Dear Governor Romney

A Cape Codder writes a "Dear Mitt letter"

Dear Governor Romney, I was present at your Press Conference Friday morning, March 18, at Craigville Beach on Cape Cod.

"The ethical lapses of that organization in the last three years have been continuous"

You are, I believe, making a serious mistake by publicly joining forces with the “Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound”. The ethical lapses of that organization in the last three years have been continuous – originated, approved or accomplished by their top paid staff and perhaps their Board of Directors.  Their frequency and severity have continued unabated, so by now must certainly be intentional, rather than from just their lack of knowledge or reasoned perspective. If you wish, I can provide specific proof of everything listed below.  This chronological list is just from my ready memory – there are many more.

1. False maps inserted with a Sunday Cape Cod Times, which which greatly overstated the size of the proposed Nantucket Sound, and about halved its true distance from the Cape’s south shore and Martha’s Vineyard. No public notification of this falsity was made to Times readers by the Alliance, although they admitted the “error” privately.
2. Walter Cronkite’s spot ads stayed on several radio stations for months after he publicly stated he had ordered them withdrawn.  Mr. Cronkite also wrote that he had been duped by the Alliance into the whole campaign because they withheld from him the fact that the Army Corps coordinated investigative process was planned and even already underway. When I called the continuing radio stations two months after Mr. Cronkite’s published withdrawal, they told me the Alliance had not authorized their removal. The ads eventually faded away.
3. A false and libelous Press Release to the State House News in Boston claimed that Cape Wind Associates was not meeting commitments to a (non-existent) company. John Donelan, key Alliance staff leader finally admitted to having sent this, and further investigation showed, from the Alliance’s office and on their computer. I believe Cape Wind’s lawsuit is still in Court.
4. Falsified numbers of petitioners on lists presented to you during a State House rally. Of the over 10,000 names they claimed delivered to your/the Corps’ office, I personally found, after paying for list reproduction and analyzing the lists from the Corps, that 40% were either duplications or fictitious names - including filthy and obviously bogus names.  I showed this data and my analysis to several Cape newspapers (including the opposing Cape Cod Times) and they all promptly printed articles about this fraud.  Interestingly, WindStop’s founder Cliff Carroll (see #7 below) was quoted in a resulting newspaper article, saying that he personally saw nothing wrong with signing several times, and did so himself, perhaps on a dozen different petition sheets (and I missed some of those!).
5. Their speakers in “Clean Power Now” debates with the Alliance, including one at which I personally spoke, debating Susan Nickerson before a Holy Cross alumni group, consciously and repeatedly misled the group by both innuendo and misinformation.
6. Several staff Officers of the Alliance (most recently Gerry Desautels and Malia Milligan) published entirely false accusations and attempted character assassination of Jim Gordon personally, and the project’s economics. I refuted the first, and Charles Kleekamp refuted the second: both these responses were widely published as Letters to Editor or Op-Ed articles in many Cape and regional newspapers, dailies and weeklies. I recently drank this laxative successfully, and we previously used the baby oil on our own babies’ bottoms. Both are mineral oil, as is the transformer oil 
7. The WindStop subgroup, supported by and combined with the Alliance, is more rabid. One of their favorite and continuing propaganda ads/posters/subjects is the oil that the Electric Service Platform (ESP) contains: they claim it will leak and cause gross contamination. I enclose for your information a federal Material Safety Data Sheet on this Transformer Oil. I have purchased myself off-the-shelf at a CVS store a bottle of the Johnson and Johnson baby oil (for baby bottoms and other skin), and CVS fluid laxative. I recently drank this laxative successfully, and we previously (now unfortunately many years ago!) used the baby oil on our own babies’ bottoms. Both are mineral oil, as is the transformer oil. Furthermore, release of this fluid from the ESP is prevented by triple containment.  Despite these facts, WindStop continues to display (including at your Press Conference Friday and you spoke of it there) posters claiming the Sound and beaches will receive damaging pollution when the ESP is hit by a barge or other large ship (a collision which is practically a physically impossible event, due to ESP location).
8. Lastly, I suggest that you have someone closely review the annual tax submittals of the Alliance. None have been submitted on time, but used not only one but often two extensions.  Despite this, they lack clarity and bring up questions.  Since the Alliance is a 501(c)3 non-profit, one wonders if the percentage they state as expenditures for lobbying and “public relations” of their annual costs is within 501c3 limits. Their original and  reputable CPA auditing firm DePaola, Begg and Assoc. PC discontinued last year their annual auditing work for the Alliance.   Further, the Alliance continually runs a large deficit – reporting for 2003 a major $839,432 Loss, on revenue of $1,702,189.

The above are some of the ineptness, disinformation or fraud situations which the “Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound” caused.  Many Cape residents, newspapers and organizations feel now they seriously lack credibility. Although they have ‘changed out’ high and lower level staff when some of these debacles were exposed, it seems apparent that the ethics and guidance from above are faulty, and motivated by fossil fuel interests.

Do you really want to partially gamble your political future by taking the risk of close association with this organization?

Sincerely,
James E. Liedell
148 Kate’s Path, Yarmouthport, MA 02675