The vandalism late on July 13 of the two recently painted rainbow crosswalks in downtown Eastport had a full house present at the July 14 Eastport City Council meeting. Of those who spoke, the majority were in full support of the crosswalks being repainted and the vandalism condemned in strong terms. The painting of the rainbow crosswalks had been approved by city councillors at their June 9 meeting.
     Resident Charles Crane was at the July 14 meeting to seek approval to paint two crosswalks at Water Street in front of Horn Run Brewing and at the bottom of Boynton Street with blue and black colors in support of law enforcement and red and black colors in support of firefighters. However, he told the council that he saw "what happened at the rainbow crosswalks this morning, and that is terrible." He added that he felt the rainbow crosswalks had divided the city. "We should go back to the way we were." He added that if the rainbow crosswalk was removed and painted the standard white lines he would not seek permission to paint his crosswalks. However, he said, "If David [councillor David Oja] goes out with his people and repaints it, it will happen again." He added of the vandals, "They used buoy paint," suggesting that the white paint that was splattered over the rainbow crosswalk would be hard to remove.
     Echoing Crane's opinion was resident Donna Thayer, who said, "The crosswalk is very divisive." However, before the discussion of Crane's request devolved into one about the vandalism, which was a separate agenda item added in at the start of the council meeting, Council President William "Billy" Boone explained that the item up for discussion was whether or not to grant Crane's request. Councillor Ross Lawrence made the motion to grant the request, with the council voting in favor.
     Then the door was opened to public discussion about the vandalism and what to do about it. Boone said that the city is working with law enforcement to try to track down the vandals with video footage being examined. Paul Terrill, one of the participants in the rainbow painting effort, spoke up to clarify a point Crane had made. "This was not David's thing. It was a community request," that went to Oja as a city representative. He added that supporting law enforcement and diversity "are not mutually exclusive."
     "It was vandalism of public property. It ought not to be tolerated," said business owner Peter Frewen. "The council should endorse repainting." He added that the rainbow design has historical roots as a symbol of peace, connecting the earth to the heavens, and he said, "It's cool; it sets Eastport apart." As for Crane's crosswalks, Frewen said that they would add "just another feather in our cap" as a diverse and creative community.
     Another audience member disagreed, saying, "The purpose of crosswalks is to keep people safe... I would think you'd want a crosswalk that is universally recognized - not created to be an art form or political statement." A member of the public stated that there were thousands of rainbow crosswalks around the nation, many had been vandalized, and "the response is to be repainted" in rainbow hues.
     "I would request council state that it was a hate crime," said resident Mark Tappan. "The defacement was a targeted message to the LGBTQ community." His remark garnered significant applause. Damon Weston, a resident and educator, said that the response to the vandalism should be "to really highlight the message of inclusion." While a small minority may not agree with the message, the "more speech to counteract hate speech is the way to go," he said.
     Councillor Ross Lawrence told the audience that while he had originally supported the crosswalk, he now regretted that support. "I've gotten feedback that the crosswalk is unfair." He echoed the previous statement that crosswalks are for keeping children and others safe.
     Boone stated that he supported the crosswalks and thanked the public for their comments. Councillor Jeanne Peacock made the motion for the council to condemn the vandalism and to support the continued rainbow painting of the crosswalk by volunteers. Oja then gave an emotional speech that had a few in the audience discreetly wiping their eyes. After seeing or hearing the news about the vandalism, many people had reached out to him expressing their shock and dismay and their support of the crosswalks. One such supporter has a painting company who told Oja that the company would supply the paint and the labor to repaint them. "I will not give up," Oja said, to rousing applause.
     Lawrence voted against the motion, with Boone, Peacock, Oja and Floyd "Bub" Andrews in support.
     The very next morning, the crosswalks were being repainted. Jay Preston, owner of JP Painting of Pembroke, says he offered to volunteer his painting crew to repaint the crosswalks because "I wanted to get it fixed up as quick as we could. I wanted to show there's more good than bad. There's some hate out there, and I wanted to show there's more good. I didn't want to leave it vandalized."
     Sherwin Williams in Calais donated supplies for the work, Moose Island Marine gave a discount on the paint, and city officials worked with him so the repainting could be done safely. Preston says he and his crew were thanked "five million times" by people passing by that day.