What? Stop making up stuff. No one said you did ... Reznik warned the council that its lopsided policies in favor of your ilk will kill the community. You have a knack for interpreting microscopic facts as something bigger to distort the dialog. Just like you-know-who on the national level ...
Some people won’t be happy until Bar Harbor is only trinket shops and transient housing. The only people that will live here will be seasonal workers crammed into their employee housing.
"St. Germain and his business partner Stephen Coston built the Pathway Hotel on Cottage Street next to the municipal building ..."
That building looks like an early 20th C penitentiary. With a gun tower facing the municipal building. Suggesting that town councilors are continually 'under the gun' from powerful interested parties.
Constrained or Complicit? Does the Pathway to putting profit over people run through the BH Town Council? Hmmm ...
Lincoln, it would have been entirely appropriate for you have fallen off your chair in laughter when the Town Council Chair Peacock described how she and her Council listen to and collaborate with citizens. Perhaps Ms. Peacock’s definition includes some non Bar Harbor voters in the Chamber,
(I could be wrong on that.), the APPLL group, which may have some non residents, and Ocean Properties owners who are non residents, and their henchman , Eben Salvatore, whom I keep hearing appears to be more at home in Pretty Marsh in his non work
time than in Bar Harbor.
Thank you again and again on your dogged and brilliant reporting on the deceptions and machinations of the Town Council trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the rest of the Bar Harbor electorate. It sounds like the voters are finding the Town Council’s Chapter 50 a nasty, itchy mess that will smother the balanced , affordable , year round community that Dr. Reznik wants to support.
By the way, Dr. Reznik is an excellent, caring, patient centered dentist who also cares deeply about her town, and is very knowledgeable about local affairs.
Thank you for the excellent recap. I'm unable to attend meetings, but my "no" vote on Chapter 50 will be counted in November. I genuinely appreciate this info.
All of the towns on the island are at an inflection point. What do they want to be? I have good friends who have been coming as renters to the island for over 25 years. This year they came with their kids and grandkids and stayed near SWH after a couple of years when they stayed near Rockland (for a change of pace). They couldn’t believe how much the town had changed in just a few years - so few places to dine out being the biggest issue and the loss of Sawyers. They said they will probably just keep going to the Rockland area in the future. So the year round aspect that is missing is also losing summer visitors. It is just a matter of time before we have “killed the goose”.
Cruise ships were already prohibited from visiting Bar Harbor by both the State and Federal authorities at that time. That vote was a political charade and I wasn't going for it. Unfortunately, you never report that part of the story.
So you took your council vote to make a political statement instead of actually the matter at hand - the safety of the citizenry. It was a very dangerous period, as I recall, and we didn't have any of the information we have now. So you chose to be on the record as actually opposing a public safety initiative because you thought all your fellow councilors were just grandstanding. Thank you for sharing this. Keep writing. My blog is getting a bonus insight into your thinking. Thank you.
It was others, not me, who used public safety as a platform to play politics. That was my point in my comment, that is what I expressed at the time, and that is the point I am restating now. Unfortunately you seem entirely unwilling to objectively entertain any aspect of any point I make, so this is a lost cause. I am sorry that your worldview relies upon others being cast as villains, facts and context be damned.
Stephen, I don't think you need to worry. Bar Harbor is well on its way to remaking itself as a "gateway" community to exploit a beautiful place on earth for purely pecuniary interests. I don't have a world view in this hunt. I write my blog in hopes the other towns on MDI will not succumb to the same temptations and will apply a tourniquet to arrest the bleeding. That's why I call it The Quietside Journal.
Way to encourage philanthropy in this community! Have you ever considered that maybe I donate to libraries simply because I feel strongly about the value of reading and education? Or does every single thing I do in my life have to be motivated by your probably-pretty-uninformed (have you ever even met me?) judgment of my character?
I think you did a good thing, Stephen. Thank you. Some of us make philanthropic donations without the need to draw attention to ourselves. You're like a walking neon sign in Bar Harbor.
