Setting the record straight

Forward Shoreline appeared in two letters to the editor last week. Bronston Kenney’s letter continues to confuse Forward Shoreline with Pro Shoreline. He’s done this so often that it now appears to be intentional misinformation. Forward Shoreline is not Pro Shoreline. Our organization has never met with theirs. We have never seen their membership list. They have never seen ours. Forward Shoreline is simply a group of Shoreline citizens who have come together to promote a vision for pride and investment in our community. Our organization includes members from the school board, community college, Crista, Chamber, Rotary, attorneys, builders, brokers, business owners, bankers and residents. We take no political positions. We do not support or provide monetary assistance to candidates. And, we had no control over the confusingly similar names. We had our name first.

Bob Mascott’s letter claimed Forward Shoreline causes contentiousness by either filing or endorsing lawsuits against city officials. We have never been involved in any of the lawsuits that have been filed against any current or past city officials. We have never expressed an opinion on the validity or appropriateness of the claims. He went on to suggest a meeting of the “sides” be conducted by a disinterested third party. That’s exactly the purpose of our Shoreline 2035 program, a communitywide visioning process conducted by a third party facilitator to envision the kind of community we want our children and grandchildren to have. Over the next two years, we will have community meetings discussing housing, education, transportation, environmental sustainability, parks and recreation, social, safety and cultural issues, and economic development.

We invite Messrs. Kenny and Mascott and all members of the community interested in the future welfare of Shoreline to join us in developing this communitywide vision.

Donald A. Sands, Chairman of the Board

Forward Shoreline