To the editor:

After reading in the Jan. 2 edition that Kestrel Aircraft Co. is negotiating with development officials in Wisconsin, steam is still coming out of my ears.

It’s obvious — to me, at least — that Kestrel founder Alan Klapmeier is busily playing one side against another to squeeze as much money as possible from Maine, Brunswick and the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority.

He is gaming us!

This isn’t the first time he’s tried this blackmail scheme. In October, Klapmeier whined that CEI Capital Management of Maine didn’t cough up enough money to satisfy him, saying that he was negotiating with officials in Berlin, N.H., to open a Kestrel facility there, siphoning off jobs that originally were supposed to come to Maine.

This man has no shame.

I don’t know about you, but I feel played — used and abused. If Kestrel’s business plan is so weak that the company can’t get financial backing, maybe it doesn’t deserve to be in business — in Maine or anywhere else.

I hope any other municipal entity negotiating with him takes note of his behavior. I feel it is not only unethical, but sleazy.

At this point, I would hope — no, love — to see the last of Mr. Klapmeier, and never have to listen to his whining again.

Dianne Gutscher,
Brunswick

letters@timesrecord.com