My priority as your state representative has always been, and will continue to be, to fight for you. I will listen to you, learn from you, and then go to bat for you whenever and wherever that is necessary.
Sometimes that is right here on Cape Cod, like my fight to stop NStar from spraying harmful chemicals over our precious drinking water recharge areas. Sometimes those fights occur at national fisheries management meetings, like my fight to turn back efforts to change the lobster regulations for the Outer Cape, which would have cost most of our lobstermen thousands of dollars in lost income and would have put others out of business.
And, of course, many of those fights occur in Boston where I have fought to protect local aid for our towns, for Lyme disease treatment reform, to stop bullying in our schools, and to bring stability to municipal budgets by making it harder for the governor to cut regional school transportation budgets.
I have successfully worked to give us a seat at the table where decisions are made that affect our lives and livelihood. This leadership translates into keeping and growing jobs here on Cape Cod. As vice-chair of the Tourism Arts and Cultural Development Committee, I work everyday to keep our tourism and arts economic engines robust and vibrant; as vice-chair of the Regional Transportation Caucus and as a member of the Aviation Caucus, I protect our rural transportation needs and jobs at our airports; as the legislator representing Massachusetts on the Atlantic State Marine Fisheries Commission, I help create fishing policy and protect our fishermen's livelihood.
Perhaps most importantly, I advocate for those whose voices may not be heard: our veterans, our elderly, and those in need. I have helped thousands of constituents connect with government services to help make their lives better.
What's next? There are still many challenges. All one has to do is pick up this newspaper to understand that. Here are what some of my priorities will be:
* Rein in small business health care costs. We made some important steps this session to address this problem, but more must be done. I was successful in enacting legislation to allow small businesses to band together to negotiate and buy health insurance as a group because there is strength in numbers. Now we must get serious about reducing or eliminating the other causes of high premiums. * Stop the escalating homeowners' insurance premiums. I will file three bills to establish 'standards' for the hurricane models to insure the data used is relevant to Cape Cod; limit wind deductibles to only named hurricanes; and allow for policy rebates for homeowners who take steps to 'hurricane proof' their homes. * Get our economy back on track. I will continue to work with my colleagues from across the aisle and across the commonwealth to preserve valuable film and aviation tax credits and to find new areas of strategic investment. These investments are critical to growing the economy, increasing jobs and restoring revenue. This growth will enable us to help those who need a hand up and will allow us to look seriously at repealing taxes.
These are complex issues and my sleeves remain rolled up to continue to fight for you. There are those who offer 'sound-bite solutions.' I offer you my track record of hard work, proven accomplishments, and a fearlessness of tackling the difficult and thorny issues. Please visit www.sarahpeake.org to learn more.
I respectfully ask for your vote on Nov. 2, so I can keep fighting for you.
State Rep. Sarah Peake, D-Provincetown, represents the 4th Barnstable District in the Massachusetts House.
Yes We Can! Phone Bank on Bank Street Beach David & Pam Purdy's Home (Park at Bank Street Beach) 30 Bank Street Harwichport, MA 02646
(508) 432-1522
Sunday, 10 Oct 2010, 12:15 PM Stop the red tea bag tide of sliding backwards! Please come on Sunday at 12 Noon, and let's call for all four our candidates!
1. Bill Keating for US Congress! 2. Deval Patrick for Governor! 3. Dan Wolf for State Senate! 4. Sarah Peake for State Representative!
To invite people to sign up specifically for your event, send your invitees this link:
In a recent letter Steven Cole suggested that Dan Wolf is, ‘an executive’ and that a senator could not be a representative if he or she was an executive. Any dictionary would tell Mr. Cole that executive means a person having administrative or supervisory authority of an organization. The issue of NStar’s spraying of toxic chemicals along the rights-of-way under our power lines and single source aquifer on Cape Cod was cited as an example of Wolf’s ‘hardline’ stance.
During the recent debate in Eastham, I heard Mr. Wolf mince no words about where he stood. He simply stated that in negotiating with NStar, and as a sound representative of Cape Cod, his negotiations would start with the premise that there would be no spraying of poisons on our sole source aquiver, period. His opponent, Ms. Lyons, a county commissioner, backslid by posing that this toxic spraying issue is ‘more complex’ and cited obstacles in law that need to be addressed and changed, as well as her understanding of this issue and even cited personalities. NStar is not a personality, but a huge corporation which has a long history, even under another corporate name (Commonwealth Electric), of ignoring the health and safety concerns of Cape Codders; for decades, who fully understand the issue of spraying toxic chemicals and its effects on our fragile sandy spit we all call home.
Last Wednesday, Dan Wolf joined State representatives Sarah Peake and Cleon Turner in supporting a call from GreenCAPE’s Sue Phelan for NStar to permanently end the use of toxic chemicals on power lines above Cape Cod’s sole source aquifer. These are actions taken by Mr. Wolf which are much louder then only words, and his business, Cape Air’s solar heated hangars in Hyannis have been cited as one of the greenest businesses not only on the Cape but in southeastern Massachusetts, which created over 500 jobs. His stance on this issue alone is truly representative of our community, a view that needs to be heard an acted upon in the State House. That’s why I am urging people to vote for Dan Wolf on September 14th, and most importantly come November 2nd. Circle your calendars now.
