Visiting Truro While Black
To the editor:
We appreciate the Independent’s attention to race-based discrimination and reports of racial profiling on the Outer Cape [July 2 and July 16]. In August 2019, another very unpleasant incident occurred when a member of our family who is Black and his two-year-old son were walking in an area near Pamet Harbor — an area that is private, but where many of us and our friends have walked countless times without incident.
On this occasion, however, a man, who we later learned was the property manager, came up to our family member and told him he was not welcome and should leave. No one we have spoken with who knows Truro and has walked in this area has ever had that experience.
We couldn’t help but conclude this was a case of racial profiling. We reported the incident to the owners of the property and were met immediately with strong pushback, a denial of any racial motivation, and a long treatise on private property. Later, when we pressed further, there was a verbal apology from the property manager’s employer, but there has been no follow-up that we know of. And even in the apology, there remained an underlying denial that the incident was racially motivated.
There need to be opportunities for open discussion in Truro about these seemingly casual but undeniably racist encounters. We can be sure these incidents occur much more frequently than is reported. Most do not rise to the level of “hate crime,” but taken together they operate to create an unwelcoming atmosphere for anyone living in or visiting Truro who is not white.
Jane Leavy and Fred Sperounis
Truro
Who Owns the Beach?
To the editor:
I was angry, but not surprised, reading Devin Sean Martin’s “Race-based Incidents Do Happen Here” [July 16, front page]. The very concept of a “private beach” has long struck me as paradoxical. Why stop at something as arbitrary and variable as the waterline? Why not claim the bay or ocean for your private enjoyment as well?
I understand that Massachusetts law establishes the rights of ownership of “private tidelands” — that is, the land between the high-tide and low-tide lines — by the upland property owners. Public access to the beach is allowed only for “fishing, fowling, and navigation” — not swimming. The intention behind this law — preventing the King of England from unfairly taxing docks and wharves — seems slightly less relevant today than it may have been when the Massachusetts Bay Colony adopted it in the 1640s.
There was an effort in the 1970s to amend the law to establish a free right of passage to the beach, as in every other state in the country. The bill went nowhere.
Obviously, enforcement of the private beach law is selective, leading to the kind of incident where a black woman visiting Truro was ordered to leave, and the police were no help.
As we take a fresh look nationally and locally at our outdated beliefs and policies, it is worth considering whether the beaches really do belong to the wealthy homeowners who claim (and guard) them, or whether they in fact belong to the greater community.
Alex Brewer
Wellfleet
A Disregard for Civility
To the editor:
After reading last week’s article titled “A Missed Deadline, a Year’s Delay” [July 16, front page], I am absolutely appalled and disgusted by the behavior of planning board member Peter Herridge. As a Truro resident, I am angered by Mr. Herridge’s abuse of his position to further his own agenda.
When did it become OK for a member of one of the town’s boards to call a developer “little scumbag”? He clearly states that he will stop at nothing to delay and eventually stop the Cloverleaf project.
The planning board should be working for constructive dialogue between the parties to further a project that has a great deal of community support. But he has already determined the outcome he wants and declares that his motto is “never give up, never surrender.” No matter what your opinion of the developer is, a planning board member should at the very least be respectful and objective in all cases that appear before his board.
Mr. Herridge’s blatant disregard for civility, his language, and his overt bias towards this developer and the project itself call for his removal from his position. His behavior clearly makes him unfit to serve on this board. At the very least, he should be censured and forced to recuse himself from further meetings involving this project.
Dave Bedard
North Truro
A ‘Tone-deaf’ Reference
To the editor:
I was taken aback by two statements made by opponents of the Cloverleaf project. Likening the proposed housing density to that of a “concentration camp” is tone-deaf at a minimum. As a person of Jewish descent, I found that turn of phrase to be inflammatory and dismissive of the Holocaust.
Jews, gay people, gypsies, political prisoners, non-Aryans, etc. were starved, stacked in bunks, and gassed by the millions. They were not housed in apartments ranging from 664 to 1,660 square feet over nearly four acres.