1) Don't you figure the media on the school donation may have been desired by people other than me for the purpose of seeking to drum up additional support for the school? I never released any type of press on that donation, and in fact I've never put out any type of press release in my life. I answer when called upon, and that's it.
2) If you think the only philanthropy I engage in is what gets reported publicly, you are sorely mistaken.
Stephen Colton, you are a pleasant and chatty person with whom to have a conversation about issues whether there is agreement or not. However, I feel your actual actions are just hard for most people to accept. Two notable examples are 1) your vote to favor allowing cruise ships in Bar Harbor during the pandemic. My husband Art Greif, was diagnosed with Stage IV terminal cancer with only death as a prognosis. Obviously, like many others in the community, he was very immunosuppressed. Even after several vaccinations, he tested as having developed zero antibodies to Covid. Covid would have probably taken what we hoped and prayed for: just a few more months of life, please. So, a vote like yours was a mean spirited punch in the gut….no thought to how others might be hurt. 2) I came back this spring to the eternal home of my heart, the Island, and was shocked to see a huge black block sitting on the sidewalk next to the lovely old municipal building that a majority of BH voters passed a bond of millions to preserve. It took me a while to compute what it was. I love staying at hotels, even ones technically parading as Band Bs, and I could never imagine that this black chunk, walls nose to nosewith pedestrians could be a hotel/ BandB. You and your partners were not forced to build lodging in this unsuitable location causing more traffic at the two places locals buy their food,necessaries, and conduct town business. And, if compelled to elect to do so, why not build a lovely structure instead of what might be arguably the most prominent ally repulsive building in BH? Words are important, but actions are evidence of character. Thanks for all your donations, no matter how they are given. The Island would suffer greatly without them.
At no point did I "admonish the council for airing Friedmann’s idea for a moratorium." I said, verbatim, "have the conversation, let's have it." I suggested that the conversation be "balanced" and "less charged," and I presented some facts about taxes and revenue. In no way can my statements be construed in any honest/accurate way into me "admonishing the council against airing Friedmann's idea."
Your commentary about my statement is erroneous at best and dishonest at worst. You should delete it or correct it. Unfortunately, I anticipate you will instead delete this comment and block me, as you have each time I've challenged your blatant lack of veracity in the past.
I find it comical you don't know who I am. I quoted myself RE the comments you're "reporting" on. It should be very obvious based on the context and the quotations who I am. Anyway, I'm Stephen and you've got my other account blocked.
I know what the definition of "admonish" is, thank you. How can I be "advising" the council against "airing Friedmann's idea" when I said "let's have the conversation"? I'm telling the council yes, let's air Friedmann's idea, and you're reporting them I'm "admonishing the council against airing Friedmann's idea." LoL, dude, come on.
Are you saying you might support a moratorium if there were a true, balanced "conversation?" You mentioned your topline was down this year. So what? You took the risks. Nobody forced you to expand your empire. What's that got to do with the subject about a moratorium? Are you saying the town should continue to support your risk taking? Your taxes are based on an assessment of your improved assets. That's why it's called "improvements" in the town assessment. If you think your taxes are unfair, that's a separate issue. But you didn't say that ... so why raise it?
I never said my top line is down this year. I said lodging sales tax for the Bar Harbor ESA was down for the month of July, and was roughly flat for calendar year 2023. My point was to provide some factual context around the growth conversation. If you watch the meeting video you will hear me say that we should have a reasonable, balanced conversation and then the council can exercise the democratic process and put it to a vote.
My comments were entirely in response to the tone of the meeting, not the subject matter. The only thing I "admonished" anyone to do was to see this issue through in a "balanced" and "reasonable" and "democratic" way.
Thank you for that. So your top line was not down. I stand corrected. What was the point of your public assertion that lodging tax was down? Or was that just a technical sleight of hand?John Kelly reminded everyone that despite the park's decline this year in visitation the park still had its highest visitation three years in a row. The meeting was dominated by Friedmann's proposal for a moratorium. I reported your aggravation that the council spent the entire workshop on that subject. Did I misread that? Would you be willing to give me a tour of all your properties and employee housing since you appear to be so transparent? I stayed at Mount Desert Inn about five years ago. It was a nice experience at a fair price. I think you run a good business, but that's not the point.
