Not amused

In the September 2009 issue of The Bollard, there is a reference to the Cape Elizabeth Swap Shop under a “Directory of Good Deals.” Your reference implies that it is easy to utilize the Swap Shop even though one might not be a resident of the town. You take it a step further by printing that someone could use deceptive methods to get around the requirement that one be a Cape Elizabeth resident. Encouraging individuals (via the print media) to utilize false means of identification to violate local ordinances is inappropriate, in my opinion. Your snippet may be humorous to some of your audience, but my coworkers at the Recycling Center who are responsible for enforcing the rules will not find this very amusing.

For the record, the Swap Shop and Recycling Center are for use by Cape Elizabeth residents only. By the way, we do check incoming vehicles during certain times of the year to verify that they have permits that allow them the use of the center.

— Robert C. Malley

Director of Public Works, Town of Cape Elizabeth