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lin•'s avatar

Did Town Council Chair Val Peacock, or any other Town Councilors (who gave former Town Manager Kevin Sutherland free rein before giving him the sack) write letters of recommendation for Sutherland? Even if not, their glowing press release, when they released Sutherland (with a platinum parachute and a Non Disclosure Agreement,) was certainly misleading. Their self serving misrepresentations are like police departments and hospitals who pass their dangerous bad eggs onto positions at other police departments and hospitals, while hiding the serious damage the stinkers have done.

Speaking of the Council's NDA with Sutherland. I guess there may be an exception for disclosing information in order for Peacock et al to cover their a$$ in court, possibly by perjuring themselves. Self serving secrecy is a hallmark of Peacock's tenure and the Bar Harbor Town Council modus operandi - especially the over use/abuse of Executive Sessions to hide the nastier/more incriminating parts of their dealings. So other than (expensive and often redacted) FOAA act requests who's to say what they do in the dark - in the town's name and on the town's dime.

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Winston Shaw's avatar

Talk about shipping coals to Newcastle. Bar Harbor shipped them Sutherland...why do I have a feeling they are going to wind up wishing we'd shipped them coal? As far as the gentleman's comment regarding downtown Bar Harbor crowding issues, hey there's crowded sidewalks aplenty in New York city, you sure you are living (or visiting??) the right place?

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Laura Grier's avatar

On cruise ships: If APPLL prevails with their argument it would seem that the town would not be able to set any limit at all for disembarking. This could a “be careful what you wish for scenario”

Also, we hear a lot about 2019 data and 2022 but what were the revenues of businesses (other than the tendering) during the non cruise ship year of 2021. Having spent a lot of time on the island that year, there seemed to be plenty of crowd in BH and absolutely in the park!

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Norman Beamer's avatar

I was curious about all the complaints about cruise ships creating intolerable crowds that interfere with enjoyment of downtown, so last fall during a week when most days had two big ships visiting, I made a point of going into town midday to check it out. Yes, the sidewalks were somewhat crowded, but anyone who would be the least bit disturbed, inconvenienced, or otherwise prompted to make a big deal about it is in my mind just neurotic and just looking for something to complain about.

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lin•'s avatar

Well it might depend on your expectations of your visit to Bar Harbor? Sometimes even cruise ship tourists don't want to visit towns known for cruise ship tourism. Sometimes towns which have borrowed money, for infrastructure changes to accommodate cruise ships are left with debt and other problems, after the cruise ships stop coming.

Just saying, you might broaden your mind about the issues before passing judgement based on your limited experience.

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Norman Beamer's avatar

Yeah, I know about Venice, for example. Bar Harbor is nothing that.

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Norman Beamer's avatar

Like that

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