Three cheers for Dr.Resnick! Is Bar Harbor going to remain a town worth living in or is it just going to represent a "profit center" for those who have an almost religious belief in the "Too much is not enough!" theme. Given a choice between a practicing dentist and the current Bar Harbor version of Disneyland I'm going with the dentist...the folks promoting the Disneyland version never stop drilling and they don't use novocaine!
So brave of you to sling this anonymous pot shot. My statements from the meeting in question were misconstrued in this post; I pointed that out; you're telling me (anonymously) to grow up, why?
I must say you have a real talent for rearranging the facts in your favor. You didn't "say who you were" until Millstein called you out. If the QSJ did in fact block your account I find myself wondering why they did so?
To borrow a turn of phrase from POTUS: Come on, man. It was extremely obvious who I was right from my very first comment. I quoted things I said in a videotaped meeting. People seeking to hide their identity don't quote themselves.
I would agree that it was (is) obvious who you were (are) by the content of what you had to say. When I hear business people talk about "democratic process" in a town run by behind the curtains powers that be I am not tempted to laugh...but I might fall off my chair.
It's been verified as Stephen Coston.
??
I have never made any offer on Dr. Reznik's property. If someone says I did, they're lying.
What? Stop making up stuff. No one said you did ... Reznik warned the council that its lopsided policies in favor of your ilk will kill the community. You have a knack for interpreting microscopic facts as something bigger to distort the dialog. Just like you-know-who on the national level ...
"Shame on Stephen. Thank you Dr Reznik for not selling out your patients to feed his greed"
This comment posted by "AnIslander" 2 hours ago says it was me, doesn't it?
Some people won’t be happy until Bar Harbor is only trinket shops and transient housing. The only people that will live here will be seasonal workers crammed into their employee housing.
"St. Germain and his business partner Stephen Coston built the Pathway Hotel on Cottage Street next to the municipal building ..."
That building looks like an early 20th C penitentiary. With a gun tower facing the municipal building. Suggesting that town councilors are continually 'under the gun' from powerful interested parties.
Constrained or Complicit? Does the Pathway to putting profit over people run through the BH Town Council? Hmmm ...
Not even one tiny bush or tree visible, literally rooms on the sidewalk. Classy eh?
Lincoln, it would have been entirely appropriate for you have fallen off your chair in laughter when the Town Council Chair Peacock described how she and her Council listen to and collaborate with citizens. Perhaps Ms. Peacock’s definition includes some non Bar Harbor voters in the Chamber,
(I could be wrong on that.), the APPLL group, which may have some non residents, and Ocean Properties owners who are non residents, and their henchman , Eben Salvatore, whom I keep hearing appears to be more at home in Pretty Marsh in his non work
time than in Bar Harbor.
Thank you again and again on your dogged and brilliant reporting on the deceptions and machinations of the Town Council trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the rest of the Bar Harbor electorate. It sounds like the voters are finding the Town Council’s Chapter 50 a nasty, itchy mess that will smother the balanced , affordable , year round community that Dr. Reznik wants to support.
By the way, Dr. Reznik is an excellent, caring, patient centered dentist who also cares deeply about her town, and is very knowledgeable about local affairs.
Thank you for the excellent recap. I'm unable to attend meetings, but my "no" vote on Chapter 50 will be counted in November. I genuinely appreciate this info.
All of the towns on the island are at an inflection point. What do they want to be? I have good friends who have been coming as renters to the island for over 25 years. This year they came with their kids and grandkids and stayed near SWH after a couple of years when they stayed near Rockland (for a change of pace). They couldn’t believe how much the town had changed in just a few years - so few places to dine out being the biggest issue and the loss of Sawyers. They said they will probably just keep going to the Rockland area in the future. So the year round aspect that is missing is also losing summer visitors. It is just a matter of time before we have “killed the goose”.
thank you for your friend's experience. As a long time resident, the change in SWH is a punch to my gut.
I guess Stephen’s library donation didn’t buy as much good will as he’d hope.
