State growth, identity debated
By Deborah McDermott,
Portsmouth Herald:
May 5, 2006
ALFRED, Maine - The question is this: How can you build prosperity in Maine without destroying its unique character?
The answer is one being investigated by GrowSmart Maine, which took to the road for a whirlwind four days last week, starting in Caribou on Monday and ending 1,100 miles later April 27 in Alfred.
In Alfred, the only gathering in York County, nearly 100 people turned out. And surprisingly, said Alan Caron, president of the Falmouth-based anti-sprawl organization, much of what he heard was similar to comments he heard in Aroostook County.
"Certainly, there were a lot of differences region to region, but there were many similarities, as well," he said.
He heard several threads running through the meetings. For one, he said, people do not want just any business and industry coming into the state, but rather to attract those that will not affect their quality of life. The dialogue has drawn people who do not normally converse, he said.
"So, for instance, we have people who do conservation who don’t normally talk about prosperity talking with people living on the edge, who don’t normally talk about quality of space."
Another thread is education. He heard over and over that townspeople want their small-town schools, and don’t want to send their children to a regional school far away. On the other hand, they’re supportive of efforts to consolidate school administration.
Finally, people across the state agreed that change has to come from the bottom up.
"Big changes are not going to come from Augusta. Each community has an interesting story about things they’re doing locally, and we can all learn from them."
"It was fabulous meeting," said Joey Donnelley of York Harbor. "I was enormously impressed."
He concurred with Caron’s assessment of the threads, particularly the disconnect with Augusta. "It seems to me what we continually hear is that bureaucratic decision-making in Augusta is increasing the costs of what towns want to do."
David Batchelder of Kittery, who also attended, said GrowSmart "is definitely asking the right questions and digging deeper than just the surface."
GrowSmart has hired the Washington, D.C., think tank, the Brookings Institute, to conduct a statewide study, which is due out this fall.
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