Joe Bangert
Former Director Massachusetts Agent Orange Program
https://secure.sage-systems.com/cms/danwolf/?l=donate To serve as state senator for the Cape and Islands would be a true honor. After 30 years building connections through our communities, raising a family, starting a business, creating jobs while honoring the environment, serving many nonprofit and public boards, I believe I now have the leadership, experience and temperament to represent voters well.
Two quick stories tell a lot about why I am asking for Cape constituents' votes on Sept. 14.
The first:
A few weeks ago, after a year of hard, sometimes complicated work, I threw the switch on the largest solar panel installation in southeastern Massachusetts.
Cape Air, the company I founded 21 years ago with one plane, and one route, now has almost 1,000 employees, many of whom work at our Barnstable headquarters. That facility will now be electricity-neutral on a year-round basis.
Those solar panels create good jobs as well as electricity. They reduce our unhealthy reliance on fossil fuels.
As state senator, I will work to make projects like this available to small businesses and homeowners, part of a plan we develop together to make the Cape and Islands energy-self-sufficient, strengthening our economy while protecting our environment.
The second story:
Cape Air's health insurance policy recently came up for renewal. We were shocked when the company gave us its quote: an 18 percent hike over last year.
That was on a Monday. By Wednesday, a competitor came back with an offer: How about a 5 percent hike?
We went back to the first company. By Thursday, it had revised its quote: How about a 3 percent hike?
My question: What were they going to do with the 15 percent, more than $300,000, they needed on Monday but didn't need on Thursday?
Of course I know the answer: Drive up profits at our expense.
We need a state senator who understands the crucial difference between business that is part of our community's fabric, and corporations that skim profits without caring about our future.
What does this mean?
It means we support local businesspeople and the entrepreneurial spirit. It means we turn to community banks, where I've served and participated for many years, rather than anonymous off-Cape lenders. It means we encourage local farmers; their food is better for our health, and they are our neighbors.
It means we force insurance companies to roll back outrageous homeowners' insurance premiums. It means we don't allow NStar to spray poison on our land in the name of keeping power lines clear. It means we strengthen public education. My three daughters got great educations at Cape Cod public schools. We must get our fair share of state funding so our towns are not pitted against each other in bitter fights about fiscal formulas.
This has been my lifelong philosophy. This is the understanding I will bring to the Statehouse.
My leadership has been proved. At the state level, I serve on the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, managing the state's many parks. Here at home, I worked with many others to find solutions to our wastewater crisis as co-chairman of the Business Roundtable.
No matter the issue, my process will always be the same: Bring people together, collaborate with mutual respect, build understanding, and then get real results.
So this campaign, like the past 30 years, is not about what I can do. It's about what we can do.
That's why more than 570 of Cape Air's employees are also its owners, sharing our successes and profits.
That's why I'm proud to have won the endorsement of both the Massachusetts Nurses Association and the Massachusetts Teachers Association.
That's why I ask voters to turn to anyone they know who has served with me on a public or nonprofit board over these many years. Ask about my commitment, experience and skills. Ask about my ability to connect the dots and bring people together. Ask about my passion.
I'm ready to serve as the Cape's full-time state senator.
Dan Wolf of North Harwich, president of Cape Air, is seeking the Democratic nomination for the Cape and Islands state Senate seat.
John Bangert (left) and Ed McManus stand under the giant copper beech tree that guards the entry to the natural amphitheater. ALAN POLLOCK PHOTO
Selectman Seeks Sylvan Setting For New Music Festival by Alan Pollock
HARWICH — As part of an effort to get the event back to its hometown roots—and back to nature—this year's Harwich Cranberry Festival will include a new Harwich Music Festival to be held in the natural amphitheater in the woods behind Brooks Park.
“I was driving by and one day I looked down there,” Selectman Ed McManus said. To discourage littering and other problems, the highway department had cleared away the thick brush from the area, revealing the natural bowl-shaped clearing just east of Brooks Park. McManus, the president of the cranberry festival committee, had been working with other volunteers to find a way to introduce a homegrown musical component to the event. Before long, the pieces started to come together.
McManus was approached by Bob Weiser, a radio host and event producer with the Provincetown-based public radio station WOMR-FM, who was looking for a venue for a musical event. Weiser, a Harwich resident, said WOMR was looking for an event to coincide with the station's launch of a satellite transmitter in Brewster, which will help expand its market to the rest of Cape Cod. McManus suggested the Brooks Park site, and they gave it a careful look.
What they found was a natural performance space with great acoustics, close to parking lots, rest rooms, the bike trail and a playground. The two met with the recreation and youth commission, which has jurisdiction over the site, and police and fire officials. There are several obstacles to using the site for a public performance space, “nothing insurmountable,” McManus said, but a sizeable electrical service will need to be brought in, and some provision will need to be made for handicap access. Public safety officials and the rec and youth commission have given preliminary approval, McManus said.
