Editor:

I read your report in the Oct. 17 issue of The Chronicle regarding the "No King Protest." I studied photos of the participants' faces. To me, they mostly appear to be a collection of aging 1960 hippies (of whom I was one) having a fun afternoon but not completely understanding the purpose of the event. Candidly, I was unable to comprehend exactly who or why they were protesting. Is Trump claiming to be the king of the U.S.? That is about as likely as me, at 84, becoming an astronaut. It reflects no faith in a nation that's been around for 250 years, endured and survived some pretty poor leaders. Octogenarians and pre-Social Security recipients in a public brawl? In a church yard? My, my, what an event! What fun! So here is my request to the "No King" protesters: write The Chronicle a short letter explaining what Trump and/or his government officers have personally done to harm you. Please, no generalized "Save the World Stuff." Have your taxes increased? Have you been arrested by the FBI or ICE? Have your retirement benefits been cut or eliminated? Has your IRA or 401(k) dropped in value due to market conditions? Do you feel threatened by criminals or foreign soldiers? Are you out of food and hungry? No gasoline for your auto? Denied medical care? Please be specific!

Campsese Banker
Orleans

Editor:

This Thanksgiving we can be especially grateful for living in a community that takes care of each other and takes care of the earth. Thanks to all who have participated in the food scrap collection program at the Harwich Transfer Station, we have diverted over 32 tons of food scraps from the waste stream in the first year. Instead of being incinerated and releasing toxic chemicals and heavy metals into the air, it is being composted. It’s then returned to the soil, increasing soil’s resilience and ability to trap carbon. Win-win!

After your turkey and trimmings and Aunt Cynthia’s pecan pie, scrape all the food into a bucket and head to the transfer station. Look for Black Earth’s large green bins near the garbage drop off. Bones, meat, veggies, dairy and food soiled napkins can all go in. Compostable bags can be used but aren’t necessary. Please don’t throw in regular plastic bags. For a complete list of what’s accepted, go to www.harwichhighway.com. 

Residents who would like a curbside pick-up of food scraps, can sign up at blackearthcompost.com/composting-in/harwich/. When they have 100 Harwich residents interested in this program, Black Earth will provide it. It costs approximately $180 per year.

Our momentum continues as Harwich Elementary School students begin their cafeteria composting. We can look to our youth to model good citizenship. Having schools, community organizations, retailers and restaurants all participating would be a healthy symbol of sustainability for Harwich. We will be part of the solution. Pat yourself on the back if you are already food composting and if not, gobble, gobble, now’s the time! Please join us and have a happy, eco-friendly Thanksgiving.

Diane DiGennaro
Garden Club of Harwich

Editor:

I moved to Orleans in 2001 and raised my three daughters here. They went through the Nauset schools. Two are recent college graduates and one is well on her way. When they were growing up, Halloween was an event. Hundreds of children running from door to door in our neighborhood. It was a blast. Today, many of those families that opened their doors to trick-or-treaters have moved on. And the children? They have moved off-Cape. Not because they want to, but because they have no way to see themselves living here without housing options.

For me, Halloween is an indicator of generational renewal and community vibrancy. When young families and our youth feel safe to play outside and go door to door, that is the sign of human-scale development and good community design. For me that is the barometer by which we should be measuring the success of housing policy and affordability.

The median home price in Orleans exceeded $1.2 million in 2024. Only well-off retirees or those who leveraged a home in a different market can afford to live here. The fact is we have seen a precipitous drop in younger residents, and with them, school children. Today we only have 175 children enrolled in Orleans Elementary School; that is half the number that it had at its peak. 

In order to reverse this trajectory, we need courage, commitment, and community — three ingredients in solving the housing crisis. It takes courage to express how we can grow responsibly; it takes commitment from local leaders and residents to put action behind policy; and it takes a community willing to recognize that housing is the foundation of a thriving town.

The economics of our housing market and our single-family zoning in residential neighborhoods favor second homeowners and high-net-worth retirees. To change the trajectory, we need a district where starter homes and year-round rentals are prioritized. The proposed Downtown Housing Overlay District on the upcoming Orleans special town meeting warrant does just that.

The proposal maintains the character of our neighborhoods by concentrating on new housing in a commercial, walkable area that is served by sewer infrastructure. It allows the development of mixed-use buildings with homes above shops and small businesses. This is a winning and pragmatic approach that addresses our housing needs, fits within the look and feel of our commercial district, uses land that is already developed, supports local businesses, and brings year-round life to downtown.

