So the Kline house controversy is finally settled. For $3 million the new owners will get to live in the house after all, whenever they happen to be in town. According to the “Banner” story, “most of the selectmen appeared to have agonized over the decision.” The town had already spent a lot in legal fees and there were no guarantees about the outcome of future litigation. So as selectman Maureen Burgess put it: “sometimes we have to put our personal convictions aside as elected officials and really determine what is in the best interest of the town.” It may be that in the legal battle between a very wealthy person and a mere town, the latter will always lose, but it’s a tragic outcome for the town, for the Outer Cape. According to resident Joan Holt: “Mr. Kline at a party predicted he would win because he had more money than the town. . . .The town has bought into this business of rich people being able to do what they want. So this is dirty money.” It’s not just galling that the rich guy should get his way over everybody else in town. It’s hard to see how the outcome is in the best interests of the town. Seems to me, and the selectmen’s “agony” suggests that they sort of knew it too, it’s one more episode in the long but accelerating decline from a real year-round town of varied population to a retirement and part-time ghost town.
To paraphrase, What doth it profit a town if it get the easy money upfront but lose its soul?
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