WOMR will pay to erect a stage and a dance floor for its free concert on Sept. 18, and will make the stage available for the new Harwich Music Festival on the following day. Thanks to WOMR, “We're not using any taxpayer money,” co-organizer John Bangert said. During its event, the radio station will raise money from the proceeds of a beer and wine bar, which will have professional bartenders and a fenced-in area where the alcohol will be consumed.
The radio station's event will be an excellent test of the amphitheater's suitability for crowds, McManus said. “We can get a sense of how it works,” he noted. If the test is successful, the town can consider making more permanent improvements, like installing a wheelchair ramp, but not much else, Bangert said.
“We want to keep it natural, not overdeveloped,” he said. The natural space is guarded by a giant copper beech tree, whose trunk bears generations of initials from young adventurers and lovers. It's a fitting centerpiece of the music festival, McManus said. “It's got its roots in the community,” he said.
In the short term, a vehicle will be used to provide wheelchair access to the amphitheater, and people will be encouraged to bring beach blankets or lawn chairs for seating. The festival committee will also need to obtain the necessary permits for food and beverages to be served there.
It's a logical step to begin migrating festival activities to Brooks Park, away from the high school site, McManus said. The town is likely to be building a replacement high school in the years ahead, probably utilizing much of the existing front lawn, where the craft fair is usually held.
“It makes sense to build the future of the festival around here,” he said.
The new natural performance space is in keeping with the back-to-basics thrust of this year's cranberry festival, Bangert said. “It's about more culture, less carnival,” he said. The professional craft show, which drew dozens of crafters and merchants from a wide geographic area, will be replaced by a show with more local artists and craftsmen.
“Our goal is to take the 'starving' out of 'starving artists,'” Bangert said. A strong core of local artists has already emerged, including Paul Lagg, who designed an impressive logo for the event. Lagg's full-time job is as the GIS coordinator for the town of Chatham.
Even the food concessions will be encouraged to find and use local produce in their offerings, Bangert said. Likewise, the music festival will feature home-grown performers like Paul Pena, Greg Greenway, Carol Chichetto, Sarah Burrill, Kris Larson and David Roth. The event will also feature The Fireman's Daughter, a Nashville-based folk duo co-starring Catie Flynn of Harwich; Annie Lynch of Annie and the Beekeepers, Emma Dubner of the Ticks, The Elbows, JO & CO and other groups. It's an opportunity for popular, established performers, as well as up-and-coming local acts, Bangert said.
Details on the Harwich Cranberry Festival's plans will be firmed up over the summer, and information will be posted at
Six years ago the voters of Harwich gave me the opportunity to serve them as a member of the Board of Selectmen. I am grateful for the trust that was placed in me and I am asking for your help to continue to serve the Town of Harwich.
Not withstanding the financial problems we have had to face over the past years, much has been accomplished, and much still needs to be accomplished. In addition to setting policies on debt and use of free cash, most important has been the commitment to using ongoing revenues to pay for the ongoing expenses of the operating budget, not free cash or other one time sources. I have enjoyed being part of this process and feel I have made and will continue to make positive contributions.
Over the past three years we have advanced on many fronts. I take pride in the role I have played in developing new needed facilities whether it is the Habitat Housing at Gomes Way, the new police station, refurbished recreation facilities like the Bocce and Tennis courts at Brooks Park or the expanded parking and new restrooms at Earl Road Beach. In planning for Harwich’s near and long term future I have pushed for design funds for the Route 137 rebuild, economic planning activities in East Harwich, a High School Building Needs Study, adoption of Beach and Harbor Management capital plans and continuing support and funding for Clean Waste Water planning. The advances and awards that our schools have achieved has been nothing less than outstanding and deserving of our continued support.
I am also committed to continued work with the many businesses and organizations that support our town through the recreational, cultural and social events and improvements they work on. The Chamber of Commerce with their Fall for Harwich initiative, the Junior Theater’s efforts to bring activity and restoration to the Old Rec. Building, the Senior Softball League’s investment in fields and sponsoring the annual fall tournament, these are all things that bring a richness to our town which supports our tourism economy.
While I believe we have made a lot of progress over the past three years, the years ahead pose many challenges. We will have to decide what course to take in cleaning our waste water; which services to consider regionalizing with our neighbors, and to what extent; what services we can no longer afford, if any; and to what extent we are going to expand existing revenues or look to new revenue sources. I am asking for your help to allow me to continue to work on these challenges that face our Town. We must continue to maintain a good balance between the services provided, the cost of those services and the burden on our taxpayers. Thank you for your help in what we have done, and in what we will do in the next three years.
If you feel you can help me in an active, public or tangible way, please return the enclosed slip. I am grateful for your support, your trust, and your vote on May 15.
Sincerely,
Edward J. McManus
Candidate for Re-election to the Board of Selectmen
