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| April 7, 2006 Barnstable Patriot |  |
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Where is consensus to
mess with Cape Cod
Commission?
.c°
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S
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_J
CORNER
By Paul Gauvin
By Paul Gauvln
pgauvin@barnstablepairiot.com
A boy visiting his grandma was kneel-
ing by the bed saying night prayers.
"Grandma," he asked, "is it true we come
from dust and when we die we become
dust again?"
"Yes," answered grandma religiously.
"Why do you ask?"
"Look under the bed ," replied the boy.
"Somebody's either coming or going."
It's an anecdote that begs the question
of whether the Cape Cod Commission is
stillcoming-or going.There is arecurrent
push by several groups - now evidently
consolidated in purpose -to either disem-
bowel the agency or to plot its piecemeal
town-by-town execution by secession.
One has to wonder where this new cabal
acquired the chutzpah to attempt to undo
a referendum vote without considering a
Cape-wide public poll on the question of
the commission's fate. And why did the
group feel it necessary to conduct a clan-
destine meeting to connive against achild
of the people -and bounce arepresentative
of the other side?
If memory serves, the Cape Cod Com-
mission was thoroughly debated prior to
the popular vote that gave birth to the
agency specifically designed to manage
the "big picture " of growth. The voters
approved it after listening to both sides
of the lengthy debate (why hear it again?)
and subsequently empowered a legal
body to, as Archie Bunker might put it,
"stifle" rampant growth. At the time, the
majority of voters saw rapid development
threatening to reshape Cape Cod into a
grid-locked developers ' Mecca at the ex-
pense of citizens enamored of small town,
seaside ambience.
Those putting the commission in the
crosshairs of their grenade launchers
- most of whom, one presumes, are busi-
nessmen with self-interests who are ag-
grieved by the Commission's tough-love
tactics -cert ainly have the absolute right
to agitate for change that would moder-
ate their path through the maze of codes
and costs that have discouraged all but
the brave entrep v.neurs to sow and reap.
But it ought not oe attempted without the
puolic consensus.
BJ's and The Home Depot , two giants
of retailing, had to jump through so many
hoops that they got a severe case of'hoop-
ing' cough. They survived the exhaustive
commission process because of their sub-
stantial assets and surfeit of patience.
And at that, they were allowed to de-
velop on the Cape only at less than full
strength, denying Cape Codders the ex-
panded product savings they could have
enjoyed from these mega-outlets had they
been fully developed. In the process, one
presumes some small businesses were
spared. That , from this corner, appears
to be an equitable compromise managed
by the commission.
Further, it seems nonsensical for the
Citytown of Barnstable to pay its share of
Commission expenses-currently $463,575
a year - or a whopping $6.6 million since
1991 - and then tell the commission it
wants to manage its own growth, to make
its own deals with developers. Then why
pay the commission? Should it not be one
or the other?
For the moment , the saber rattling
sprouts from the original sources that op-
posed the Commission in the first place,
the developers and fringe bizlosophers
that, left to their own devices, would, if
past is prologue, make of Cape Cod The
Little Apple.
The group that met behind closed doors
two weeks ago and byinvitation only saysit
seeks "major reforms"of the Commission.
That presumablymeanswateringdownthe
countywide agency's powers until all that
is left is a toothless, multi-million dollar
gargantuan without the vigor to gum a
marshmallow.
What has changed since then to make
these groupsbelieve the public wants more
of everything, including the bad stuff that
clings to rapid development? Has a broad
consensusemerged from Mr.andMrs. Cape
Cod to pull the plug on the Commission,
to anesthetize its muscle? Hardly.
Whatever strategies this new search-
and-destroy platoon chooses,its members
would do well to first beg the indulgence
of the majority of voters who launched the
agency and,being of sound body and mind
at the time, dictated a stringent "goslow"
policy on development. In Barnstable 's
case, taxpayers are in no mood to support
the commission and a duplicate town staff
to do the same thing.
