Reviving the Seashore Advisory Commission
To the editor:
Re “Amid Protests, Dune Shacks Eyed by Bidders,” June 22, front page:
The maelstrom swirling around the new dune-shack leasing program bespeaks the need to revive the Cape Cod National Seashore Advisory Commission.
Management of the dune shacks has been among the long-term challenges for the National Seashore since its inception in 1961. During most of that time, the Seashore administration benefited from the deliberations of its advisory commission; dune shacks were frequently on the agenda. Having been a member and chair during many of those years, I have memories of productive discussions leading to important agreements regarding various issues. Citizens had a way to be heard, and the commission offered valuable guidance to the leadership.
Sadly, the advisory commission no longer exists. This is a huge loss in governance.
Given the long history of Salvatore and Josephine Del Deo in the dune community, the sudden ouster now of Mr. Del Deo at age 94 seems especially insensitive — indeed, astonishing. I hope that the Seashore leadership will find a way to restore his occupancy.
Then we must persuade Congress to reinstate the Cape Cod National Seashore Advisory Commission. The Seashore needs it in order to stay in touch with the six towns that comprise it.
Despite its foibles, the National Seashore is the best thing that’s happened to Cape Cod since the glacier left it here so many years ago.
Brenda J. Boleyn
Duxbury
Imagined Disobedience
To the editor:
The dune shack conflict at the Cape Cod National Seashore invites a flight of imagination:
It starts when Sal Del Deo engages in civil disobedience by refusing to vacate the dwelling he has occupied for more than 75 summers. In response, a federal agency enforces its eviction notice by dispatching marshals to physically remove Sal and his possessions from the premises.
Notified in advance about the drama expected to unfold on the dunes, national news media descend on the scene to cover the event. Cable news reporters scramble to interview Sal. Competition is intense for interviews with members of the Provincetown and Truro select boards, who have strong feelings about the evictions and auctions to follow.
National TV coverage leads with interviews of locals, interspersed with drone footage of the dune shacks. The segment concludes with a well-known cable news anchor interviewing the director of the National Park Service, a Native American known for his strong support for land preservation.
The anchor opens with, “Director, how do you feel about the Cape Cod National Seashore’s disregard for the 2012 Dune Shack Preservation and Use Plan’s objective to continue to provide the opportunity for contemplative solitude in support of art and literature and, instead, allowing prospective leaseholders to bid up the price?”
Ronald A. Gabel
Yarmouth Port
Ghosts of the Dunes
To the editor:
The ongoing dune shack fiasco fascinates me, in that most of those pursuing the Seashore’s bidding process are clueless regarding dune shack residence.
I first became acquainted with the shacks more than 70 years ago, when several more than now exist were out there. Many were unoccupied by their owners for lengthy periods, and some surf fishermen camped in them during their Cape visits.
Most of the shacks had names, and a number of them are long gone. There was the Portugee Shack, Laura’s, and the Double Decker, among others, including today’s Mission Bell Cottage, one of three that were simply known as the Cottages. Harry Kemp’s cottage near now-vanished Peaked Hill was cared for by Sunny Tasha, an outstanding woman, when Harry got too old to handle the maintenance. A few years after Harry’s passing, I saw what had to have been his ghost out there while I was fishing near his shack one summer night.
Acquaintances of mine, a painter and her young daughter, were staying in a cottage for a few days as guests of another artist. They sent word to me that his behavior had become erratic and were concerned enough to ask that I come out in my beach buggy and retrieve them. I knew the fellow, although we were not close friends, and I had no particular knowledge of his personality. When I arrived at the cottage I was greeted with threats from the axe–wielding host. Fortunately, I was able to rescue my friends and leave the scene without further incident.
Dune life doesn’t work for everybody.
Chuck Leigh
Provincetown and Truro
Juneteenth and Justice
To the editor:
Thank you for your excellent coverage of the Provincetown Juneteenth celebration [“ ‘The Fight for Freedom and Equality Is Not Finished,’ ” June 22, page A11] in which the need for work toward racial justice was noted. Celebrating positive action in the media is equally important.
I also want to highlight the wonderful gathering of the first all-Black performance of drag queens and other performers in Provincetown the night before. In the midst of nationwide calls against drag shows, this entertainment brought a unique flavor to the Juneteenth celebrations. It was refreshing to bring an array of multitalented performers forward to highlight the intersectionality among the LGBTQ, Black, and BIPOC communities.
Let’s see more activities along the lines of “BLACK-CELLENCE: A Celebration of Black Talent in Provincetown.”
Elspeth Slayter
Provincetown
Wrong-Way Speeding
To the editor:
I write to express my concern over the lack of enforcement of Provincetown’s traffic regulations, which require motorized bicycles and scooters to comply with the one-way directional traffic flow on Commercial Street. (See Provincetown Parking and Traffic Regulations, Article 8: section 8-8-4.)
Last July 4 weekend, I witnessed in front of my East End Commercial Street residence a collision resulting in serious injuries between a bicyclist and a speeding motorized scooter whose operator was distracted by his cell phone. I registered my concern with the select board at its next meeting. The board deferred the subject to the town manager for referral to town counsel, though the applicable regulation is less than one page in length and is written in plain English.
Because nearly a year has passed with no discernable curative measures or enforcement apparent and the speed of the vehicles being operated recklessly is ever rising, I fear more carnage will take place on our streets, injuring more residents, pedestrians, visitors, and lawful bicyclists.
The town should be held fully accountable for ignoring these rules of the road, particularly as we are the only community in Massachusetts privileged by state and local law to allow two-way bicycle traffic on a one-way public way.
Christopher J. Snow
Provincetown
Who Sets House Prices?
To the editor:
Joan Holt blames real estate agents for high housing costs [Letters, June 22, page A3].
Every product has a salesperson behind it. Do those thousands of salespeople bear responsibility for high prices?
As a realtor for nearly 30 years, I know from experience that 99 percent of the time houses are priced at what similar properties have sold for in the previous six months. Bank appraisers also review sales prices prior to closing to ensure the buyer is not paying too high a price.
Realtors do not set prices arbitrarily to earn a few extra bucks in commission. Why? Because the sales price is always determined by what the buyer and seller agree to.
Jeannette Belben
Provincetown