Let’s not forgot he was the sole TC member that voted against the plastic bag ban. Really a paragon of gread
And only councilman to oppose the moratorium against cruise ships during the pandemic in 2020 ...
Cruise ships were already prohibited from visiting Bar Harbor by both the State and Federal authorities at that time. That vote was a political charade and I wasn't going for it. Unfortunately, you never report that part of the story.
So you took your council vote to make a political statement instead of actually the matter at hand - the safety of the citizenry. It was a very dangerous period, as I recall, and we didn't have any of the information we have now. So you chose to be on the record as actually opposing a public safety initiative because you thought all your fellow councilors were just grandstanding. Thank you for sharing this. Keep writing. My blog is getting a bonus insight into your thinking. Thank you.
It was others, not me, who used public safety as a platform to play politics. That was my point in my comment, that is what I expressed at the time, and that is the point I am restating now. Unfortunately you seem entirely unwilling to objectively entertain any aspect of any point I make, so this is a lost cause. I am sorry that your worldview relies upon others being cast as villains, facts and context be damned.
Stephen, I don't think you need to worry. Bar Harbor is well on its way to remaking itself as a "gateway" community to exploit a beautiful place on earth for purely pecuniary interests. I don't have a world view in this hunt. I write my blog in hopes the other towns on MDI will not succumb to the same temptations and will apply a tourniquet to arrest the bleeding. That's why I call it The Quietside Journal.
I didn't start my blog until April 2020.
That vote was in July 2020 and you've written about it multiple times.
Way to encourage philanthropy in this community! Have you ever considered that maybe I donate to libraries simply because I feel strongly about the value of reading and education? Or does every single thing I do in my life have to be motivated by your probably-pretty-uninformed (have you ever even met me?) judgment of my character?
I think you did a good thing, Stephen. Thank you. Some of us make philanthropic donations without the need to draw attention to ourselves. You're like a walking neon sign in Bar Harbor.
1) Don't you figure the media on the school donation may have been desired by people other than me for the purpose of seeking to drum up additional support for the school? I never released any type of press on that donation, and in fact I've never put out any type of press release in my life. I answer when called upon, and that's it.
2) If you think the only philanthropy I engage in is what gets reported publicly, you are sorely mistaken.
I hear you buy sports cars for needy children, that's very nice
Zroom zroom straight into my heart
Thank you Lincoln for helping us follow the story in BH.
My IPad will not type Colton…brand new one, tool
Sorry Colton, my error.
Stephen Colton, you are a pleasant and chatty person with whom to have a conversation about issues whether there is agreement or not. However, I feel your actual actions are just hard for most people to accept. Two notable examples are 1) your vote to favor allowing cruise ships in Bar Harbor during the pandemic. My husband Art Greif, was diagnosed with Stage IV terminal cancer with only death as a prognosis. Obviously, like many others in the community, he was very immunosuppressed. Even after several vaccinations, he tested as having developed zero antibodies to Covid. Covid would have probably taken what we hoped and prayed for: just a few more months of life, please. So, a vote like yours was a mean spirited punch in the gut….no thought to how others might be hurt. 2) I came back this spring to the eternal home of my heart, the Island, and was shocked to see a huge black block sitting on the sidewalk next to the lovely old municipal building that a majority of BH voters passed a bond of millions to preserve. It took me a while to compute what it was. I love staying at hotels, even ones technically parading as Band Bs, and I could never imagine that this black chunk, walls nose to nosewith pedestrians could be a hotel/ BandB. You and your partners were not forced to build lodging in this unsuitable location causing more traffic at the two places locals buy their food,necessaries, and conduct town business. And, if compelled to elect to do so, why not build a lovely structure instead of what might be arguably the most prominent ally repulsive building in BH? Words are important, but actions are evidence of character. Thanks for all your donations, no matter how they are given. The Island would suffer greatly without them.
At no point did I "admonish the council for airing Friedmann’s idea for a moratorium." I said, verbatim, "have the conversation, let's have it." I suggested that the conversation be "balanced" and "less charged," and I presented some facts about taxes and revenue. In no way can my statements be construed in any honest/accurate way into me "admonishing the council against airing Friedmann's idea."
