Stand up and be heard

The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the appalling silence of the good people.

So said Martin Luther King, Jr., and although he was referring to racial injustice, the same holds true about anything. For far too long this has been the case with regard to members of our community who are less privileged.

These families live in fear of retribution if they speak out. Consequently they put up with what is handed them.

Are they perfect tenants? Perhaps not. Perfect housekeepers? Perhaps not. Perfect neighbors? Perhaps not. But they are human beings

Finally, we, as a community, are doing what we should have done long ago. We are speaking up.

Friday, November 4, there is a town-wide meeting at the Norway town offices to address what can be done to help members of our community, landlords and tenants, provide and have what the rest of us may take for granted ... a safe place to live.

Further, we commend Dana Totman, chief executive, Avesta Housing in Augusta and Peter Merrill of Maine State Housing Authority in Augusta for their prompt response. Within 24 hours of publication of the story "Slumlords, shoddy oversight..." they both had inspectors at the addresses cited conducting a thorough (we hope) inspection.

We applaud Town Manager David Holt, CEO Joelle Corey-Whitman, Police Chief Rob Federico and Fire Chief Dennis Yates for their immediate reaction resulting in the Friday meeting.

We urge tenants to come on Friday and to not be afraid to have their voice heard. We urge others to come and support constructive discussion and pooling of ideas. Margaret Mead was so very right:

A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.