Consider vote carefully in Portugal Cove-st. Philip’s

The road to urbanization is paved with good intention and profit for a select few.

After reading Bill Montevvchi’s February article in the Northeast Times, titled, “Planned de-construction of a rural community,” it was not hard to understand the who, what, when and where of the council’s actions over the last four years, but the “why” was not so forthcoming.

Why did our elected officials freely hand over taxpayer money to the local chamber of commerce for over four years? Why did they tear open the 10-year town plan after only six years? Then embark on this rampage of urbanization of protected rural properties, including important agricultural lands?

Particularly disturbing was the fact that all these land re-zoning changes were done right in the middle of the COVID-19 outbreak. Then I thought back about 10 years ago, to a chance encounter I had with a local development contractor who once served on the town council of Portugal Cove-st. Philip’s. It was early morning at a St. John’s mall where a co-worker and I had gone for breakfast. After the usual good morning greetings, the conversation began.

“How’s everything?” I asked.

“Good,” he replied, “very good.”

He spoke enthusiastically of his business dealings and on the bidding of expensive contracts — a $400,000 bid here, a $250,000 bid there, a $100,000 bid somewhere else, and so on. He emphasized the importance of land development and the benefits it would provide to the community.

Curious about this particular individual’s view of the world, I posed a simple question: “What about the intrinsic value of the land? That is, the value of the land in and of itself.”

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“Well,” I said, “just look around look at the environment in which we live. The forests the lakes and ponds. The meadowlands and the life it sustains, including our own. It took thousands of years since the last ice age for all of this to come about. Isn’t it this natural kind of development which gives the land its true value?”

He seemed shocked just for a second then a smile slowly came to his face. “Where did you come from, my son!” he asked laughingly. “Land has no value as it is! what good is it unless it can be developed? Let me explain,” he said. “In order for land to have value, it must first be cleared. Once cleared, something of value can be placed upon it, some kind of building or structure, etc. Once this is accomplished, it can then be assessed, once assessed it can then be taxed, once taxed, it then has value. There is no other way. This is the way it is and rightfully so.”

Then it was my turn to be shocked at this particular individual’s view of the natural world.

Ten years have passed since I had that conversation but I now believe that this man was not alone in his thinking, far from it. As a matter of fact, if you look closely enough it’s not hard to see this line of thinking, this kind of profit over people thought process. The leading political and corporate business ideology of our times. Everything including the natural world has to become a commodity and have a price attached to it in order to be of any value.

When we look back at the actions of this council over these last four years, how they all stood together with not a dissenting voice, how they aggressively pushed through their enthusiastic plans to urbanize this rural community in order to give it value. When you put it all together, this profit over people ideology is painfully obvious.

Now as the election looms large a decision has to be made. Either the people of the town of Portugal Cove-st. Philip’s will choose to take back their rural community and concern themselves with the interests and needs of its ordinary citizens or, alternatively, there may be no rural community to take back, at least as we know it.

As long as some small, self-important, business-orientated group is allowed to remain in a position of authority it will continue to set policy in order to satisfy its own selfish interests and the interests of those with whom they are closely associated. Those who also share this same shameless ideology.

Randy Burry

Portugal Cove-st. Philip’s