Select member George Jellison leaving Southwest Harbor with much baggage

Other news: Parents still unhappy with 'early release';Testa sells back lot to Ocean Properties; Mount Desert rental licensing plan draws heat

SOUTHWEST HARBOR, Feb. 18, 2023 - George Jellison, one of the longest serving members of the select board, has told fellow members he is not seeking re-election, ending a 12-year tenure fraught with controversy, a citizens revolt and conflicts of interest charges.

The board will miss him for his encyclopedic knowledge of the town. It will not miss his reflexive impulse to oppose a wide range of initiatives, leaving the town with a long list of infrastructure cost and the worst tax rate on MDI.

Even before his exit, Jellison continues to inflict damage, opposing updates to the town’s comprehensive plan - a state mandate - upgrade of the widely popular town skating pond, affordable housing and recycling. The dilapidated town garage sits idle going on three years of not being able to get insurance after Jellison opposed the $1.9 million project in 2019, helping to defeat the initiative by nine votes, 209 to 218.

Construction costs have only sky-rocketed since then.

Select chair Carolyn Ball is seeking re-election to the relief of those who have valued her equanimity and calm leadership. Jellison was the chair before her when meetings devolved into shouting matches. Once Jellison threatened to call the police, when the chief was sitting in the room.

The new board in July will have work to do.

The town faces massive infrastructure challenges, especially in water and sewer. The town garage is a can kicked down the road which must be dealt with eventually. The contract with Eastern Maine Resources, which manages the town’s waste disposal, will be soon up for renewal. The regional Municipal Review Committee, which handles all trash from the town but has warned members it make not stay solvent, looms large. Jellison’s response to the MRC crisis is denial, saying its Hampden plant, which has been closed almost three years, will be back running by December, even though the MRC itself has said it would take a year to come back on line assuming it can even find an operator.

SWH is the only town on MDI with a mill rate exceeding 10. The proposed FY24 budget may require a 10 percent increase in taxes. The year-round community is being hollowed out by Airbnb and VRBO, which now boast of 330 short-term rental units, or about 20 percent of the town’s housing stock.

The owners of the popular Hearth and Harbor announced this week it is closing its Main Street restaurant. A major culprit? The owners cannot find housing. https://www.mdislander.com/news/business/popular-southwest-harbor-eatery-closes-

Pemetic School has seen a steady decline in enrollment for two decades. It has one grade with only six kids. Town voters will be asked to mull a proposal to consolidate with Tremont as part of an islandwide reorganization of how secondary education is governed on MDI.

Jellison is best known in recent years for his harassment of one of the town’s iconic businesses - Charlotte’s Legendary Lobster Pound. Jellison’s sister who lives across the street has complained about parking at the restaurant. Jellison’s efforts to create no-parking zones near the restaurant have failed to get support from other members. He has refused to recuse himself despite the appearance of conflict.

The QSJ wrote in March 2022 about the the town’s woeful condition under Jellison and his previous supporters on the select board. Three new members have been elected since. https://theqsjournal.substack.com/p/backside-towns-at-a-crossroad-will

Perhaps the most embarrassing episode under Jellison’s leadership occurred in September 2021. Earlier that year select chair Kristin Hutchins resigned in protest after Jellison attempted to scuttle the upgrade to Chris’s Pond, the town’s skating pond.

She and Carolyn Ball also could not overcome the Jellison-led 3-2 vote to fire town manager Justin VanDongen in January 2021.

After Hutchins’s departure the board named Jellison as chair and hired Eaton Peabody to conduct a search for a new town manager. The recommended candidate was approved unanimously Aug. 31, 2021 by Jellison’s board.

It took the QSJ about 20 minutes on Google to discover that the candidate, Michael Patterson, was convicted in 2008 of assaulting his wife in front of minors.

The Bend Bulletin in Oregon reported in 2011 that Patterson was arrested when he was city manager in Redmond, Ore.

“Patterson was originally facing felony charges that he assaulted his wife in front of minors. The courts later dropped the charge to a misdemeanor count and Patterson completed court-mandated treatment. Last December, he was granted early release from probation,” the Oregon newspaper reported.

Days after the QSJ broke the story, Patterson withdrew from the SWH post.

Later it was reported that on Aug. 30, 2021, the day before the SWH select board hired him, police in Florence, Colo., where he was city manager, told the city council they were investigating claims by female employees who described being approached and harassed by Patterson while they worked alongside him, or who heard about other female employees’ experiences.

The charges included information that indicated Patterson purchased alcohol for an underage employee, sent inappropriate messages, and made inappropriate comments in-person to several city employees.

