Updated version: 'Vote No on Article 4' coalition has many diverse sponsors

BAR HARBOR, Oct. 16, 2024 - The loosely organized “Vote no on Article 4” coalition opened multiple beach heads this week in its campaign against the Town Council’s proposal to repeal the citizens cap on cruise ship visits - one in a flyer which was sent to every address in town, a new website and others on social media.

A total of 3,512 postal patrons were sent this flyer:

Members of the coalition also introduced a new website and identified itself as “the collective voice of Bar Harbor residents who believe that uncontrolled growth of the cruise ship industry threatens our community.

“We are concerned about the environmental damage caused by large vessels, the strain on our infrastructure, and the potential for negative impacts on our local businesses and quality of life. We believe that sustainable tourism, shaped by our community's needs and values, is the path to a thriving future. Support local decision-making.”

And here are pages on Facebook and Instagram.

The citizens in this fight, after winning a lopsided 58-42 percent victory in November 2022 to cap cruise ship passenger visits at 1,000 a day, suddenly find themselves in a dog fight to preserve what they had already approved.

So they are going beyond the usual lawn signs in an election.

It’s a collection of various constituencies and they often don’t even talk to each other.

Where this broad coalition will land is anyone’s guess. The cruise ship industry is formidable.

In Juneau, Alaska, a much bigger municipality than Bar Harbor, the city this week released the results of a recent referendum to disallow cruise ship visits on Saturdays - 4,196 in favor and 6,575 against, a solid victory for the industry and local businesses which cater to it.

The capital of Alaska is the entrance point to the Mendenhall Glacier, a favorite cruise ship excursion, and sees as many as 20,000 cruise passengers per day during the high season, which runs from April to October. The initiative was devised to ease overcrowding, but residents and officials who were against the measure cited concerns about the expected negative impact on local businesses, according to the New York Times.

Protect Juneau’s Future, a coalition of local businesses, travel agents and cruise operators opposed to the initiative, raised more than $350,000 to campaign against it., The Times reported.

Three major cruise lines - Royal Caribbean Group, Carnival Corporation and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings - each contributed $75,000 through their companies and subsidiaries, according to the Alaska Public Offices Commission.

Last year, on Saturdays alone, the cruise industry generated $3.7 million in cruise-related fees and taxes for Juneau, and passengers spent $30 million at local businesses, according to the city government.

The Association to Preserve and Protect Local Livelihoods (AAPPL) in Bar Harbor is a coalition of businesses and cruise ship operators which has sued the town to reverse the citizens cap, which the Town Council failed to enact and is now proposing a referendum on Nov. 5 to repeal it.

It has so far not succeeded in the courts. But APPLL now has the support of the Town Council, which has floated a proposal for five-year contracts with the cruise lines to disembark as many as 5,000 a day.

Its primary reason for abandoning the citizens? The relentless onslaught of lawsuits from APPLL.