Several Kennebunk residents are trying to wrest control of the Park Street School facility from Avesta Housing, after the fact.

The Kennebunk Selectmen legally awarded Avesta Housing the right to build affordable housing units at the Park Street facility, for our most vulnerable citizens – our senior citizens.

Regardless, the self–serving Park Street petitioners are trying to hijack the democratic process, by submitting a petition to try and force Kennebunk voters to keep the Park Street facility for municipal and social service use.

Their petition would force the town to obtain a huge bond for renovations, as well as funding permanent upkeep and operations of the building.

They don’t care that Kennebunk Selectmen, acting in good faith, already legally awarded the bid for the Park Street school facility to Avesta Housing. That agency has already expended thousands of dollars in pursuit of the affordable housing project.

The petitioners don’t care that Kennebunk residents would be forced to reimburse those funds to Avesta if the Park Street petition is successful – no matter if the amount is hundreds of thousands of dollars. According to the Park Street petition, those dollars, along with the millions in renovation costs, will come out of your pockets.

The Park Street petitioners don’t care that Kennebunk voters already said “no thanks” to a referendum proposal in 2007, for $2.7 million in renovations on the Park Street facility.

If they are successful, not only would town hall likely expand every department and program they have to fill the new building – it would also mean that every social service agency would be eligible for cut–rate rents in Kennebunk – and you’d get to subsidize their rent bills, regardless of whether you like that agency, or not.

It wouldn’t matter whether it was a methodone clinic, Planned Parenthood, or the United Way. Legally, if we let one agency have office space, we can’t say “no” to any of the others.

Do we want these this attempt to hijack the democratic process to succeed? Or, do we want to let the Kennebunk Selectmen proceed with their legally viable agreement to sell the building to Avesta?

I say we let Avesta Housing duplicate their excellent success with the Cousens School affordable housing project, and tell the Park Street petitioners to take a hike down the voter gangplank.

If you agree, I hope you will email the Kennebunk Selectmen, and join me at the public hearing on Dec. 9, to let them know – the selectmen were right to award that bid to Avesta Housing.

They were right, in deciding that the “best interest” of Kennebunk residents means putting Park Street school to its highest and best use – affordable housing, for our most deserving residents – our seniors.

Tell the Park Street petitioners “No thanks.”

Naran Row–Spaulding

Kennebunk