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September 14, 2000
Bangor Daily News To the Editor; I read with moderate interest and a raised eyebrow the 9/14/00 BDN article “New Poll Shows Support for Park”. I am amazed at the temerity of the group RESTORE to claim both that the public hates them so much that they had to cancel three public meetings statewide due to concerns for safety, one of them in “Northern Maine”, yet their poll indicates that more people in Northern Maine support the national park idea than oppose it. How can you have it both ways? As the person who organized the Public Meeting in Greenville August 31, I would like to clarify very firmly that this was a Public Meeting sponsored by the Town of Greenville. Anyone from the public was welcomed to come and listen and to speak. The assertion that the organizers of the meeting – Greenville Town Officials – “bussed in” people from across the state to speak adamantly in opposition to RESTORE's proposal is inaccurate and appalling. The roughly 350 people who attended the meeting that night all drove there from their homes on their own accord, whether their homes were across the street or hundreds of miles away. The National Park proposal is such a high stakes issue to them, they took the time from their families and/or their jobs to attend that meeting, hear what was said, and to publicly comment. As Kent Ward wrote in a 9/2/00 editorial, when so many people drive to a meeting in a stuffy auditorium in the middle of the summer, “you can assume they well understand the threat posed by the barbarians at the gate”. As for safety, no one has made threats of violence against park supporters known to any municipal or law enforcement officials in Greenville or Piscataquis County. If such reports were made, investigations would be conducted and people would be protected. It is odd that those who feel unsafe in our county have not made that fact known to anyone but RESTORE officials. If I were threatened as a Public official, I would call the police, not the newspapers. Sincerely; John Simko |