The overlay district proposal (Article 2) will provide critical new housing for year-round residents and help protect our way of life and traditions on the Cape. I firmly support this proposal to save the locals.

Alisa Magnotta
Orleans
The writer is chief executive officer of Housing Assistance.

Editor:

Chatham needs to have more influence over the direction of airport development. Commonwealth laws have built a strong fence around the airport commission which protects it from control by the very town that owns the airport. But there is no stipulation that an airport commission must ignore the wishes of the owners. We need an airport commission that is as responsive to the non-aviation public as it is to the pilot community. 

A lot of people want the airport to be what it used to be, maybe 10 or more years ago. A lot of people don’t want expansion of any kind; not more trees cut, not more airport control of the surrounding land, not more aircraft landings and takeoffs, not more fuel storage, not larger aircraft, not louder aircraft, not more low-altitude approaches. 

When the airport commission prepared its 20-year master plan for airport development, it could have sought input from the community by appointing a citizen advisory committee. They refused. Chatham needs to take a fresh look at what the community wants in its airport.

The commission’s master plan for airport development is simply incompatible with the town’s long range plans for West Chatham and other neighborhoods. I suggest a one-year moratorium on airport development, starting with its plans this winter for removal of trees, pending completion of a study to integrate and balance the needs of the airport and the broader needs of the community. This is long overdue. 

David Bixby
West Chatham

Editor:

Kwaku Ofori spoke of his experience finding housing in South Yarmouth. He was hired by the Community Development Partnership with credentials that included an MBA. Hearing that he was asked whether he was "Christian or Muslim" and subsequently told by the landlord that "My experience with Black tenants in Chicago hasn't been good" brought back ugly experiences from 1969 when I tried to find housing in Northern Virginia when I was caring for a Black student. How I wish these experiences were history! I cannot fathom that we are still so uneducated. 

Karen McPherson
Chatham

Editor:

These days, the world can seem so tumultuous that it can be hard to keep one’s balance:

 Thousands are starving in Gaza and Sudan; drones are destroying homes and hopes in Ukraine; people here at home are facing hunger, threats to their health care, and fear of being seized by masked men purporting to be from ICE. I have been looking for ways to reconnect to the center and have several suggestions. Put on a warm coat and walk along the beach, watching the light glitter on the water; put up a bird feeder and sit in a cozy chair to watch the birds who come to visit; and attend a Quaker meeting on a Sunday morning. 

 Quakers are seekers, believing in the presence of the divine in every living person and thus in peace and simplicity. Quaker meetings have no priests or altars or stained-glass windows or prayer books or hymns. Generally in the Cape meetings, folk gather in a very old building with ancient glass in the windows and gas fires burning in the fireplaces and just sit for an hour, often in total silence, giving each person there a chance to listen to what speaks in the heart. Occasionally someone will share aloud what comes. Often not a word is spoken, but the quiet settles into the mind and body to pour oil on troubled waters. Others struggling with today’s world may attend a more programmed church or synagogue with old familiar hymns and prayers. But an hour of sitting and waiting on a Sunday morning may bring calm where it is most needed.

Alice Kelley
Harwich

Editor:

As Donald Trump entertains Viktor Orban at what is left of the White House, I would like to make a couple of observations.

There is no question that Trump admires Orban and Putin for the control they wield. I submit that Trump is using the government shutdown to provoke rioting so he can declare martial law which he desperately craves!

This action plays directly into Russell Voigt’s Project 2025 plan!

Linda Dunne
Chatham

Editor:

As a longtime county, state and organized prosecutor, and now retired federal judge, I claim some knowledge and experience in criminal law.

Moreover, as a retired Navy aviation captain and human being, I am horrified by the continuing airstrikes on alleged narcotic-carrying small boats off the coasts of Venezuela and South America. As of Oct. 28, 13 small boats with at least 57 crew members have been summarily destroyed at the direction of Donald Trump as carried out by his grossly unqualified and unhousebroken lapdog, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Only Congress has the power to declare war which, had it done so, might have legally justified these attacks. Instead, Dictator Donald has personally determined that lethal force is appropriate to stop what he calls narco terrorists. Never mind that he has not produced to Congress nor to the public evidence that these boats were carrying narcotics and bound for the United States. Rather than routinely ordering seizure of these boats and determining whether or not they were carrying drugs or were merely fishing, he has ordered the extrajudicial execution of these crewmembers. 

