Who Wins - No One





     In March I wrote about a controversy brewing in Brunswick. Brunswick had acquired a parcel of land on the ocean for nonpayment of taxes. Along with several town councilors, a vocal group of citizens monopolized the public comment period during many town council meetings insisting that the land should be retained and owned by the town and made into a public waterfront park. The town council spent many hours hearing from town residents; received many written comments/emails from town residents. A group of citizens gathered signatures on a (on-line) petition 'requesting' the council to put the decision out to citizen referendum. 'Request' is an understatement. Their voices grew louder and more insistent. The newspaper articles grew nastier. In the end, the council voted to put the property up for sale. The citizen group sued the town saying the town council did not follow municipal law and should have heeded their petition request for a referendum.

This group was very sure that a court would agree with their position, ie. that the town council vote to sell the land not only did not follow municipal law, but their action had a 'chilling effect on the citizen right to petition their government.'

This week the court ruled in favor of the town. Sometimes elected officials have hard decisions to make that don't necessarily please the constituents who elect them. Sometimes constituents make hard decisions harder. No one really won in this case. There was a lot of animosity surrounding this issue and has further divided this town. The same animosity has existed with the school board. Hard decisions have had to be made. The townspeople are further divided.