"Kind" Of Weird

Those of you who have traversed Branford and parts of East Haven may have noticed signage on residents' front lawns displaying the words, "Please Be Kind!"

Rather a nice thought. Lord knows we could all use more kindness in the world today.

I know I'd rather see a motorist passing me on I-95 giving a cheerful wave instead of "half a 'peace' sign."

This crusade is the brainchild of one Ken Englemen, who recycled discarded political posters to spread the word. Rather creative, I must say.

Mr. Englemen is also a founding member of Save Our Shoreline, a group which, as the title says, is dedicated to the preservation of the shoreline. (It's unclear as to how much of Connecticut's 128 miles of shoreline is targeted.)

BUT...

In 2020, when heavy rains overwhelmed the sewage treatment plant, resulting in one million tons of raw sewage washing up on the shores of East Haven and Branford, I was unable to find any commentary from Save Our Shoreline.

And last year, when plans were presented at a public hearing for the construction of an apartment complex on the East Haven waterfront, there were several voices raised in protest...none of them from Save Our Shoreline.

Maybe they were just trying to be kind.

No, Save Our Shoreline sees one threat to the coast: Tweed-New Haven Regional Airport.

Now, Tweed has hosted a number of visiting school groups for those students interested in a career in aviation and aeronautics. And Avelo Airlines, Tweed's sole commercial passenger operator, has held job fairs at East Haven's Hagaman Memorial Library in their attempts to hire locally, and the airline also raised money for the Connecticut Special Olympics by hosting a "plane pull."

Say, all that sounds pretty kind, right?

Recently, the airport conducted an Environmental Assessment as part of its overall plan of improvements while at the same time respecting the surrounding environment. Many members of the EA team had extensive backgrounds in the environment and biological science and had done similar work before.

The EA project also included a "public comment" section, giving all stakeholders a chance to express their opinions as to the process.

On April 25th, 2023, Mr. Englemen went on record to state that "many of you have lost your way because of 'money first' attitudes/politics," and that they are "using manipulated data to sway public opinion."

He also refers to Avelo's efforts as "nothing more than a marketing scheme."

Furthermore, Mr. Englemen ascertains that "there is no question that your computer modeling is inconsistent and wrong."

What? Wait! That doesn't sound very kind now, does it?

Five days later, on April 30th, 2023, Mr. Englemen bloviated again, stating that "there are so many things wrong with this plan, I do not even know where to begin."

Whoa! Where's this coming from?

In all due fairness, one can detect a certain sense of frustration in Mr. Englemen's posts. It would seem his patience in seeking a resolution has become exhausted. He's certainly entitled to his opinion.

But does that justify the above-mentioned tirades against the Airport Authority, Avelo and Avports in his search for answers?

I'm not quite sure what to make of this.

Proverbs 15:1 (KJV) tells us that "a soft answer turneth away wrath, but grievous words stir up anger." I'm not seeing it here.

Oh, don't get me wrong. Again, Ken Englemen deserves some applause for his efforts to show that everyone deserves kindness.

It's just too bad that Tweed-New Haven Regional Airport doesn't appear be his "kind."