Countywide , what voters hath put
together, let no self-serving sub-culture
put asunder - without voter concurrence
beforehand.
Help the homeless now
The fates of the alternative homeless shelter
(the Pilot House) and the Hyannis homeless
outreach worker position are injeopardy. News
of their funding crisiswashighlighted last week
at the Barnstable Assembly of Delegates meet-
ing.In addition,newspaper stories, WQRC radio
and C3TV, Channel 17, have been broadcasting
this crisis at hand.
A very generous business person who has
donated more than $75,000 over the past two
years to the Cape Cod Council of Churches for
the Overnights of Hospitality Program and the
Pilot House has come forward again saying she
will match up to $25,000 any donations made
for the Pilot House or the Homeless Outreach
Worker position. To date, $6,340 has been re-
ceived and $4,000 came from one person.
Pilot House has been forced again to a new
location and will locate within two weeks and
desperately needs funds to make the transition
and to survive. During the last move, they cried
out for help. The help wasn't there and the men
and women who were at Pilot House doing so
well were turned back to the streets. I fear this
will happen again as only a few people on Cape
Cod seem to care.
Someone said to me today, "Do you think
the word is out there well enough for people
to know of the needs here?" My answer is this:
"Every adult on Cape Cod knows that we have
men and women suffering and dying on our
streets. They know all too well, and sadly I feel
that only afew seem to care. I'm very saddened
by this lack of loving kindness. This past year,
eight men and women died on our streets in a
pathetic homeless state. This is not the Cape
Cod I knew as a child. What has happened to
us? Why have we become so self-centered and
self-serving?"
Our brothers and sisters in need , need you.
Yes, you!
Once again, I make the urgent plea. Please
send donations to: Cape Cod Council of
Churches, PO. Box 758, Hyannis, MA 02601.
Please earmark donations for Pilot House and/or
outreach worker position. Anyone is welcome
to call me at 508-360-7006 to learn more.
Alan Burt
Centerville
PS. C3TV, Channel 17, will be broadcasting
a program on the Pilot House and the home-
less outreach worker position this Saturday
at 2 p.m. I encourage you to watch as you will
become better informed about the issues of
homelessness and the importance of the Pilot
House and the outreach worker position.
On other Saturdays at noon, same channel,
there willbe a series titled ,Hearts of the Home-
less and Hearts for the Homeless. Hearts of the
Homeless willhave interviews I've done with our
homeless friends over the past couple of years.
Heartsfor the Homeless are interviewsI've done
with other advocates for the homeless.
Generating misinformation
While those who would favor opening Nan-
tucket Sound to industrial development are
entitled to engage in armchair quarterbacking.
Mr. Richard C. Bartlett's recent letter, "Let
there be light" (March 24), shines brightly with
at least two factual errors:
1.1was not the Alliance's "PR vicepresident"
at any time during my involvement with the
organization.
2. The media widely reported I revealed au-
thorship of the infamous press release in March
2004. Bartlett'sassertion that I waited until two
years later is absolutely wrong.
Mr. Bartlett would do well to practice what he
preaches and avoid spreading "mythsand false-
hoods." Or, he might at least suppress his own
wind energy until he gets the facts straight.
John Donelan
Centerville
End Cape commission's
regulatory role
The Cape Cod Commission was envisioned
as a technical advisory group that would AD-
VISE the Cape towns on the best course for
growth. Instead it has become an appointed
(not elected) SUPER County REGULATORY
agency that is now telling towns how they will
grow. Their mandate was to expand good eco-
nomic job growth, but instead the Cape Cod
Commission has discouraged companies that
would bring good jobs to the Cape. There are
few non-service jobs for our children and those
technicaljobs and our children are being forced
over the bridge.
Many Cape towns are reviewing the pro-
cedures for withdrawing from the Cape Cod
Commission. I believe that Barnstable should
also start that process.
