Oops!…They did it again.

“What?” you ask. Windham’s leaders are poised to spend your hard-earned money to hire professional propagandists to paint a sewer in North Windham for economic development in a favorable light before the November election. Yes, if you are not for a sewer today, rest assured that your tax dollars will be spent between now and Election Day under the guise of “education” to brainwash you and your neighbors.

I’m all for “education,” but as a professional marketer with more than 15 years of experience, I know that he or she that signs the check rules and that determines which truths to include or exclude in communications efforts. Randy Seaver of Barton & Gingold, the communications firm that wants your money, claims to be prohibited from advocating a particular stance. That may be true but Mr. Seaver is paid by people advocating for the sewer and will not be signing off on the final draft. The client always does. Pay attention to the optics, as cloudy as they may be.

At the April 24 public hearing with regard to spending an “initial” $18,500 between now and the end of June, Mr. Seaver sat in front of the Windham Town Council with Barry Sheff, a senior vice president with Woodard & Curran, whose firm stands to make $6.3 million if this project is voted through and Tom Bartell, Windham’s economic development director, who is paid to endeavor on behalf of Windham’s business community. How does that appear?

Without missing a beat, when asked what sources Mr. Seaver would tap to provide insight into both sides of the wastewater issue, Mr. Seaver said he would present the science and math. And then went on to say, on the “science” he would “defer to Mr. Sheff and the folks at Woodard & Curran.” Wow, the first place Mr. Seaver would seek unbiased information is from the firm who stands to make millions of dollars off of Windham’s taxpayers. Unbelievable.

If this doesn’t have you wondering how seriously our town’s leaders and Barton & Gingold take the responsibility to communicate with you in an unbiased manner, here’s some food for thought. Our town manager and Barton & Gingold authored the phony bologna sewer survey back in September and October of 2010. Windham’s residents were given opportunity to weigh in on the public sewer project through a survey. The survey and accompanying sell sheet (marketing speak for a flyer intended to evoke an agreeable reaction), were framed as a “public conversation” and the very beginning of an ongoing community discussion and outreach (indoctrination) effort.

Did the survey produce any mind-blowing revelations? Of course not, but it wasn’t designed to either. Rather than asking Windham’s residents at the time if they were for or against sewer as directed by the council, questions were skewed toward producing favorable responses and as stated previously, it came wrapped in a sell sheet intended to push the need for public sewer. I’d venture to say that the number of respondents approximately 200 may have been higher if the survey and packaging were less leading. Residents probably felt used knowing their responses would, in effect, show their approval of a project that they may actually be against.

Question Three of the survey was especially designed to garner supportive survey answers. It read:

“Regarding the issue of a sewer, how important to you is: Safeguarding public health?, Protecting Windham’s groundwater resource?, Allowing Windham to expand its commercial base?, Continued evaluation of a public sewer system?.”

Seriously? Who in Windham wants non-potable water, is interested in ruining our natural resources, doesn’t want commercial growth (commercial growth has actually contributed to an increase in Windham’s tax levy, but that’s another conversation), and has no interest in studying our town’s infrastructure concerns?

The bottom line is that Windham’s property taxpayers will provide a majority of the cash necessary to fund the sewer rather than putting the lion’s share of the costs with the actual users. No one in our town government seems to be advocating on behalf of residential taxpayers who, to put it bluntly, are viewed as revenue to subsidize this project. Let our leaders know that you don’t want your money used on PROPAGANDA.

Patrick Corey lives in Windham.