On the same day the SWH select board voted unanimously to hire him on Aug. 31, the Florence City Council voted unanimously to fire him.

Two months after he resigned in SWH, Michael Patterson was arrested in November of 2021 at Denver airport. In October 2022, he pleaded guilty to buying alcohol for a minor in a plea deal where he avoided prison but was placed on probation for two years.

The SWH select board never conducted a full accounting of how the search for the town ‘s most important municipal job could have gone off the rails so badly.

Besides Ball, resident Chapin McFarland has also “taken out papers” for the select board. McFarland is a Mount Desert fire fighter. In 2014, while at MDI High School, he was one of Eastern Maine’s best in the track and field throwing events. He was a triple winner in May 2014 as first in the shot put at 53 feet, 6.5 inches; first in the discus at 119 feet; and first in the javelin at 138 feet.

Jellison may yet change his mind. He has until March 3.

Fear and Loathing among MDI parents of schools leadership

BSR HARBOR - Add “early release” to the lexicon of socially impolite words on MDI, along with “cruise ship caps” and “short-term rentals.” They are bound to get you into a hot exchange unless you’re certain of the company you keep.

On Jan. 9, MDI School Superintendent Mike Zboray was already dealing with the third rail of school administration - managing the calendar - when at exactly 33 minutes and 52 seconds into the district school board meeting, he tip-toed into the idea of an “early release” to accommodate requests from teachers to work in teams to help those kids with stubborn challenges.

All the other kids would be let out at 1:30 on Fridays.

The reaction was swift, unbound and without mercy. For the remainder of the hour-long meeting, Zboray would be pelted by questions and pushback from board members over concerns about foisting a sudden schedule change on unwary, working parents and questions about whether most of the students would be short changed.

Zboray went on a road trip after that, to meet with individual town school boards.

Any hope of calming matters by the Feb. 13 meeting was unavailing when the meeting’s first speaker - an unidentified parent - urged other parents to contact their state legislators to lobby for minimum instructional hours.

The speaker stated that Maine is in the minority of states that does not mandate a minimum number of instructional hours.

“This is probably why our schools can get away with counting half days as full days. The school calendar is entirely in the domain of the school board so this issue will never see a ballot.

“I feel like you cannot trust the school board to be transparent or acknowledge parent input when it comes to academics. So I plan to elevate this issue and I encourage any parents concerned with education for their children to do so as well.”

By the time the board took up the “early release” issue Feb. 13, it was almost an hour into the meeting. Chair Jessica Stewarts asked that the members “bring down the pressure” and proposed no votes be taken on the matter at the meeting.

The meeting would never recover any sense of comity. Individual school boards - Bar Harbor, Trenton, even Tremont, the hometown of chair Jessica Stewart - asked razor-edged questions and sought clarity. Zboray did state that he changed the early release from Fridays to Wednesdays.

How did matters get to this point?

Chair Jessica Stewart answered:

“The school calendar is something people always feel passionately about. In the case of early release, there are powerful arguments on both sides of the the issue. I believe that parents and school board members want what is best for kids. It’s a matter of looking at all the data and competing needs and figuring out what option is best for our kids and our community. My hope is that conversations continue to stay grounded in facts and in a desire to do what is best for students. 

If the board rejects the proposal, Stewart said the administration would find another “calendar model” that does not include early release.

”Early release is not state mandated. MTSS (multi tiered systems of support) is state mandated and supports all children. It is not special education. The district will find a way to provide MTSS without early release if the early release proposal does not pass. However, the MTSS program may be less effective.”

The QSJ asked her if she is concerned this flash point will negatively impact the coming, bigger debate to reorganize the school district into one with a single governance body. The QSJ has written extensively about the work of former superintendent Rob Liebow as a consultant. His models were disclosed this week.

Stewart answered:

“I welcome robust and thoughtful discussions about these important issues. It is a sign that people care and take their responsibilities as citizens seriously. Successful reorganization will require working with all stakeholders in a deliberate manner. There will likely be some challenging moments. But I am confident in our community’s ability to put children first.”

You may read Dick Broom’s cogent report in the Islander here.

Testa’s sells back parking lot to Ocean Properties in Bar Harbor

BAR HARBOR - The restaurateur Testa’s has sold a 16,000 square-foot parcel behind its complex in the village to Ocean Properties, the largest hotelier here who once attempted to partner with the town to built a parking garage in an adjacent space.

That proposal was defeated by voters in the summer of 2017.

