What are they so afraid of?
What are they afraid of? What has made the Camden Select Board so afraid that they are willing to abandon their commitment to democracy, and break the law, simply to prevent the people from voting?
The Select Board at their last meeting denied lawful petitions to hold a vote on whether or not to save the waterfall at the head of Camden Harbor. The right to petition is a bedrock principle of democracy, and we would have thought was a principle that every official in Maine wholeheartedly supported.
Our waterfall is, simply put, a treasure. What are the town officials afraid of? A vote that saves the waterfall will preserve Montgomery Dam for the next generation. The dam does not cause flooding upstream or down. Whether the dam is there or not has no impact on flooding in Camden, as documented by the pair of engineering studies paid for by the town.
What are they afraid of? The dam will not prevent fish passage. If fish passage is desired, whether the dam is there or not fish ladders will have to be built, also documented by those same engineering studies.
So what are they afraid of? Do they not trust the intelligence and judgment of the voters of Camden? Are they so fixated on the destruction of the waterfall that they have lost sight of the rights of the citizens?
What is so fearsome about this glorious waterfall that makes town officials in Camden abandon lawfulness and their oath of office? The people of Camden deserve to vote.
Signed
Ken Gross
Tom Rothwell
Bernice Berger
Meg Quijano
Ron Hawkins
Roger Akeley
Jean Brewer
Holly M. Rutland
Shawn McBrien
Lee Montgomery
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