I am endorsing Sophie Romana and Susan Dorr for the Select Board election on June 11 and encourage every citizen of Camden to vote for them to help govern our community going forward. 

The May 14 panel discussion made it abundantly clear that Susan and Sophie are willing to look forward and be thoughtful about the long-term health of our community and the legacy we are leaving our children.  They spoke thoughtfully about the environment and the broad range of services we want to provide our citizens, as well as the costs of doing so and the need to structure and prioritize our spending so as to minimize the local tax burden.

With respect to the Montgomery Dam, if it stays untouched, as advocated by Ken Gross and Stephanie French, there will be no federal funding available to restore the Megunticook River and protect the shoreline of Harbor Park from sea level rise.  Those burdens will fall to the Camden taxpayer now and for long into the future, as will repairs and maintenance of the dam itself.

We have a one-time opportunity to solve one of the largest problems facing the Town without cost to our taxpayers.  Stephanie French and Ken Gross would vote to cut off that opportunity. 

Susan Dorr and Sophie Romana would vote to protect our environment and reduce the tax burden on our citizens.

I feel I must add that Ken Gross repeatedly makes statements about the Montgomery Dam that are untrue (both its history and the opportunity to keep the dam and provide fish passage).  His Save The Dam Falls Committee has acknowledged their statements are untrue and misleading, but they refuse to correct them.

Tony Grassi lives in Camden