Dear Editor:

Alna voters have a clear choice this week. Will you elect selectmen who will just do the business of managing our town? Is it your wish to put an end to the bitter warfare that has consumed our town for two years? If so, I recommend you consider a 32-year-old Marine combat veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, Kyle Levasseur. He wants to continue that national service into his community. I also recommend Chris Cooper, a veteran public official/volunteer with 40 years of service to Alna. Over the years Chris has taken on any task asked of him and more. Each stands as an individual. Neither has an agenda beyond doing the mundane day-to-day tasks that make small towns work. I know them. They are honest, fair-minded individuals who will genuinely try to balance the fiercely competing interests that consume our town.

My last year as selectman was consumed by opponents of a 10-foot gravel boat launch. At every meeting we were attacked as biased, corrupt, and the town was buried in legal wrangling and expense. Other town volunteers – planning board members, the clerks, the code enforcement officer, etc. – were treated similarly.

I think the bottom was when a “joke” email was circulated among the ramp opponents: “Don’t back down” it said, “the Alna selectmen will soon be trembling at our feet. When all 3 have taken leaves of absence, we’ll invade the abandoned town office, dump the dog license files onto the floor (and) spray paint revolutionary slogans on the walls. Keep up those vicious letters to the editor and brutal public comments...”

Forty-seven people got this email. No-body objected; one did have the courage and decency to leak it to the press and to us. But for the rest, silence must have been assent.

Shortly after this our town clerk quit; she’d had enough. Her replacement quit six months later, saying “...the level of animosity pushed me over my limits.” Other volunteers have also said “enough” and quit.

As for me, I leave office exhausted and saddened by all of this. I’m genuinely puzzled too: In a year of such human misery, sickness, and death, how could 10 feet of gravel justify such expense in time and treasure, and such deplorable behavior?

Above are before and after photos of the site. Draw your own conclusions. Was it worth it?

There is a point to this tale: This year your vote for selectmen is, of necessity, both a judgment on our recent past and a statement of what future you prefer. In my opinion, Kyle Levasseur and Chris Cooper offer the promise of turning the climate of Alna back to civility and quiet, competent, unbiased good government. I encourage you to vote for them as your declaration of what you want this town to be like.

Over the years you have elected me six times to be one of your selectmen. Thank you. It has been an honor.

Doug Baston

Retiring 2nd Selectman

Town of Alna

PAID LETTER