To the editor:
I am writing to endorse Sandy Jacques for re-election as selectman.
I have lived in Pigeon Cove for the better part of 60 years. In all that time, I had never felt obliged to actively participate in the local decision processes that affect our lived by running for office, joining a committee etc.
That changed last year, when, for the first time in 25 years, the fate of the downtown village in which I grew up and loved became a matter available for us town residents as a whole to decide. I became a participant and volunteered to study the situation.
Rockport has zoning laws that define permissible property uses. Once the only remaining general zone property is consigned to residential use, no other property in town will ever allow for the wide variety of marine or commercial uses it could have developed.
Opportunities for enterprise and other sources of employment that characterized the village just 30 years ago will be forsaken. In future years, we will likely become dependent more and more on increasing residential tax revenues, which will certainly benefit some town residents — for example, builders, real estate agents and, perhaps, yet another crew of landscaping contractors. But other entrepreneurs will have a somewhat tougher time.
In a few days, Rockport voters will choose their leaders for the next three years.
Democracy works best when the interests and of many are put before those of the few — when facts replace perceptions, and when representatives we entrust to represent us oblige themselves to trust us.
Sandy Jacques has taken action to promote those ideals. If you believe that actions speak louder than words, I hope you will join me and re-elect Sandy Jacques on Tuesday.
ZENAS SEPPALA
Granite Street, Rockport
Member, Cape Ann Tool Company Task Force
