The Town Warrant Article #42 received an indefinite postponement from Selectmen, because they await recommendations from board commissioned 'Wind Turbine Options Process' group.  

As a Citizen, the American people, by and large, are a very resourceful people.  Falmouth is no exception.  The great majority of people here have individual initiative.  There are acceptions.  We all know who they are.  But over the years and through the problems, we have struggled through them.  Because we have initiative to solve problems.

If there’s one thing, however, that I’ve found in my lifetime, that will quickly knock down the resourcefulness of an individual, that will absolutely bury individual initiative - it's Bureaucracy!

You see bureaucrats think they’re smarter than us.  Bureaucrats see a problem and they have to form a committee to figure out what to do.  Two years down the road, the problem is still there and they’ve got to form another committee to over-see the first committee.  When the problem is still there, they’ve got to past a resolution to give themselves permission to study the problem that got them to where they were in the first place.  Simply put, it takes bureaucrats an hour and a half to watch "60 minutes".

There is a problem in Falmouth that we’ve faced for 2 1/2 years.  There’s no local, state or federal guide that addresses “How to mitigate health problems caused by wind turbines placed too close to homes”.  If there were, would it say… host a “kick-off” meeting (2010) between residents and local officials to facilitate a clearer understanding of the problem.  If that doesn’t work, go to sub section “B”.   Wait a year, then host two Wind Information meetings (2011) that present reasons why there is no problem.  If that doesn’t work, go to subsection “C”.   Wait another year, then host an emergency public health meeting (2012) to repeat the problems identified at the “kick-off” meeting?  Subsection “A1”, all the while, suggests putting the concern to a special permitting process, but since that was bypassed, it suggests placing the problem into the hands of Town Meeting.  

And so… here we are again!

My point – there is no such guide!  Individual initiative is what will get this problem fixed.  We all have a stake in this.  Not as a Town Meeting representative, but rather as belonging to an order much more important and larger than a bureaucratic political body.  

We are neighbors, friends, fathers, mothers, sons and daughters.  We might not know details of all the articles on the warrant, but we know, understand and can respect the basics of the human condition.

It’s time!  

It’s time, as Americans, as Falmouth neighbors, as decent human beings, to use our individual initiative, and fix this problem once and for all.  It’s time to repair the harm and to get on with the next challenge.  It’s time individual initiative and morale fiber, not bureaucracy, guide our conscience and our vote.

Please support Article 42.  Shut down the Wind turbines!