This letter is penned in response to the article published in today's Pen Bay Pilot written by Louis Bettcher regarding the plans of the Rockport Select Board to formulate an ordinance change affecting short term rentals in our municipality.

According to the Charter of the Town of Rockport: "The primary vehicle for Select Board's process is Ordinance Review Committee (ORC). For more guidance and a timeline of the local procedure for ordinance amendments, here is the policy adopted by the Select Board on August 14, 2006: The purpose of these bylaws is to establish reasonable rules of procedure for Committee meetings and to promote the fair, orderly and efficient conduct of the Committee’s proceedings and affairs.  These bylaws shall govern the Committee’s practices and procedures except as otherwise provided by law and shall be liberally construed so as to accomplish their purpose."

The Town Charter clearly states that the Ordinance Review Committee's domain is the drafting of ordinances.  

The Chairman of the Select Board's use of the word "policy" in place of the word "ordinance" with regard to her plan to draft an ordinance on short term rentals and thereby assume the specific role of the Ordinance Review Committee, is a thinly veiled maneuver, as well as an action unbecoming of an elected official.

All ordinances are statements of policy, and what the Board is seeking to do is bypass the Ordinance Review Committee and violate due process. 

Furthermore, we are told that there was a full discussion by the Select Board of short term rentals in Rockport on October 27.  

This is news to all the citizens who were supposedly put on an email list in order to be informed about meetings on this topic by the Town Office and the Town Manager.  

In addition, we citizens get to view this ordinance drafted by the Select Board very shortly before it is presented at the meeting scheduled for November 9.

It is obvious that the Chair and Assistant Chair of the Select Board are pursuing their personal agenda in this matter and followed a similar line of attack a year ago in our Town.

There are many citizens now who are aware of their agenda and will do what is necessary to bring their manipulations to light.

Marsha Steinglass lives in Rockport