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Who’s Paying?

At the June 19 meeting of the Essex Zoning Commission, the Connecticut River Museum continued to raise concerns about the Carlson Landing Project, and I continued to be disappointed by its obstructionist attitude.

The museum’s objections appear so outside its purview as an educational institution “to lead in the study, preservation, and celebration of the cultural and natural heritage of the Connecticut River and its valley,” according to its mission statement, that it raises the question: Who’s paying for this?

This is not meant as a legal question, but a request for information. If these professionals are donating their time; if board members, employees, or donors are privately funding the work, that’s one situation, but if the costs are being born from dues and donations to this not-for-profit institution, that’s an issue of an entirely different type.

Who is paying the professional fees and costs of its lawyer, engineer, zoning specialist, and surveyor? Who is paying for the large, color postcards sent out and for the staff’s time that’s devoted to this effort?

I believe the museum has a duty to be transparent on this issue. It’s surely a question its members will ask when it’s time to pay dues, a question future donors will ask, and a question that could make corporate sponsors hesitate. It’s also a question the general community, from which the museum draws its support, has the right to hear answered.

Doug Seaver

Essex