[Local-Maine-Schools] Common Cause

[Brian Hubbell]

Tom,

My apologies.  While it mentions only our own legislators, that piece,
written for the local papers, was meant as a general acknowledgment of
how hard all of our legislators worked in the face of a very tough
political situation.  Believe me, we do appreciate the work of all the
Rural Caucus (even if we are still a bit in the dark about its
specific membership).

Locally, Jim Schatz certainly also made his stand.  And we very much
recognize and appreciate the work that you did, Tom, along with
Senator Nutting, Representative Edgecomb and also --especially--
Representative Farrington.

You are absolutely right that whatever relative successes emerged
during the last few days of negotiations were the result of much hard
work by many different groups across the state.  And, for them all, we
are thankful.  It's all too easy to blame legislators for the faults
in legislative compromises.  But it is very important to acknowledge
the good work that they each do when they make the best efforts
possible for their constituents.

--Brian

-----------------------------------

On 6/15/07, Tom Savielo <drtom16 at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> Some how you left out the rural caucus. It they did not stand tall you would
> have never got anything.
>
>
>
>  ________________________________
>  > Date: Thu, 14 Jun 2007 18:50:18 -0400
> > From: sparkflashgap at gmail.com
> > To: local-maine-schools at lists.svaha.com
> > Subject: [Local-Maine-Schools] Common Cause
> >
> > Common cause in the face of adversity often brings forward the best
> > from communities and, for proof, one need look no further than the
> > response from Mount Desert Island to the Governor's proposal to
> > dissolve local authority over our communities' schools.
> >
> > Following the responding outcry voiced at January's public meeting at
> > the MDI High School, an astute observer remarked that the Governor had
> > done more to draw together the towns and citizens of Mount Desert
> > Island than anyone since Admiral Yamamoto.
> >
> > Indeed, in the following weeks and months, as individuals weighed
> > among themselves what it was that was most important to them about our
> > schools, groups of all stripes set aside their differences in order to
> > express a coherent voice about just what it is that makes the fabric
> > of community here valuable and worth fighting for.
> >
> > As a direct consequence, the citizens of MDI were able to exert
> > substantial influence on the final legislation which, after months of
> > arduous negotiation and revision, finally passed the legislature last
> > week in a form that both greatly preserves the necessary operations of
> > our schools and allows our citizens to determine their own structure
> > of school governance.
> >
> > You all should be proud of this, as it represents the very best
> > dynamics of local representative democracy in Maine. And for this, we
> > all owe a debt of gratitude to our elected representatives who, when
> > the time came, also stood unified on your behalf against substantial
> > political pressure from above.
> >
> > We were indeed fortunate to be represented by Senator Dennis Damon
> > who, right up through the last late-night moments, stood willing to
> > sacrifice any greater political ambitions by providing the critical
> > senate vote against the state budget if our local needs weren't
> > satisfied through amendment.
> >
> > We were fortunate to be diligently hosted several times at the State
> > House by Representative Ted Koffman who frequently sat in and
> > carefully made sure that concerned citizens from MDI were able to meet
> > with the right administrators and policy makers at the critical times.
> >
> > And, not least, we are fortunate to be represented by House Majority
> > Leader Hannah Pingree who stood up for us, in the face of a unanimous
> > budget report from the powerful Appropriations committee and pressure
> > from her own party's leadership in the Senate, and managed the
> > critical consensus necessary for the final amendment that not only
> > protected our schools but also received the two-thirds vote needed for
> > final approval.
> >
> > Each of our representatives played a critical part in this. Their
> > work, their steady communication with us throughout the process, and
> > the final result all are proof of the respect that they bear for you,
> > the citizens of Mount Desert Island.
> >
> > With the new legislation passed, a different kind of hard work now
> > lies ahead of us for our schools. But we all should be reinvigorated
> > by the evidence that participatory democracy and community remain very
> > much intact on MDI.
> >
> > Brian Hubbell, Bar Harbor
> > Gail Marshall, Mount Desert
> > Paul Murphy, Bar Harbor
> > Dick Atlee, Southwest Harbor
> > John March, Mount Desert
> > Rob Liebow, Mount Desert
>
> ________________________________
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