I happily voted for Cynthia Dill when she represented my Maine Senate District 29, which covers Cape Elizabeth, South Portland, and part of Scarborough. I also voted for her when she ran for the US Senate. In her public life as an elected representative and as a thoughtful political commentator on the radio with MPBN and in print with the Portland Newspapers, her progressive values lined up well with my own. She stood for the environment, equality, and many of the issues that are important to working families – one of which was affordable housing.

So, it was surprising to see that she led the efforts to kill the affordable housing plan for the Cape Elizabeth town center — that would have been the first such development in 50 years. It seems that her backyard values conflict with her public persona.

Congratulations to Ms. Dill on defeating the affordable housing measure. And, congratulations for giving our critics on the right a good example of liberal hypocrisy.

Lastly, I encourage the Portland Press Herald to publish the names of some of the other petition signers.

Paul Bartlett
South Portland