Winds of Change.NET: Maine: Credit Where It's Due

March 5, 2003

Maine: Credit Where It's Due

by Joe Katzman at March 5, 2003 7:09 PM

[For the complete history of our coverage and email addresses to write to, click here]

A lot of folks in Maine have been upset lately. To them, their entire state is being painted a certain way because of the actions of a very few. To show the other side and give credit where credit is due, we present Bangor, Maine City Manager Ed Barrett. Mr. Barrett sent 2 very courteous relies recently to Winds of Change.NET reader Richard Heddleson. Both were sent on a Friday, and one was sent at 5:16 PM.

Here are some excerpts from those 2 emails:

CTD....

"Dear Mr. Heddleson:

Thank you for your thoughtful reply. We have attempted to find out from various state officials where the complaints originated. They have been unwilling to provide us with this information. We assume that it has been relayed to the schools where problems were reported and is being handled confidentially at this point as part of the normal disciplinary process. We have also discussed this issue with our teachers and administrators (both before and after the publicity) to insure that they are sensitive to the issue.

...Many of our teachers and other public employees are members of the National Guard, and we recently held a departure ceremony for an activated unit at our high school. Regardless of an individual's opinions about the current situation, I believe that we all have a respect for those who serve in the armed forces, if for no other reason than so many of them are our neighbors, friends, and co-workers.

...The City of Bangor has a long history of strong support for the military including our record of greeting every plane of returning gulf war veterans who transited Bangor in the early 90's. Bangor High School, for example, has the oldest continuous ROTC program in the entire nation. While there may have been issues elsewhere, we are unaware of any here. Our only relationship to this story is that it originated from a Bangor television station and carried Bangor in the by-line of the initial newspaper and wire service reports. Bangor is the home to the largest newspaper in Maine, and that paper regularly carries state-wide stories of interest."

There were other sections dealing with the situation specifically, but nothing you don't already now. The bottom line for Mr. Barrett is that he has no ability to pursue this at the local level, and had no indication that any of the incidents were Bangor related. It is, however, a good example of the value of Emily's recent advice... and speaks well of Mr. Barrett, too.

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