The consensus of influential group of citizens
from Sandwich, Bourne , Mashpee, Barnstable
and Orleansthat met last week,strongly believe
that the citizens and their elected officials can
and should determine the future of our town.
We do not need the Cape Cod Commission to
regulate our future and we certainly can put to
excellent use the more than 1/2 million dollars
ANNUALLY that the taxpayers of Barnstable
are required to pay to support the Cape Cod
Commission.
CONTINUED ON PAGE A:12
LETTERS
Letters to the editor
The Barnstable Patriot welcomes letters to the editor. Please keep them brief and
either type or print them neatly. Include name , address and telephone number. Anony-
mous letters will not be published , but names will be withheld upon request. We reserve
the right to edit all submissions.
THE BARNSTABLE PATRIOT , P.O. BOX 1208, HYANNIS . MA 02601
OR E-MAIL TO
letters@barnstablepatriol.com
columnist@barnstablepatnot.com
By Stew Goodwin
columnist@barnstablepatriot.com
The turbulent and uncertain world that
awaits us as we awake each morning cries
out for a ray of hope. I am going to tell you
about a person who has and can serve as an
inspiration.
Her life was short and pain-filled. Yet her
compassion and empathy affected allwho she
managed to touch.
Her writings are varied and extensive. Yet
the intensity ofherintellect and emotions leap
off every page to embrace the reader.
She never formally joined a faith. Yet theo-
logians of all stripes have been moved by her
love and her belief.
Shewasborninto prosperity.Yetshe devoted
her life to the disadvantaged and oppressed.
She lived at a time when prejudice and
persecution ran rife. Yet she shines for us as
a symbol of tolerance and inclusion,
a ray of hope.
Simone Weil was born a French-
woman in 1909. She died thirty-four
years later, an exile in war-torn
England. While she possessed an ad-
vanced degree in philosophy, was an
accredited secondary school teacher
in that discipline, and eventually
attained an international reputa-
tion, she was frequently lured into
all-consuming social activism.
Weilwas an early foe of fascism,volunteering
to oppose it in the Spanish Civil War, in which
she was wounded. At the time of her death she
was servingaspart of the government that was
planningthe re-conquest of hernative France
from the occupying Germans.
Simone Weil sympathized with the working
class, and thus was drawn to the physical toil
of factories and vineyards. But despite her frail
constitution she never permitted herself to
eat , or dress, or dwell better than the least of
her laboring compatriots. This tendency was
an outgrowth of her conviction that a viable
social contract was primarily a collection of
linked obligations to be honored rather than
bundled rights to be trumpeted.
Weilthought and acted withthese obligations
constantly in mind,and this has alot to do with
her impact over the years. It was her opinion
that fulfillment of societal obligations before
insisting upon rights would produce more
satisfaction with less strife.
Simone Weil was a deeply spiritual person
who felt a mystical union with God. She was
alsoinclusive inher beliefs, asher words attest.
"Children of God should not have any other
country here below but the universe itself,the
totality of all reasoning creatures it ever has
contained , contains, or ever will contain. That
is the native city to which we owe our love."
Many present day evaluators, such as Martin
Andic, see her in a similar light. "The true God
for Simone Weilis a God of love and peace who
welcomes everyone and everything."
Simone Weil was certain that basic human-
ity lay at the core of every culture , despite the
layers of power-hunger and self-interest that
might obscure it. She was instinctively able to
locate this core, and to nuture it. In fact, she
dedicated her short life to this task. For most
of us it is difficult to avoid the temptations
and propaganda in order to
realize that respect for each
human as alivingbeing iswhat
really matters. For Weil this
realization was second nature,
and that is the essence of her
greatness.
Happily, this remarkable
woman has had many suc-
cessors. You may know some
of them. They, like her, have
understood that any society
which venerates democratic and compassion-
ate ideals will be judged by the status of its
ordinary citizens and least fortunate members,
not by the opulence of its wealthiest decile.
