The Blasch House Fiasco
To the editor:
Re “Owner of House on Eroding Bluff Blames Town” [Jan. 23, front page]:
The issues surrounding the Blasch house fiasco are fascinating and frightening, and I hope the Independent follows up with other articles.
It looks like the next owner of the premises might well be a limited liability company with no assets and one stupendous liability. And they seem hell bent on letting it fall into the bay.
A federal/state/town problem after that? What is the responsibility of owners down the chain of title?
Wil Sullivan
Wellfleet
Back to the Beginning
To the editor:
The Blasch house has always offended and confused me. I never understood how that hulking, tasteless mass came to be. I love seeing the exposure of greedy, entitled owners who care nothing about anything except themselves, their view, and bragging rights.
Please consider going back to the beginning of how this all happened. It could help others understand what can happen if you push for something that Mother Nature wants nothing to do with, and what happens when you think money can fix anything.
Kate Sekerak
Plymouth
That’s Chutzpah
To the editor:
The classic definition of the Yiddish term chutzpah is the defendant who, having killed both his parents, asks the court for mercy because he’s an orphan.
After reading the arguments of Mr. Bonomi’s lawyer as to why the town of Wellfleet should bear the responsibility and cost for the inevitable collapse of the Blasch house, I think it’s time to rewrite the definition.
Dan Silverman
Wellfleet
Climate Change Assumptions
To the editor:
William Von Herff’s “Reporters Notebook” on page A2 of the Jan. 23 edition states a number of weather features that should be considered assumptions rather than facts.
The polar vortex (another name for the constantly changing jet stream) may or may not be moving cold air into the Northeast because of human-induced global temperature change. Weather by definition is not a steady-state feature on Earth. Within the context of a warming climate, we will still have colder than normal and warmer than normal temperatures. We better hope the jet stream keeps oscillating, as it is a major planetary driver of our seasonal weather changes.
Our window on the natural world is open to us only for a very short time, our lifespan being what it is. As a result, we tend to look at what we know as what should always be. It’s natural, but it might not be accurate.
Bill Amaru
South Orleans
The writer is a commercial fisherman working from Chatham in summer and Sesuit Harbor, Dennis or Rock Harbor, Orleans in winter.
Resisting the Reckless
To the editor:
I share William von Herff’s despair for the Cape’s environmental prospects in light of Trump’s regressive policies (“Into the Vortex,” Jan. 23, page A2). While it saddens me to think about the harm the president’s recklessness can cause, I am at the same time motivated to resist him.
We still have representation in Washington, albeit in the minority party, and, more important, we have elected local and state officials. They need to know that we have not given up on environmental causes, that we care about the future of the place where we live, and that we know that climate change is a real and present danger. Mr. von Herff drives home the point with his accounting of the numerous ways the changing climate threatens the Cape.
The essence of Cape Cod is its natural endowments. Its economy and way of life depend on conserving healthy ecosystems, both on land and at sea. Trump is blind to all that. When it comes to the environment, he cares only about cementing the demand for fossil fuels for decades to come. That is not a future that benefits the Cape, the nation, or the world.
Frederick Hewett
Cambridge
Eastham and the RTE
To the editor:
Like Brendan Noonan, whose letter was in last week’s edition, I am also a part-time resident of Eastham who would be affected by the residential tax exemption that Aimee Eckman signaled she may vote for in August.
While I’m not exactly enthused by the prospect of paying more taxes, I recognize that making a living on the Cape is difficult, and access to housing is made more difficult by a surfeit of second-home buyers. Any ease the town can give its middle- and working-class residents is likely warranted.
I was surprised, however, by Mr. Noonan’s conspiratorial thinking in accusing Eckman of (gasp) listening to her constituents. That is one of the things about a representative democracy: we can all lobby our representatives to consider our interests before they vote. That is why the Eastham Part-Time Resident Taxpayers Association exists — to lobby the town for things in their interest, like no RTE.
Kids may not like meat loaf. But as an adult, you have the right to tell the cook that you would rather not have meat loaf. And if he doesn’t listen, you can go eat somewhere else or don an apron and fix something else.
An elected official took a vote, probably heard feedback from the town, and changed her mind in advance of the issue coming up for a new vote later this year. You have seven months to express your views to the board.
Danielle Bennett
Eastham and New York City
Erosion and Seawalls
To the editor:
Re “Complexities of ‘Coastal Erosion Structures’ Come Into View on Mayo Beach” [Jan. 9, page A6]:
Your article intimated that I was uninformed about coastal erosion when I bought the house at 195 Kendrick Ave. in 2019. That’s not the case.
I came to Wellfleet in 1968. Back then, my dad would often remind us that, in time, the scrub pines in front of our motel would be washed away and we’d have waterfront property. That made me conscious of erosion and the environment from a young age.
