byte&chew

Of by and for the people

It appears that the Laidlaw target keeps moving. The promise for Laidlaw to file their EFSEC application by the end of August seems to be just one more of those statements that are either false or that can't be verified. If the road to hell is paved with good intentions, then the road to the Laidlaw project is not only paved, but it's a six lane highway with no speed limits! I'm still of the opinion that the company will at some point file the application, but that the EFSEC Committee will not grant the permit. I base that prediction on many technical aspects of this project and the long standing saga of Laidlaw Energy. History teaches us that Mr. Bartoszek doesn't give up that easy and there's several examples of that with the Berlin project as well as in Ellicottville NY. Keep in mind that there's money to be made promising that there's a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I had a conversation with a high level political figure last week about the Laidlaw issue and I told him that I felt confident that the Laidlaw project will never be approved "if" the EFSEC Committee and the NHPUC do their job objectively and professionally.I know that some of the followers of this blog have given up on the honesty and integrity of these government agencies, but I'm naive enough to believe that given the high profile of this project, these public agencies may just do their jobs as required by law. That's why it's so important that we continue to let our elected officials and various agencies know that many of us are watching this project very closely and that we expect them to represent the best interest of its citizens, not of special interest.

Next level ^

Over the past couple years and since I first posted byte&chew, I've noticed that there's specific topics that evoke numerous hits and comments. This week we've seen the greatest number of hits/readers since the  inception of this blog, averaging over 300 per day. (Why this week?) There's no question that the Laidlaw project brings folks out. When I've attempted to broaden the focus of issues,  the comments by readers brings us right back to Laidlaw. I'm also aware of the fact that many of the readers are folks that have a vested interest in Laidlaw. Quite often comments or issues posted on byte&chew end up being copied to other blogs and provoke comments by Laidlaw investors from all over the country. I'm of the belief that byte&chew has been the best source of information about Laidlaw and Mr. Bartoszek because of the quality of information the participants have contributed to this blog. I think that we need to recognize that this is what sociologist refer to as "social media" and, I believe it's a very powerful tool. I'm also aware that "we" of byte&chew are a small minority, but the issues and information we talk about are shared by the majority. Only recently and only because of the insight of a new reporter at The Berlin Reporter can residents access information beyond the boring conversations of public meetings. I bring these issues up at this time because I continue to believe that we need to have a larger audience if we're going to have a significant impact on issues and on the political leadership of Berlin and the North Country. For example, when I read about statements made by the County Commissioners about Laidlaw and biomass in general, I question where they're getting their information. From Laidlaw? Do our politicians receive information from sources other than those who lobby the issues? Who is lobbying for us, the average citizen? Over the next week or so, let's see if we can promote byte&chew to our neighbors and friends. Let's see if we can move this blog to the next level, a level where our collective conversation can't be ignored by our leadership.

A "Real" deal

                    Bill Gabler of Clean Power Development and Willis Blevins of Fraser Papers                          

Happy hour

I bet that all of us have experienced having a feeling that "something is about to happen". I must admit that most of the time that I've had "that" feeling, nothing happened. At the moment I have "that" feeling, that something is in the air, that something either good or bad is about to break. I feel that there's a lot of tension in the air, it's the economy, unemployment data, the health care debate, the Laidlaw boiler sitting there menacingly, all of these issues distracting us from enjoying summer. At times like this I want the world to >STOP< so I can get off! In less than 3 weeks it will be September, the kids will be back in school and we'll all be standing around asking, "where in hell did summer go?" I have my fingers crossed that whatever it is that's going to happen,.....I hope it's something positive. Maybe I need to stop reading the newspapers and forget about things like people falling off their bikes coming down Mt. Washington or crazy made-up stories about the Canadian Health System just to scare us to do nothing about our own rip-off health care system. Is it happy hour yet? Let's meet at the Yard.

Welcome Erik

My last post certainly drew a rash of comments from a variety of readers. (By the way, byte&chew is approaching 90,000 hits and almost 4,ooo comments) This blog was born out of frustration over the former mill property and the lack of information available about Laidlaw Energy and their CEO, Mr. Michael Bartoszek. Many things have changed since that first post, yet so many things remain the same. Unfortunately I'm of the opinion that we'll be re-hashing some of the same issues about Laidlaw a year from now. I'm not sure my patience with the issue will hold up that long, or if I'll just bow out and let someone else carry the ball for a while. One of the things that has changed is the new face/pen at The Berlin Reporter. One of Berlin's problem has been the lack of in-depth research and reporting that citizens need in order to make informed decisions and exercise their civil duties. The Berlin Reporter has changed more than the face and name of its reporter in Berlin, it has changed its style of reporting. A bright young man by the name of Erik Eisele has turned his attention to those issues that makes Berlin a special place. For the past month or so Erik has written about real people and real issues, asking difficult questions and pointing at issues we would rather not talk about. Erik also started a blog at http://lastprintjournalist.blogspot.com/  I think we need to pay attention to this new approach to the news and let him know how we feel about his articles and perspectives. I think the The Berlin Reporter is now worth the $.50 it cost, get your copy next Wednesday and share your thoughts with the rest of us.

Sins of omission

Most often when we hear that somebody was arrested or sued, we ask, what did he/she do? Even the 10 commandments say "Thou shan't do" this or that, it's always about what people "do" that grabs our attention, yet some of the greatest offenses are about things people don't do. Parents who don't take care of their kids, people who don't act responsibly on the job or public officials who don't act in the best interest of their constituents. It's as if we're hard wired to respond to actions, but we can easily ignore or dismiss what is an implied responsibility. There's no area that this phenomena is more evident than in the public sector. Our public officials who by definition should be providing leadership fail to do so and only react to events when they have no choices left. For example, you would think that the highest ranking local State official, our senator, would be representing the "will of the people" in Concord, but no, he supports the best interest of special interest such as Laidlaw or PSNH. Another example, our federal officials are presently representing the best interest of insurance and drug companies in the health-care debate. In both of these issues, it's what these elected officials are not doing that's wrong, it's their silence that is most sinful. At the root of this evil and what allows this to happen is the lack of accountability. In a country where the written rule is that it's a government "of and by the people", when we the people are left out of the process, special interest is free to have a free hand to do as it pleases, which includes making money at the peoples expense. The Laidlaw fiasco in Berlin is a perfect example of an issue that has become divisive, damaging and costly because leadership did not act responsibly. It was easier to walk away from their fiduciary responsibilities than to engage the parties involved. It was easier to come up with the slogan "it's private property we can't do anything" than to define what was an acceptable use of the mill property. Uses that had the highest and best return for the citizens of the community were ignored and allowed was the will of some Wall Street investors. So keep in mind that, what our elected officials don't do on our behalf is as damaging as doing the wrong thing.