They, like her, have grasped the fact that any
society claimingto be spiritual,not theocratic,
will be evaluated on its ability to sustain life,
not destroy it.
In my most pessimistic moments, which
have been surfacing more frequently of late,
I am encouraged by the thousands of latter
day Simone Weils now humbly at work in our
communities. They offer the spiritual hearth
this country has always sought to provide.
They, not politicians or corporations; not
fundamentalists or ideologues,reflect the basic
character of our nation. These Simone Weils of
ours constitute a badly needed ray of hope.
A ray of hope
Call and response on
Commission controversy
Editor 's note: Peter Doiron of Barnstable sent
an e-mail to town councilors and the town's
legislative delegation asking whether they
attended a recent meeting of Cape Cod Com-
mission critics held at the Rectrix Aerodrome
in Hyannis. His query and council President
Hank Farnham's reply are below.
Did any of you representatives attend last
Thursday's meeting at Rectrix Aerodrome?
Were any of you invited by Council President
Farnham, or Representative Atsalis,or Airport
Commissioner Wheatley (supposedly a one-
time JAG member) ? Are any of you in favor of
the putsch proclaimed by the 50-some people
who participated?
Remember the Cape Cod Commission isthe
peoples ' business and you all by taking part
in such a gathering represent the people , not
just the business or capitalistic or Chamber of
Commerce interests. There 'smore to govern-
ment than funding private greed. Remember
also that "quorum"is not the only measure in
defining what violatesMassachusetts Opening
Meeting Laws.Many of you worthies attended
the State Ethics presentation on Tuesday
3/28/03. Do not forget your lessons; the people
haven't.
Peter Doiron
Barnstable
Mr. Doiron:
Henry Farnham responding: I attended the
get-together at Rectrix that you reference, as
an invited guest - not as an inviting organizer.
I think one other Barnstable Town Councilor
was there plus afew officials from other towns
on Cape Cod. The majority in attendance
were average, hard working citizens trying to
eke out a living on Cape Cod, not the alleged
capitalistic , greedy business moguls you like
to promote. All the participants are commit-
ted to making their communities better, and
there are thousands more interested in the
"putsch" that was evident at the Rectrix get
together.
Incidentally, the get together at Rectrixwas
a private meeting of private citizens to discuss
private issues. There was no official or semi-
official business conducted or represented at
any time by any governmental agency - state,
county or local. There was no open meeting
violation of any sort , so please don't continue
with those threats - we understand the rules
and we were in'attendance at the workshop
at MME last Tuesday along with you and Mrs.
Doiron.
Please understand , Mr. Doiron, that all of
the participants have one common goal - fix
the mess the Cape Cod Commission has got-
ten Cape Cod (especially Barnstable) into,
help our businesses get better and encourage
prospective new businesses to locate and
grow here.
We want to help the residential tax payers
reduce their tax burden by building the com-
mercial tax base (as other communities do)
to take on more of the tax burden by being
successful - not by taking unfair advantage of
businesses as you propose through adopting
a split tax rate.
We want to see our students graduate from
school (hopefully at a high level) and be able
to find valuable , meaningful jobs on Cape Cod
(especially Barnstable ). Far too many leave
Cape Cod after graduation.
Wewantto create more workforce housing on
Cape Cod (especially Barnstable) to support
those needed workers (private and municipal)
of the future.
We want to see creative business friendly
zoning implemented on Cape Cod (especially
Barnstable) to help foster needed changes to
help achieve those goals while preserving our
environment.
We want to attract capital to help repair and
grow our fragile economy and to diversify it.
These are simple goals, to name just a few,
but they are very complex to achieve without
good community support.
A positive thing you can do, Mr. Doiron ,is to
assist the people to understand that without a
strong economy, a community has no chance
- without more governmental hand outs.
We want our businesses to be self sufficient
and to prosper!
Regards,
Henry Farnham
West Barnstable