Brunswick's Right to Petition
Donation protected
Dear Brunswick Voter and people everywhere who care about citizen participation in government,
In January, citizens of Brunswick submitted a legal and proper petition, with 1,164 signatures, that would ensure Brunswick voters could vote to make town-owned coastal property at 946 Mere Point Road into a park.
When the Town Council flatly refused to consider the petition on February 6, we formed a non-profit and went to court to protect the right for all Brunswick voters to petition our Town.
On February 21, 2017, our attorney, David Lourie, asked the Superior Court to make the Brunswick Town Council do what it should: put the future of the Mere Point property to a public vote, and affirm that Brunswick voters have the right to petition.
The Council was informed of this filing on February 21, but nevertheless voted that same night to move ahead with the sale of the Mere Point property.
To date, Brunswick’s municipal attorney’s strategy seems to be to push the property sale through as quickly as possible in the hope of preventing the people from having their say, even though he acknowledges that the court case would take only 3-6 months.
Throughout this process, the only voices that have mattered are those of a few objecting neighbors. We need to ensure that the voices of all Brunswick voters count! And we believe that another voice must count - that of the Court. The Council should stop trying to make an end run around the Court and around Brunswick voters. They should not be racing to sell this rare coastal property to avoid citizen participation in our government. If the Council can’t respect the citizens enough to give us a vote, they should at least respect the Court enough to wait for a decision.
We must continue to press for our right to petition, and to do so we need your help.
Please donate now!
Many Brunswick residents have already contributed hundreds of dollars to fight this battle. We need your donation to make sure we have the funds to see this through!
You can donate in two ways: you can simply enter your donation on this site, or mail it to:
BCCG
POB 415
Brunswick, ME 04011
Thank you for helping secure the right for ALL Brunswick residents to be heard!
In January, citizens of Brunswick submitted a legal and proper petition, with 1,164 signatures, that would ensure Brunswick voters could vote to make town-owned coastal property at 946 Mere Point Road into a park.
When the Town Council flatly refused to consider the petition on February 6, we formed a non-profit and went to court to protect the right for all Brunswick voters to petition our Town.
On February 21, 2017, our attorney, David Lourie, asked the Superior Court to make the Brunswick Town Council do what it should: put the future of the Mere Point property to a public vote, and affirm that Brunswick voters have the right to petition.
The Council was informed of this filing on February 21, but nevertheless voted that same night to move ahead with the sale of the Mere Point property.
To date, Brunswick’s municipal attorney’s strategy seems to be to push the property sale through as quickly as possible in the hope of preventing the people from having their say, even though he acknowledges that the court case would take only 3-6 months.
Throughout this process, the only voices that have mattered are those of a few objecting neighbors. We need to ensure that the voices of all Brunswick voters count! And we believe that another voice must count - that of the Court. The Council should stop trying to make an end run around the Court and around Brunswick voters. They should not be racing to sell this rare coastal property to avoid citizen participation in our government. If the Council can’t respect the citizens enough to give us a vote, they should at least respect the Court enough to wait for a decision.
We must continue to press for our right to petition, and to do so we need your help.
Please donate now!
Many Brunswick residents have already contributed hundreds of dollars to fight this battle. We need your donation to make sure we have the funds to see this through!
You can donate in two ways: you can simply enter your donation on this site, or mail it to:
BCCG
POB 415
Brunswick, ME 04011
Thank you for helping secure the right for ALL Brunswick residents to be heard!
Organizer
Marybeth Poulin Latti
Organizer
Brunswick, ME