Dear Editor:

Through a year of controversy over Jeff Spinney’s efforts to install a dock and boat launch on a scenic and quiet segment of the Sheepscot River for exclusive use by members of his Golden Ridge Sportsman’s Club (GRSC), Alna’s selectmen held planning board vacancies open, professing their unwillingness to appoint anyone that had expressed opinions about the issue.

When, during a brief interlude between Mr. Spinney’s multiple permit applications, they decided to fill the vacancies, not only did they pass over several people who had volunteered months earlier, but they filled two vacancies with candidates that had expressed strong public support for Spinney’s project. So when, shortly after these appointments, Spinney submitted a new application very similar to the recently and repeatedly rejected one, many expected Joel Verney and Beth Whitney would recuse themselves.

Under direct questioning by the board chair, both acknowledged having signed a letter of support for Spinney’s earlier project, as well as a petition to amend Alna’s Shoreland Zoning Ordinance in a way that would legalize it. Mr. Verney, however, failed to disclose his GRSC membership, and both declined to recuse, claiming they would bring unbiased and open minds to the new application.

Newly surfaced documents, however, make these claims impossible to believe. The 2020 GRSC annual report filed with Maine’s Secretary of State lists Joel Verney as a board member. Another letter of support by Mr. Verney has also been discovered, as have Facebook posts by Beth Whitney also expressing strong support. Although Verney, now claims to have resigned both his GRSC membership and post as board member, his lack of candor in disclosing these affiliations undermines his credibility, and both he and Ms. Whitney gave every appearance of being Spinney advocates during subsequent deliberations.

From one controversy to the next, our town’s representatives have long decried the divisions in our small town, and expressed hope for healing. It should be needless to say, but Alna’s citizens will not have their faith restored or their divisions healed in the face of the continued disregard for fairness and ethics to which we have unfortunately grown accustomed.

Ed Pentaleri

Alna