The use of the term “scumbag” is an offensive ad hominem attack not worthy of civilized public discourse. Is it not possible to express concerns about the project in a more factual manner? The developer agreed to upgrade septic treatment. Solar panels would be a welcome addition.
I am a year-round Provincetown resident and not intimately familiar with Truro concerns. I do know that Truro has 2.3 percent affordable housing stock out of a state recommended 10 percent. You may disagree with the developer’s approach, but I encourage you to engage in dialogue. Building costs may be one limitation. If citizens insist on single- or two-family homes, would Truro help meet those costs? Have people proposed or considered other affordable housing options for the site?
One final thought: I am thankful that the land is not being used to build a highway ramp.
Stephan Cohen
Provincetown
In Defense of Ted Malone
To the editor:
Having worked for years for affordable housing as a member and chair of the Truro Housing Authority and adviser to Highland Affordable Housing, I find not much new about opposition to and prejudice against affordable housing, nor the extent to which individuals will go to find “legitimate” reasons for opposing it.
But I will not be silent when someone accuses Ted Malone of being a “scumbag.” Mr. Herridge’s comments are sickening.
Mr. Malone was the developer of Truro’s Sally’s Way. It took 11 years and numerous lawsuits by neighbors before the project could be completed. Ted Malone stood by while the battle roared. He lost time and money — but he stood by and eventually completed the units to the delight of those inhabiting them.
The Outer Cape’s economic success depends on housing that is affordable to those who provide needed services.
Susan Kadar
Duxbury
A Neighbor’s Welcome
To the editor:
I am a strong proponent of the Cloverleaf project in Truro. I have never met Ted Malone. I have seen him present updates on the Cloverleaf at various meetings and hearings. When I decided I wanted to advocate for affordable housing, a friend who is a long-time resident of Provincetown took me on a walking tour of all of Mr. Malone’s projects.
I was very impressed with the housing. It was hard to see much of a difference between affordable housing and the market-rate developments close by. All his projects were incredibly attractive and well maintained.
I believe that the language Peter Herridge used in reference to Mr. Malone is totally inappropriate for public discourse, especially when the person using such language is a public official. Mr. Malone could have spent his career building only fancy market-rate housing on the Lower Cape and become a very wealthy man. Also, he would have saved himself from the kind of abuse directed at him by Mr. Herridge. He could have sold or rented those buildings for a very significant amount of money. He would have no cap on the profit he could have earned from that housing. Profits from affordable housing are tightly regulated and capped by both the state and federal governments.
It is hard to find housing that is affordable on the Outer Cape. Yet for these towns to be sustainable and for people living here to receive vital services, we absolutely have to build affordable housing. I would like to thank Mr. Malone and all the good people of Truro who have worked so hard to make the Cloverleaf possible.
I rent an apartment on Pond Road close to Route 6A, very near the Cloverleaf project. I am looking forward to welcoming my new neighbors.
Betty Gallo
North Truro
A Call for Recusal
To the editor:
It was disturbing to see Peter Herridge resort to name-calling in your July 16 article on the Cloverleaf housing project, but perhaps reflective of the lack of any substantive opposition to this project.
This behavior is inappropriate for an elected official and reflects poorly on Mr. Herridge and the committees that he is a member of. Given his stated opposition to this project, I believe that he should recuse himself from any subsequent discussion of it by the planning board or the community preservation committee. He is clearly unable to act in a fair and unbiased manner regarding the Cloverleaf project.
Kevin Grunwald
Truro
The Real Concentration Camps
To the editor:
As someone whose relatives died in concentration camps, I was offended that the opponents of the affordable housing project in Truro would use that image in their opposition to the Cloverleaf project [front page, July 16].
Perhaps instead of fighting housing for those in need in our community, the opponents of affordable housing should direct their attention to the actual concentration camps that hold the refugees that cross our southern border.
Judith Cumbler
Wellfleet
