SPECIAL REPORT: How Bar Harbor voted and what it means

BAR HARBOR, June 234, 2023 - It would be tempting to cast last night’s results as a big victory for Ocean Properties and APPLL.

After all, three of the council’s four seats went to candidates who did not support the 1,780 votes by citizens last November to cap cruise ship visits at 1,000 a day, incumbent Chair Val Peacock, Earl Brechlin and Kyle Shank.

The two insurgent candidates, Charles Sidman and Nate Young, were defeated. Sidman in particular was badly beaten by Brechlin, affirming that votes in a citizens referendum do not necessarily translate into votes for an individual, no matter how successful he was at challenging officialdom.

Sidman’s prickly personality which was a strength as a disruptor probably was a deficit as a candidate.

Moreover, Brechlin has a prodigious following on the island from his books about this part of Maine, his lectures on island history, his work as communications director at Friends of Acadia and his longtime editorship of the Islander. Similarly, Peacock has many friends she made long before she was elected to the council in 2020. Kyle Shank was lucky to have the support of both Sidman and the APPLL crowd. The former bartender at Side Street Cafe was chair of the Comprehensive Plan Task Force, which served as a launching pad for his run for council.

The electorate chose middle-of-the-road candidates against those with extreme views. In addition to rejecting Young and Sidman, the voters also said farewell to incumbent Erin Cough, whose blatant support on behalf of her tourism industry friends were the subject of many QSJ articles. Gary “Bo” Jennings, president of the Chamber of Commerce, received scant support in his attempt at a council seat.

The biggest surprise of the night was the top vote getter, 27-year-old Maya Caines, whose job as the town’s communications director was eliminated in January after her boss, Town Manager Kevin Sutherland, was forced to resign.

Her 843 votes were 49 more than Shank’s and 124 more than Peacock’s.

She ran on a promise to make housing the No. 1 priority for the council, to represent the interest of service workers most of whom are renters and to balance the interest between residents and tourism.

Like other candidates, she pledged to lobby the legislature for a local options tax.

“Bar Harbor generates over $230 million in restaurant and sales tax revenue every year, but less than 1% of that revenue is reinvested into our community,” she stated in her candidates questionnaire.

She also cited other potential revenue streams, including “state and federal grants, fairly distributed parking and waste fees” paid by land-based tourists and local hotels and restaurants.

Did voters send a strong signal that the town’s standing issues of a housing crisis and overwrought tourism did not go away when they elected someone so young who’s never held elective office before?

The new council will meet and elect a chair. Those with experience with leading a parliamentary process include former chair Gary Friedmann, vice chair Matt Hochman, Shank and, of course, Peacock.

It is not known whether anyone is interested in adding the administrative and political responsibilities which can often dilute a member’s effectiveness. Peacock, for instance, was a much more vocal and effective member until she nominated herself for chair after the 2021 election. She had no experience managing a town manager, who was forced to resign on her watch.

The to-do list for the new council includes:

• Vote on whether to support amendment to the FY24 budget by the town meeting to strip the chamber of $60,000 in town funds after it joined the Association to preserve and Protect Local Livelihoods, the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the November referendum.

• Hire a new town manager.

• Begin to focus on the FY25 budget which promises to be a bear if inflation is not tamed. Sutherland came upon this realization late in the process last year and proposed a 15.5 percent tax increase before he was let go.

• Deal with the aftermath of the impending trial this summer when a federal judge will rule on the citizens ordinance. If upheld, will the council enforce the cruise ship cap or continue to ignore it? If the ordinance is thrown out, will the council default to its standing agreements with cruise lines for a daily 4,000-passenger cap and days without ships?

Sidman said today that the citizens group will continue to pursue defense of the ordinance as a court-approved intervenor.

“That’s all we got left,” he said.

The turnout yesterday’s was surprisingly small given that a major school bond was on the ballot. Only 1,555 voters turned out - 30.7 percent of the electorate.

Ocean Properties and APPLL are no doubt breathing a sigh of relief this morning with their two most feared detractors sidelined.

CORRECTION: The QSJ misstated the location of the body discovered Sunday in Southwest Harbor in my post yesterday. The body was discovered at 61 Main Street, just north of the IGA market and just south of the new mini golf course.