According to a deed filed Jan. 24 at the Hancock County Registry, Testa’s Inc. sold the 15,930 square-foot parcel to MLS Properties LLC, which has the same address as Ocean Properties - 1000 Market Street, Building 1, Portsmouth, N.H. OP often uses different named LLCs to conduct its businesses, a common practice.

A tenant in one of Testa’s buildings said, “the parking lot was sold to West Street Hotel,” which is owned by Ocean Properties.

Testa’s parcel in gray

Tom Testa, president of Testa’s Inc., is a member of the close cohort of businesses along Main Street suing the town over the newly approved land-use ordinance capping cruise ship visitors at 1,000 a day. Ocean Properties is the principal plaintiff. Others are owners of Cherrystone’s, Geddy’s and Little Village Gifts.

Ocean Properties’s plans for its newly acquired parcel is unknown. Its chief Bar Harbor operative, Eben Salvatore, has never returned a call from the QSJ even though he sits on three town committees - warrant, cruise ship and parking.

Town officials said a two-level parking facility may be erected next to the West Street Hotel under current zoning rules, but not a stand-alone garage.

LUZO committee to select board on short-term rentals: “It’s your problem!”

NORTHEAST HARBOR - More than six months after it was asked to investigate the impact of short-term vacation rentals, the Land Use Ordinance Advisory committee told the select board Monday night, “Tagged, you’re it.”

The heavily tourism-influenced committee narrowed its recommendation to deal only with badly behaving tenants and made the select board be the enforcement body of penalties, after setting up a process to license all such rentals.

“The Town shall establish and maintain a log of all complaints for each short-term rental received and substantiated by the Town. The Town shall seek the correction of all substantiated complaints by the short-term rental license holder.

”The Board of Selectmen may condition, suspend, or revoke a short-term rental license, following a public hearing, on the basis of the licensee's noncompliance with this chapter, any applicable law, ordinance, or regulation, or short-term rental license certification, condition, or criteria.”

Select member Geoff Wood pointed out that the committee, as previously reported by the QSJ, did not address the central issue of one of its assignments - the impact of short-term vacation rentals wrought by online services such as Airbnb and VRBO on the year-round housing stock.

“The people in this town are far more concerned about properties disappearing from the ownership of people who live in them.

“The disappearing of housing stock, where houses are being bought by people who have no intention of living in them. That is the biggest problem we face. And the secondary problem is the people who buy these houses for no with no intention of living in them, renting them to people that they really don't care how they behave while they're there. They're two really very different things.

“It feels very much like if we pass this as it is, many, many more homes will disappear from people who are going to live in them.

“We have empty schools and we have neighborhoods that have no lights on. That's a bigger issue. And this doesn't really address that.”

Tracey Aberman, who runs the Cafe 123 on Main Street, said, “I feel like this whole thing is a huge overreach, and that really what we're talking about here is a parking ordinance and a noise ordinance.”

She was referring to the LUZO proposal to license virtually all short-term vacation rentals and then have the select board come down on those renters who annoy neighbors. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HFz3oqBkQ6INV3psQWEjP-n0xYbPxUNMSlVa0QX2WBk/edit?usp=sharing

“I feel like you guys are asking to pry into people's financial lives to find out who is able to qualify for paying their mortgage and paying their taxes to exist in his town,” she said referring to the proposed licensing process.

“This town needs a noise ordinance period. Because we have construction all the time. There's no rules about when people can start blasting.

“I thought this started as a survey, and now suddenly, we're licensing short term rentals. This is going to become just a bureaucratic fallout for people who have an infraction and then their license doesn't get renewed at the time and they've got to cancel.

“We're already all paying our taxes and doing the best we can do to keep our properties.

Aberman ended by questioning the authority of Noel Musson, the long-time consultant to the Land Use Zoning Advisory committee, the only standing committee of its kind on MDI which updates the town’s zoning ordinance on a regular basis.

As a result Mount Desert has the island’s most up-to-date Land Use Ordinance and one free of political influence unlike Bar Harbor.

However, when it came to the short-term vacation rentals, at least three members had direct financial benefits from summer rentals.

Select member Rick Mooers declared at the last LUZO meeting that he operated summer rentals and recused himself. But the rest of the committee urged him to participate.

At this week’s discussion in front of the select board, Mooers said, “One of the simple ways to address the disappearance of housing stock to those individuals who would buy a property and they live in some other parts of the country and they operate it as a business is to simply state that, ‘If you choose to rent your residential dwelling unit, you must be a resident to do that.’”

Somehow that idea never made it out of the committee.

The select board may be asking too much of the LUZO committee. And the housing crisis may be beyond the ability of this select board to address.