I’ve admired the house on Mayo Beach ever since I could drive, and I feel fortunate that I’m handy enough to be its caretaker for now. It’s a wonderful piece of Wellfleet history. I inquired about improving the seawall in large part to ease my neighbors’ flooding, and, I suppose, to buy a little time.
One of the conservation commission’s remarks was that I should raise my house further, which really doesn’t help anyone. The water already flows through my yard and under my house just fine. It’s not ideal, but it seems to be the new normal, and I can live with it.
John C. Hall
Natick and Wellfleet
Plant Trees, Not Poles
To the editor:
I read your coverage of imaginative proposals to transform Shank Painter Road into a more attractive, vibrant gateway to the historic center of Provincetown (“A Shank Painter Vision Will Come to Town Meeting,” Jan. 16, front page).
The accompanying rendering suggests a number of welcome improvements. My eye fell on one detail, however, suggesting that the existing utility poles would be retained along this thoroughfare.
While utility service is vital, I’d hope that the Provincetown Planning Board would consider seizing this unique opportunity to invest in putting unsightly utility poles and wires underground. They are a blight on our beautiful village centers. And underground utilities offer the additional advantage of better storm resilience — an inescapable concern in our coastal communities.
A renovated, utility pole-free Shank Painter Road might serve as an inspiration to planners in Wellfleet — where we might also soon enjoy a historic opportunity to sink our poles as part of proposed downtown sewer and water systems construction. We should seize these moments to take back the air space over our historic village centers.
Let’s plant trees, not poles, in our downtowns.
Jeff Kemprecos
Wellfleet
Making Democracy Work
To the editor:
Oscar Wilde said he couldn’t be a socialist because there were “too many meetings.” One might also say that the problem about democracy in Wellfleet is too many disorganized meetings.
I wish those running the meetings would do four things:
1) Make sure that the hybrid meetings have the microphones on so that we can really hear them. This is especially true when the select board meets in the town hall basement or people speak from the floor, not the microphone, at the Adult Community Center.
2) Keep the three-minute rule for public comments to three minutes, not endless minutes as at the recent board of health meeting.
3) Have a time limit for each topic to be discussed so that the agenda can be done in a reasonable amount of time.
4) Have someone with historical memory report that many of the issues have been discussed or settled already.
I suspect we would all feel more included if these things were done.
Susan Reverby
Wellfleet and Boston
Prepare for Fire
To the editor:
Re “Serving Food and Fresh Clothes Amid L.A.’s Fires” [Jan. 23, page A5]:
The first six hours of the Jan. 22 Hughes fire (over 9,000 acres burned) in Los Angeles County is the equivalent of 70 percent of Wellfleet (13,000 upland acres) being destroyed.
I had flown over that area in a helicopter a few days before. Most of the vegetation was grass and waist-high brush.
I think of the fallen trees, brush, leaves, and other forest-fire fuel I’ve observed on my walks in Wellfleet’s woods and the homes surrounded by it. I remember the Massachusetts brush fires this past summer.
I pray that our town, county, and National Seashore officials have a robust, well thought out, and coordinated plan for fire preparedness.
Mike Shannon
Wellfleet
Oysters and Inspiration
To the editor:
Re “In the Studio With a Phenomenologist” [Jan. 23, page C1]:
In his fascinating article about the artwork of Adam Matthew Graham, Chet Domitz leads with a photo titled “Seven-Year-Old Rosie at Work at Varn & Platt Canning Co. in Bluffton, S.C.” by Lewis Wickes Hine. The photo was taken in 1913 during Woodrow Wilson’s presidency.
Young Rosie might’ve been a distant harbinger of Rosie the Riveter and the millions of hardworking American women who helped propel the Allies to victory in World War II. The Rosie shown shucking oysters in Hine’s photo illustrates an activity I had plenty of experience with in South Carolina. We lived on Lady’s Island near Beaufort, an easy drive to Hilton Head and Bluffton. There was no shortage of local oysters then.
Shucking oysters doesn’t feel particularly artful. It feels like you’ve got a repetitive job that puts luscious food on people’s tables. Photographer Hine did a wonderful job capturing little Rosie‘s determination, and Graham’s brushstrokes bring out new layers of meaning and inspiration.
The photographs by Hine and renditions by Graham are inspiring, and the story behind these images is well told. They take me back to our long stay in South Carolina and all the lovely people and sights there.
Pass the oysters, please, and the inspiration.
Jack Sparacino
Quincy
Letters to the Editor
The Provincetown Independent welcomes letters from readers on all subjects. They must be signed with the writer’s name, home address, and telephone number (for verification). Letters will be published only if they have been sent exclusively to the Independent. They should be no more than 300 words and may be edited for clarity, accuracy, conciseness, and good taste. Longer pieces (up to 600 words) may be submitted for consideration as op-ed commentary. Send letters to [email protected] or by mail to P.O. Box 1034, Provincetown, MA 02657. The deadline for letters is Monday at noon for each week’s edition.