Your commentary about my statement is erroneous at best and dishonest at worst. You should delete it or correct it. Unfortunately, I anticipate you will instead delete this comment and block me, as you have each time I've challenged your blatant lack of veracity in the past.
Who is this? Second definition of "admonish" in the Oxford English dictionary: Advise or urge someone earnestly.
I find it comical you don't know who I am. I quoted myself RE the comments you're "reporting" on. It should be very obvious based on the context and the quotations who I am. Anyway, I'm Stephen and you've got my other account blocked.
I know what the definition of "admonish" is, thank you. How can I be "advising" the council against "airing Friedmann's idea" when I said "let's have the conversation"? I'm telling the council yes, let's air Friedmann's idea, and you're reporting them I'm "admonishing the council against airing Friedmann's idea." LoL, dude, come on.
Thank you Stephen Coston for identifying yourself. Not all the readers knew it was you. I hope they review the video to draw their own conclusions.
Are you saying you might support a moratorium if there were a true, balanced "conversation?" You mentioned your topline was down this year. So what? You took the risks. Nobody forced you to expand your empire. What's that got to do with the subject about a moratorium? Are you saying the town should continue to support your risk taking? Your taxes are based on an assessment of your improved assets. That's why it's called "improvements" in the town assessment. If you think your taxes are unfair, that's a separate issue. But you didn't say that ... so why raise it?
I never said my top line is down this year. I said lodging sales tax for the Bar Harbor ESA was down for the month of July, and was roughly flat for calendar year 2023. My point was to provide some factual context around the growth conversation. If you watch the meeting video you will hear me say that we should have a reasonable, balanced conversation and then the council can exercise the democratic process and put it to a vote.
My comments were entirely in response to the tone of the meeting, not the subject matter. The only thing I "admonished" anyone to do was to see this issue through in a "balanced" and "reasonable" and "democratic" way.
Thank you for that. So your top line was not down. I stand corrected. What was the point of your public assertion that lodging tax was down? Or was that just a technical sleight of hand?John Kelly reminded everyone that despite the park's decline this year in visitation the park still had its highest visitation three years in a row. The meeting was dominated by Friedmann's proposal for a moratorium. I reported your aggravation that the council spent the entire workshop on that subject. Did I misread that? Would you be willing to give me a tour of all your properties and employee housing since you appear to be so transparent? I stayed at Mount Desert Inn about five years ago. It was a nice experience at a fair price. I think you run a good business, but that's not the point.
Three cheers for Dr.Resnick! Is Bar Harbor going to remain a town worth living in or is it just going to represent a "profit center" for those who have an almost religious belief in the "Too much is not enough!" theme. Given a choice between a practicing dentist and the current Bar Harbor version of Disneyland I'm going with the dentist...the folks promoting the Disneyland version never stop drilling and they don't use novocaine!
Grow up Stephen
So brave of you to sling this anonymous pot shot. My statements from the meeting in question were misconstrued in this post; I pointed that out; you're telling me (anonymously) to grow up, why?
Admin who? An opinion without a name is as worthless as a check without a signature
Read the comments, I said who I am. The only reason I'm not using my regular account is because QSJ has it blocked.
I must say you have a real talent for rearranging the facts in your favor. You didn't "say who you were" until Millstein called you out. If the QSJ did in fact block your account I find myself wondering why they did so?
To borrow a turn of phrase from POTUS: Come on, man. It was extremely obvious who I was right from my very first comment. I quoted things I said in a videotaped meeting. People seeking to hide their identity don't quote themselves.
Stephen, I thought you were the other guy ... You may own the council, but you don't own me ...
I have no idea what hill you're attempting to die on here, so I'm going to punt and go to Hannaford and get some chocolate cake. Dot dot dot...
I would agree that it was (is) obvious who you were (are) by the content of what you had to say. When I hear business people talk about "democratic process" in a town run by behind the curtains powers that be I am not tempted to laugh...but I might fall off my chair.