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| MARTIN LUTHER, The Father of the Reformation According to one account, Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of All Saints' Church in Wittenberg on 31 October 1517, sparking the Reformation. |
In an act that I hoped would be the modern day equivalent of posting to the Church Door, I mailed the following resolution to everyone I think has a hand in the illegal take down of CCB. Please have a read and share with your State Representative if you agree:
A Proposed Resolution Effecting Connecticut Community Boating, Inc. & The City of Bridgeport, and the The State of Connecticut
To The Honorable Commission Daniel Esty, The
Honorable Mayor William Finch, The Honorable Harbor Master Anthony Palumbo and
all interested parties:
It is the position of Connecticut Community Boating,
Inc, our Board, Members and our supporters that the actions proposed by the
City to seize our facility and the alleged violation of dock permit are efforts
made in harmony and collusion to effect the destruction of Connecticut
Community Boating, Inc as a charity and 501c3 organization. We have sought a
legal injunction against the efforts of Bridgeport to resolve this matter and
appealed to the Appellate Court of the State of Connecticut [to permit us to
proceed without professional legal counsel since we are a 501c3 charity not a
business corporation] as we feel the overtures made by the Government in this
case are outside the scope of law and an abuse of the public trust to protect
the interests of the children and families of our community, but in any case
are being threatened without due process of law or court order of any kind.
We recognize that further legal action on our part
will only put further burdens on the taxpayers and will do little to effect a
furtherance of our cause to ensure that every man, woman and child is provided
access to Long Island Sound regardless of income, residency or social standing.
Should we lose in Court, given our financial status and corporate structure,
the Government will be forced to use more taxpayer funds to dispose of our
facilities. And should we win, the taxpayers will once again be burdened as we
will be forced to seek legal damages. In either case, the taxpayers of
Connecticut will be the one left to pay for these growing hostilities.
We would also contend that when the courts are quiet
and the sun sets, the motivation before all parties in this matter should be
our agreed commitment to provide for the recreation of the public, particularly
disadvantage children, and make our State a more enjoyable place to live.
Therefore, we would propose a resolution to this
matter:
We will surrender to Bridgeport our claims to the
permit, docks and gate and other features of the docking facility located in
the Bridgeport Boat Basin to the City of Bridgeport. We will arrange to have
all of our vessels removed from the facility and remove any signage, publicity
or other affiliation with that docking facility. We will remove all mooring
gear belonging to us located on the eastern side of the navigational channel in
the Bridgeport Boat Basin situated in the mouth of Pequonnock River.
We will do this in exchange for several requests.
First, we would respectfully ask for the support of the Bridgeport Harbor
Commission to site one commercial mooring permit in the Bridgeport Boat Basin
on the Eastside of the Channel in the Mouth of the Pequonnock River where we
intend to moor our Floating Boat House. We would ask that in exchange for the
Thousands of dollars we have invested in the City, this mooring be provided to
us by the City of Bridgeport. As permitting may be issued for this site for educational
and charitable purposes, we would ask the Commissioner to provide the permit to
us and make us the sole permitee for said mooring with all fees waived.
Additionally, we would ask that upon surrender, the
docking facility be maintained for public access for 30 years so that Boating
Infrastructure Grant funds may be used to create transient vessels access for
the Downtown Business District and the people of Bridgeport may access the
Harbor for many years to come. We will
contribute what moorings, chain and other equipment we have access to and work
to maintain a fleet of transient moorings in the Boat Basin should the City
request us to do so, but request on behalf of our supporters who own vessels
that they be allowed to apply for mooring permits as practicable in Bridgeport
Harbor in the Boat Basin or in the Pequonnock River or in the Yellow Mill
Channel or in Lewis Gut in a manner that is consistent with the Harbor
Management plan and the public interest.
Additionally we would ask that the DEEP expunge all
claims that we have an “unauthorized dock” at the Bridgeport Boat Basin as in
effect the alleged “dock” will no longer be located at that site thereby
removing all cause for such claims.
We would ask the DEEP to cease its rigid and unbending
efforts and agree to make every effort to work with Connecticut Community
Boating, Inc to promote public access to the waters of Long Island Sound. As it
is our intention to bring our Floating Boat House to harbors across
Connecticut, New York and Rhode Island, we would ask for your support in
locating as many as six commercial moorings in Harbors and Rivers along Connecticut’s
shoreline where we will be permitted to moor our any of our vessels (including
our Floating Boat House and School Ship) for no more than 60 days when at such
time we will be compelled to move the vessel to one of the other moorings.
We feel this will demonstrate our commitment to
bringing community boating to all as we will also be working to locate fleets
of vessels up and down the coast of Connecticut for public use. Given the
charitable and educational purpose of these moorings we once again ask the
Commissioner to waive fees for these moorings as is consistent with Connecticut
State law.
It has always been the purpose and mission of
Connecticut Community Boating, Inc to make our State a better place to live. We
have worked for the last seven years to provide everyone with a chance to learn
about, enjoy and explore Long Island Sound, our State’s greatest natural
resource. We will not shrink away from this mission in the face of opposition,
financial difficulties or for any other reason as it is the right of all
Connecticut residents to access the waters of Long Island Sound. Our
predecessors fought this battle by trespassing and passive resistance. We will
not passively resist but we will also not intentionally violate State statute.
However elevating this conflict to the Courts and pursuing this matter in the
public eye does nothing to further our cause when a solution may be achieved on
a voluntary basis rather than compulsory.
We are prepared to meet with you at any time on
short notice and to be flexible to meet our mutual concerns and objectives. The
proposed resolution will become part of the legal and public record and we hope
that this may be looked at as a treaty with full legally bound authority.
Respectfully submitted,
Captain
Christopher R. German
Chief
Executive Officer
Connecticut
Community Boating, Inc.
(CC:
The Honorable Governor Dannel Malloy, The Honorable John McKinney, The Honorable
Donald Wlliams Jr., The Honorable Andrew Maynard, The Honorable Brendan
Sharkey, The Honorable Lawrence Cafero, Jr,, The Editor of The Connecticut Post,
The Editor of The New Haven Register, The Editor of The Hartford Courant)
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