Department of Corrections and Ruminations: The Sutherland detritus in Bar Harbor

BAR HARBOR - The sustainability and communications coordinators are no longer on the town’s payroll, but the inequity of their roles persist.

How did the Town Council ever allow the hiring of two individuals of unproven value at almost $200,000, including benefits?

My only experience with the sustainability coordinator was when she was asked about the Municipal Review Committee at the council meeting and she gave an answer which could have been read verbatim from the MRC website. After that I didn’t pay much attention.

I interviewed the communications coordinator to inquire about her assignment to redesign the town’s website, a practice with which I am familiar as the veteran of many such redesigns. This should not be a permanent assignment. You simply hire the best redesigner of municipal web sites. These consultants work about 18 months to suss out the problems.

Besides that I had virtually no communications with the communications coordinator.

If I needed any information, I went directly to the department heads - Police Chief Jim Willis, Planning Director Michelle Gagnon, Finance chief and treasurer Sarah Gilbert, Code Officer Angela Chamberlain, Assessor Steve Weed, and, of course, Town Clerk Liz Graves, the MVP of 93 Cottage Street. Only the public works director and fire chief did not return my calls. Fire Chief Matt Bartlett told me Town Manager Kevin Sutherland did not want him talking to me. Harbor Master Chris Wharff returned all my calls until the cruise ship story got too hot.

Graves is the town’s parliamentarian, principal store keeper and authority on all matters of process with invaluable institutional knowledge from covering the town as a journalist. She’s the glue and the go-to source for the public and the press for information about the town, not the communications coordinator.

How much is Graves slated to make next year? $81,000.

How much is the budget for the sustainability coordinator? $71,000. Communications coordinator? $68,000.

Other wages?

Highway foreman, $67,000.

Police sergeant, $72,000

Code enforcement officer, $ 82,659

I have a pretty good idea the work and value of the above three.

Closing ruminations:

• The town should make Liz Graves a six-figure employee in two years.

• The town could do a lot worse than naming Sarah Gilbert the permanent town manager and rid the town office building of the overweening politics in its halls. How did the town do under the last two such political apparatchiks?

QSJ explores non-profit model

MOUNT DESERT - The Quietside continues to receive offers of cash payment for subscriptions. (Most readers are familiar with my business model: there is none.)

I may only surmise why I am getting these offers consistently. The obvious reason is a show of appreciation for my work which I appreciate. The other is encouragement.

I have some small expenses - travel, cell phone, computer, insurance. But the biggest obstacle to this being a long-term enterprise is the time and work it requires, as I have never worked harder (and I was a workaholic) in my career.

That got me thinking.

Could the Quietside Journal become a fuller news enterprise? Could I train a staff, add new voices, cover more news, publish more frequently and still have the broad reach of a free service?

Any given week I have about a half a dozen projects I cannot get to. Could I start a small virtual newsroom with an intern of two to hasten the effort?

Lately I have been investigating the non-profit news model. NPR is an example.

The QSJ could become a 501©3 non-profit. We would raise money to fund the development of a small team, starting with one part-time editor/reporter the first year and perhaps a network of contributors.

The upside: More penetrating journalism more frequently. And Lincoln can go fishing more often. And when I decide to hang it up, there is a continuum, not a cliff.

The downside: Any entity beyond a sole proprietorship requires overhead - accounting and auditing, fund-raising, more meetings. That would eat into my time.

Any thoughts would be appreciated to help me navigate this journey.

TRIBUTE: David W. ""Jed"" Campbell

1954 - 2023

BASS HARBOR - David W. "Jed" Campbell, 68, passed away unexpectedly February 10,2023 at a Bar Harbor hospital. David was born July 13, 1954, to the late Ernest A. Campbell Sr and Helen (Kelley) Anderson.

David spent his entire life in his hometown of Bass Harbor. He was a loyal employee for over 35 years at McEachern & Hutchins Lumberyard. David was very community minded and served on many boards and committees. He loved all things NASCAR, was an avid reader and a friend to all. David would do anything for anyone.

David is survived by his brother Ernie Campbell, Jr. and wife Linda of Bass Harbor; sister Brenda Harkins and husband Norman of Seal Cove; two aunts Hilda Schauss and husband Norman of Bristol, Ct. and Charlotte Campbell of San Diego, CA.; many nieces and nephews. David was predeceased by his sister Nancy (Galley) Littlefield.

The family is grateful for the friendship of two special people, Danny Harper and Howdy Goodwin.

Graveside services will be held 1pm, May 7, 2023, at Head of the Harbor Cemetery, 44 Marsh Rd., Tremont.

Condolences may be expressed at www.jordanfernald.com