MRRA: We’re from the Government, and we’re here to help you.

The “executive committee” of the MRRA had a commentary published in yesterday’s edition of the Brunswick Ostrich.

It is, perhaps, one of the premier examples of bureaucratic hand-waving and hollow rhetoric of this year, and will almost certainly qualify the Ostrich for another coveted award from its peer group of similarly clueless birds of a feather.

The item is clearly written to counter the well-documented criticism of the MRRA in recent months.  It has some particularly confidence-inspiring passages, such as this:

Each of the members of the MRRA board of trustees was selected by Gov. John Baldacci based upon their professional expertise in a number of disciplines, including: business, law, real estate, finance, environmental sustainability, marketing and economic development.

In addition, each of them successfully passed a thorough confirmation process in the Maine Legislature, where their qualifications were further evaluated.

If that’s enough to still your troubled mind, I have a bridge to sell you.  If I have to say more than that, you aren’t paying attention.

Here at Other Side offices,  we also took particular delight in these words:

Despite assertions from other press outlets, MRRA conducts very thorough due diligence for all its business prospects.  We do not rely on newspaper stories or blog sites for our analysis.

The assertion that the MRRA conducts ‘very thorough due diligence’ flies so completely in the face of what transpired in the last year or so that it borders on willfully misinforming, to turn a phrase.

The writers claim that everything the MRRA does is open to ‘intense public scrutiny,’ another bald-faced fiction.  Add to this the following intangibles and tired political hoo-ha, and you have a classic example of self-indulgent propaganda.

• will be challenging, to say the least
• it’s critically important to have qualified professionals managing this process
• we are very fortunate to have a highly dedicated, experienced and professional team
• a highly capable staff, made up of some of the most experienced and qualified professionals in the country
• have extensive proven capabilities
• Their work to date has been recognized nationally
• conducts its business in a professional manner
• manage this complex process efficiently and effectively
• effectively analyze and evaluate potential partners for base properties based upon established criteria and business due diligence

Here at Other Side, we believe that from time to time it’s appropriate to back one’s assertions up with hard facts, especially when one is doing the “public’s business.”  We even think it’s incumbent upon our “public servants” to show a bit of humility on occasion, as foreign as that may be to their existence.

We arrive at these convictions without relying on “newspaper stories or blog sites.”

And you can trust us on this, because we’re not like all the others.

Technorati Tags: Brunswick,MRRA,Maine,BNAS