocking off the road, elected officials in these towns and those they represent should be united in fighting for the rights of our community’s most disenfranchised members. Housing Assistance should not be standing alone.

Alisa Magnotta, Chief Executive Officer

Housing Assistance