Town Meeting Report Card

Vigorous selectmen’s races in three towns. Feisty debates on issues small and large, from streetlights at Katama to beer and wine provisions in West Tisbury to new rules for swimming pools in Chilmark. A financial squeeze caused by shrinking revenues in a stubborn economic recession that keeps hanging around like a bad cold. These were the hallmarks of the annual town meeting season on the Vineyard this year, which draws to a close next week with the town meeting and election in Aquinnah.

These are times that are testing the values of our six Island towns in new ways. Is the essential rural nature of the Vineyard eroding? Certainly in some places, but at least voters in our communities are talking about it. Case in point: a lengthy debate in West Tisbury last month about the wisdom of building a short stretch of sidewalk between the Congregational Church in West Tisbury and Alley’s General Store. Would it despoil the character of the village? Voters were unsure, although they approved the measure.

It’s good to see these debates; they are evidence of an engaged electorate and a healthy sign that the town meeting, that venerable small-town institution that has been called the purest form of democracy, has not gone dormant after all. Certainly voters were engaged in Oak Bluffs and Tisbury, towns which both saw hotly contested selectmen’s races this year. Oak Bluffs voters sent a strong message signifying their desire for change, sweeping out two well-entrenched incumbents and ushering in two newcomers, Walter Vail and Michael Santoro, to the five-person board. In neighboring Tisbury the race between Jeff Kristal and Tom Pachico was searing and at times personal and in the end Mr. Kristal emerged the winner by just twelve votes.

Next up: Incumbent Aquinnah selectman Camille Rose faces a lively challenge on Wednesday this week from Beverly Wright, former chairman of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah).

It is heartening to see hard-fought races and it would be good to see more of them. In recent years the town ballots have grown lackluster, suggesting waning interest in, or perhaps just declining energy for, town affairs. It takes work to keep up with local issues, a lot of effort and personal commitment to run for town office, and even more to serve. But communities, like gardens, need to be tended, and the Vineyard needs its residents to take an active role in preserving and redefining the precious place we inhabit, lest it get redefined around us.

One area of concern to emerge from town meetings this year centers on the cost of benefits for retiring town workers in the years ahead. It is easy to understand why town leaders have been slow to confront these unfunded liabilities. With money tight all around, voters are reluctant to put aside funds to pay for the future obligation. In Tisbury this year voters approved a measure to set aside $100,000 for that purpose, but the question later failed in the ballot box.

The trend is worrisome; in Tisbury alone the future obligation is estimated at some $13 million. Like the federal deficit, this is not an issue that elected representatives are eager to tackle. Left unattended this obligation will simply shift to future generations. That would be an irresponsible thing to do to our children and grandchildren, the town leaders and voters of tomorrow.