Dear Editor:

I sometimes read Joe Gelarden’s pieces in this paper for humor and observation and read the last one where he “quoted” me on the subject of Southport Broadband.   It changed my perspective on his writing since he never got those words from my mouth.

I never “complained the town of Southport had sent out a faulty-worded Request for Proposal (RFP) that did not allow big corporate interests like Spectrum, enough time to bid on the project.”  

Had Mr. Gelarden bothered to try and contact me he would have been corrected. 

Southport, for the record never sent out a Request for Proposal at all.  They sent out a Request to Bid which was a prescribed solution and not a request for ideas.  That Bid Request specified  that winners would rewire 100% of an island which even Maine’s own authority, ConnectME says is already 90% wired to their standards.  Bid winners, then, were directed toward the promise of State and Town money to solve a problem that did not need solving.  And that is why they were met with stunned silence from 11 of the 12 companies including Spectrum and LCI it was sent to.   

If Mr Gelarden wants to get journalism and opinion correct, he should begin with engaging those he quotes before he puts words in their mouths to make a point.  Only then will he help readers get to the truth, and only then will his own words have any value.

Tom Myette

Southport