Town Assessor Serves 30 Years, and Wants More

By IAN FEIN

Last in a series of profiles leading up to the West Tisbury town
election.

When Michael Colaneri first walked into the West Tisbury
assessors' office more than 30 years ago, the method for
determining property values was simple: handwritten three-by-five cards
listed the owner's name, the acreage and the number of houses.

Over the next three decades, he presided over a period of dramatic
change and a department that switched to using a computer to compile
data. Three employees and a professional consultant company were hired.
But for the most part, the work of the West Tisbury assessors went
unnoticed, unappreciated and uncontested.

That all changed this year, when a costly court case from a North
Shore landowner gripped the town board in controversy and attracted
attention across the state.

But Mr. Colaneri, who is now in a three-way fight to save his seat,
remains unfazed. "I've enjoyed my many, many years of public
service - even with all the criticism," he said in an
interview last week. "Criticisms are good; they make you
constantly assess your role and your involvement."

He said he is comfortable with his role.

"My record – I personally feel – speaks for
itself," said Mr. Colaneri, who at 62 wears a sandy gray beard.
"I've represented my neighbors and my community, and
I've done it to the best of my ability - fairly, openly and
honestly."

The longtime board chairman is seeking a 12th term and faces
opposition for the first time since he was elected in 1973. His
challengers in the annual town election next week are selectman Glenn
Hearn and Seven Gates resident Jonathan Revere.

Mr. Colaneri chose not to speak about his opponents.

Born and raised in Vineyard Haven, he graduated from the
Martha's Vineyard Regional High School in 1961 as a member of the
school's second graduating class. He was drafted into the U.S.
Army at the age of 21 and sent to Viet Nam, where he received the Air
Medal for Heroism for his participation in Medi-vac rescues of wounded
troops. (An exhibition of his Viet Nam photographs is currently on
display at the Chilmark Library.)

Returning home safely in 1966, Mr. Colaneri worked as a barber in
his father's shop on Main street in Vineyard Haven. In 1969 he
married Karen Goethals, and they left the following year to join her
brother at Duke University, where Mr. Colaneri took courses at the
university medical center. After three years in North Carolina, the
Colaneris settled into a new home in North Tisbury and Mr. Colaneri
applied for a physician's assistant position at the Martha's
Vineyard Hospital. He has worked there ever since.

At the age of 29, Mr. Colaneri was elected as a West Tisbury
assessor.

Prior to 1973, town selectmen served simultaneously as assessors.
But they wanted other town residents to get involved, and Mr. Colaneri
rose to the cause. "I've always felt the importance of
public service," he said. "And I've always enjoyed
it."

He served roughly two decades on the Martha's Vineyard
Commission and is nearing that tenure on the town advisory board to the
Martha's Vineyard Land Bank. He is chairman of the West Tisbury
affordable housing committee, and the town recently commemorated his
efforts by naming the road to three housing lots Michael's Way.

While Mr. Colaneri listed affordable housing advocacy as the most
rewarding aspect of his public service, his profile as a town official
has been shaped by his 33 years as an assessor. And for at least the
last quarter-century, he has served alongside the same two colleagues
- Stanton Richards and Raymond Houle. The three assessors stuck
together until this year, when Mr. Houle resigned for health reasons in
February. "From my perspective, it's been an honor to serve
with them," Mr. Colaneri said.

When he first joined the board, it had virtually no data or
established methods to determine property values. But things changed
after the landmark Sudbury decision in the mid-1970s, when the
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that towns must assess all
properties at full fair market value. "Before that, I'll be
honest with you, it was a bit of guess work," Mr. Colaneri said.

After the Sudbury decision, he and his fellow board members began
compiling property data, driving around town together on the weekends to
measure the sizes of homes. Faced with a rapidly growing town and a
state department of revenue that wanted more statistical information,
they soon determined that they needed help.

"It became very obvious in those years that we needed to hire
a professional full-time assessor, and a mass appraisal company, to
ensure that we were as accurate as possible when we determined the value
of people's property," Mr. Colaneri said. "We wanted
to do what was right, what was fair. And we wanted our values to be
defensible."

When the work of the town's full-time assessor and appraisal
company were challenged in court last summer, Mr. Colaneri deferred
questions and said the board relies heavily on outside consultants. He
testified under oath that he was unfamiliar with the system that they
used, and he could not explain the data listed on a West Tisbury
property record. He apologized to the chairman of the Massachusetts
Appellate Tax Board for his lack of knowledge.

Mr. Colaneri acknowledged the shortcomings of his own board.
"There's no question that we've gained a lot of
knowledge these last two years," he said. "Maybe we need to
be a little bit more involved. A little bit closer to the flames, so to
speak."

But he said he still has confidence in the work of the outside
consultants. "We are placing values on people's properties
now that were unimaginable 15 or 20 years ago," he said.
"It's important to make sure that those numbers are right
– and that everybody's numbers are right. The more
information the board has the better, but I don't think the board
should be sitting in the office or micro-managing."

In the interview Mr. Colaneri repeated a statement he made before
the tax board last summer: "I may be the captain of the ship, but
I'm not down in the engine room," he said.

Mr. Colaneri took some heat last year for unilaterally calling off
mediation with town resident William W. Graham. He has avoided speaking
publicly about either the mediation or the tax case, and would not
comment about either in his interview. He did read a statement to voters
at a special town meeting last November defending his actions.

"This case went to trial because it had to - because the
gap between the parties was too great and because of the far-reaching
implications of the charges made," he said at the time, adding:
"The board of assessors will not apologize for defending its
valuations and methods nor for acting in the best interests of not one
West Tisbury taxpayer, but all of them."

In 1993, West Tisbury selectmen presented Mr. Colaneri with a
certificate of recognition signed by Gov. William Weld for two decades
of outstanding service on the town board of assessors.

The longtime assessor said he hopes West Tisbury voters will show
their own brand of recognition at the polls next week.

"I ask that voters take the long view," he said.
"Look what I've accomplished. I have been experienced,
involved and committed."