Speaking of Mondays vote: “It’s pretty special what we were able to accomplish last night,” South Portland Mayor Jerry Jalbert said about the vote. Jalbert noted the open and transparent process preceding it, with the committee tasked with handling the ordinance meeting 20 times before passing it along to the city council. That council, Jalbert was quick to note, is nonpartisan. “We went out of our way to invite, solicit, and even cajole comments from all involved, including the oil industry in following our mandate from the city council to help protect South Portland from the negative effects of tar sands handling,” said Michael Conathan, Director of Ocean Policy at the Center for American Progress and a member of the Draft Ordinance Committee appointed by the city council. “We spent more than 60 hours in open meetings, and heard from stakeholders on all sides. The result is an ordinance that allows all current operations at the port to continue while restricting future uses that might harm the city and its residents.”
Posted on: Thu, 24 Jul 2014 16:32:55 +0000
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