I appreciate Jerry's method of collecting information in a confidential 
manner and keeping names out of it. Jerry is not government.

Lloyd's comments on our helpful government brought back the Alar scandal 
that just about wiped out truthful apple growers in most states and was 
very apparent here in Maine. The State government asked for growers to 
let them know if they used Alar. The responsible ones did and their 
names were published by the government. Since the scare was that Alar 
caused cancer, those growers were wiped out or nearly so. The others who 
used Alar (just about all of the growers did) but never reported it, 
prospered. They even advertised that their apples were "Alar free", a 
blatant lie.

Truth is, government really does not care what happens with the 
information they collect, because there are always people in government 
with agendas who will be happy to let the papers know the great scoop 
they can give them.

I let a State environmental group do a study on water plants on the 
creek that we front. Next thing I know is the City has declared our area 
a resource protection zone and shut down most building close to the 
water. The government is there to help.

I became fairly disillusioned with the criminal justice system when one 
of my sailors was arrested for something dreamed up by his wife. I, in 
my belief that the government was there for the truth (since I was a 
part of the government), told him to just tell the police the truth. 
Never again. The police twisted what he said to fit their concepts of 
the truth and it took a year of first criminal court and then family 
court to finally get thing back to what was the truth. He end up being 
confirmed innocent of all charges and painted a nice portrait of me for 
my troubles (the uniform did impress the judges).

I would never ever have anyone be open with the police again.. I would 
tell them to call a lawyer and keep their mouths shut, no matter how 
innocent they are. You are actually guilty until proved innocent.

The point of all this is to be circumspect in your dealings with any 
government agency. You are just a small cog. You may think you are being 
helpful, but remember that no good deed goes unpunished when dealing 
with the government.

Bill Truesdell- Chairman of the Bath Zoning Board of Appeals for the 
past 16 years (longest of any) and 30 years in the USN (I am only here 
to help you and I have guns, big ones.)
Bath, Maine

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