In my opinion, and in that of most better-informed legal experts, both Trump and Hegseth are guilty of murder in violation of the international law of the sea, the laws of war, the Geneva Convention and every other domestic law, and should be held accountable for their war crimes. Their action is essentially no different from the AK-47 shooter at a homecoming party, church or bowling alley. As is so often stated, and it applies here, no one is above the law, no matter how important they believe themselves to be.

Ralph Smith
Harwich Port

Editor:

At the upcoming Nov. 17 Orleans Special Town Meeting, voters can help Orleans take an important step toward becoming a Climate Leader Community. This designation sets up the town to receive grants of up to $1 million to support energy efficiency measures. The Orleans Climate Action Network urges you to vote yes on Article 3 to support the specialized energy code. 

The Code incentivizes but does not mandate using electric power for all new municipal, commercial and residential construction. These buildings can have mixed-fuels (gas/oil) as long as they have solar or passive house offsets. They will also be wired for new or future electric energy use. 

All other aspects of the existing stretch code standards remain unchanged. To be clear, the specialized energy code applies only to ground-up new construction. There is no impact on existing homes.

Most residents retain the power to fully make their own energy choices. The Orleans Climate Action Network encourages you to make your home energy efficient. As seaside residents, we can see first-hand the impacts of climate change. Doing our collective parts to reduce gas emissions is one of the most powerful ways we can combat these impacts. Let’s join Eastham, Wellfleet and Truro in passing this measure. 

Come to town meeting on Nov. 17 and consider voting yes on Article 3. 

Susan Chandler, Tom Coleman, Elizabeth DeLima, Tessa English and Mary Griffin
The Orleans Climate Action Network

Editor:

From the outset, the Campanelli Company’s informal presentation to the residents of Harwich Port met with overwhelming opposition to the proposed Sundae School project. The community has consistently raised concerns about the project's size, scale, and environmental impact, emphasizing its unsuitability for the selected site. At every subsequent meeting with the planning board, this opposition has persisted, resulting in a nearly unanimous rejection of the project and clearly demonstrating the community’s stance.

Some members of the planning board have suggested that the community should now be sympathetic to the developer's expenses in moving the project forward. However, this viewpoint is misplaced. The developer has had ample opportunity over the past several months to either halt or modify the proposal. Their persistent pursuit of the project, without meaningful consideration for its appropriateness within the village, has been a source of frustration for many residents.

The following comments are supported by a video extracted from the 2020 town meeting supplied to your board and offered on two occasions at scheduled meetings, denied both times. The language used at town meeting to secure approval was clear and explicit: the multifamily bylaw was established with “specific requirements” and protections for the town, its residents, and surrounding neighborhoods. At that meeting, then-Town Planner Charleen Greenhalgh stated unequivocally that any proposal must meet specific criteria, including being desirable for the neighborhood, representing an appropriate use of the site and location, and being suitable for both the site and the neighborhood. These assurances were not personal opinions, but statements made at the town meeting.

When the planning board discusses "checking the boxes" for project approval, it is essential that these foundational elements — desirability, appropriateness and suitability — are the first criteria to be considered. Focusing solely on dimensional requirements misses the intent of the bylaw and disregards the protections that were voted for by the citizens of Harwich.

The idea that a small number of board members could override or silence the near-unanimous vote expressed at town meeting is difficult for residents to accept. Such actions raise concerns about the integrity of the process and evoke a sense of a bait-and-switch; protections and assurances were promised to garner community support, yet five years later, those assurances appear at risk of being ignored. The hope is that this does not set a new precedent for decision-making in Harwich.

It is recommended that the developer refrain from using intimidating language. Instead, the developers should channel their creativity and problem-solving skills to redesign the project in a way that is consistent with the fundamental elements of the bylaw and the expectations of the community.

The residents of Harwich Port have demonstrated considerable courage in defending their neighborhood, often stepping outside their comfort zones to voice their concerns. The hope is for the planning board to show the same courage and foresight by supporting the citizens of Harwich and rejecting the project in its current form.

Bob Piantedosi
Harwich Port