Dear Editor:

The formation of a new Joint Economic Development Committee for Boothbay and Boothbay Harbor was written about in this newspaper on March 8, 2016 but no contact information was provided. The article said the committee had reached out to local business as a research project. Our local business was not part of that research project although we are one of the few businesses in East Boothbay. The council is rumored to work under the town selectmen but it is not listed on the town website. It is not found on the Chamber website. Various people are said to be on this committee but contact information is hard to find.

After an extended search I found contact information for the committee on the Lincoln County Regional Planning Commission website. There was a call for consultants on a master plan which will "conduct informational interviews with a limited number of key community leaders." This has the ring of language used in government by special interest politics, which I am familiar with because I have researched the state economic development statutes for seven years. I published what I learned in a book titled "Public Private Relationships and the New Owners of the Means of Production," available on Amazon.

Any organization which purports to serve the community should be transparent and accessible to the community, especially in a place that seeks to attract younger people. There should be a website for this committee which includes names, contact information and a brief explanation of the economic development philosophy of each person serving on the committee. That would send an inviting message to all who are in business or considering a business in this community.

I have contacted the committee asking that our own project, the formation of the Andersen Design Museum of American Designer Craftsmen be included in the vision of our transforming community. By the time this letter is published I will have received a response to my introductory letter, or not. I hope that the committee will take this letter as constructive criticism, I think it needs to be more transparent and accessible to all businesses or would be businesses in this community.

Susan Mackenzie Andersen

Andersen Design

East Boothbay