Ferry pilot exemption risky
The Maine Pilotage Commission has served the state and our coastal communities for nearly 50 years governing the marine pilotage laws of Maine. Over the years, the Legislature has modified certain pilotage statutes with the commission’s input to place the state’s interests first. The Legislature is now considering LD 1752, an Act to Promote Passenger Ferry Service between Maine and Nova Scotia. The commission opposes LD 1752.
Pilots are licensed by the state and accountable to the people of Maine. Pilots take an oath to perform their duties in the best interest of the state. The commission is afforded investigative and disciplinary power. If a Maine pilot acts negligently or improperly, there are laws in place to investigate and discipline pilots, including license suspension or revocation. The state would lose that power for vessels exempted under LD 1752.
Environmentally, Maine is unforgiving. Maine has harsh weather conditions, unpredictable and heavy fog, and an extremely rocky coastline that could tear open a ship hull. LD 1752 would allow ferry captains to pilot a ship after a minimal number of trips, with no additional instruction, testing or state oversight. Considering that the current ferry route between Maine and Nova Scotia operates daily at a high speed, is this an oversight that Maine really wants to give up?
Pilots serve as the experts to manage navigation risks, and keep our waterways, beaches, economy and fishery safe. LD 1752 will weaken our pilotage system and place the environment, safety and economy at risk.
Capt. Charles Weeks
Chair
Maine Pilotage Commission
Hampden
Disappointed in Collins
I am disappointed in Sen. Susan Collins once again.
Collins is too experienced and politically savvy to know or believe that President Donald Trump sought the advice of his legal counsel before making a decision on whether to fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
It is clear from all accounts that the president decided to fire Mueller, took steps to have him fired, not by the president himself but by White House Counsel Donald McGahn, and backed away only when the White House counsel threatened to resign.
Joel Russ
Walpole
Why Electoral College matters
A neighbor asked me why it was fair that Donald Trump won the election, when Hillary Clinton won the popular vote. Since this has been a contentious argument in this country for a year, I thought this would help: This is not a Republican- or Democrat-sponsored issue.
In their infinite wisdom, the founders of our country created a structure called the Electoral College as a control system and to ensure the individual states were fairly represented. Otherwise one or two densely populated areas would speak for the whole of the nation. It was not created as a device to favor any political affiliation. It was created as a system of “checks and balances” to guard against any small vocal area, with a specific agenda, speaking for the whole of the nation.
The United States is comprised of 3.7 million square miles. When you have a country that encompasses almost 4 million square miles of territory, it would be ludicrous to even suggest that the vote of those who inhabit a mere 319 square miles, such as the boroughs of New York City, should dictate the outcome of a national election.
Large, densely populated cities like New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles do not, and should not, speak for the rest of our country, and somehow the geniuses who founded our country understood this and created a system to avoid that circumstance.
This is the supreme importance of the Electoral College.
Jack Gagnon
Lakeville
No tax breaks for General Dynamics
As a social worker, I am tasked with locating available social welfare programs — including open beds at psychiatric hospitals, substance abuse and mental health treatment programs, housing assistance, to name a few — but the current federal and state political climate is constantly clamoring to cut more from the social welfare system while increasing welfare given to corporations.
For instance, General Dynamics, the parent corporation of Bath Iron Works, is the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world, and ranks 90th on the most recent list of Fortune 500 companies; from the late 1990s to the present, it has climbed from 375th on the Fortune 500 list to 90th, with repeated infusions from tax breaks and subsidies over the years.
BIW is recognized to be one of the most profitable of the company’s divisions. A bill, LD 1781, sponsored by Rep. Jennifer DeChant, D-Bath, would give BIW another $60 million tax break. Corporations such as General Dynamics do not need more tax breaks, especially after the recent corporate tax giveaway, but real people do.
I am urging my Maine elected officials to vote against LD 1781 and put that money to work for the people of Maine in need.
Starr C. Gilmartin
Trenton
Don’t hike airline passenger fee
We’re fortunate to live in a beautiful state that millions of people want to visit each year. Our tourism economy continues to grow, and in the Katahdin region we are all well aware of the benefits of tourism.
That’s why I’m opposed to policies that could decrease tourists’ interest in visiting Maine. One such policy is the proposed increase in the Passenger Facility Charge. Increasing this fee will increase the price of a plane ticket for someone to travel to Maine — and it might make them think twice about coming here.
One of the reasons the fee is especially harmful to Maine is that it is not charged just once on your ticket purchase, but on multiple flight segments. We’re up here in the Northeast corner of the country, and it’s beautiful, but that makes it harder for visitors to find a direct flight here. That means the amount they pay in the fee is higher. And it means they have less to spend when they get to Maine — if they decide to come here at all.
l support growing our tourism economy, not hindering it. We have a $6 billion tourism industry that we can’t put at risk with increased fees on travelers. The airports have $6 billion they can draw from in a trust fund. Think about that comparison. They don’t need more of travelers’ money. That’s why I’m opposed to an increase in the Passenger Facility Charge.
Rep. Stephen S. Stanley
Medway