On This Election Day: Votes for the Farmers and Against the State

By JULIA WELLS

They went to the polls in large numbers on a sparkling autumn day.
They said they liked two farmers best for the Martha's Vineyard
Commission. They said they were unhappy with the outside meddling of the
state legislature and the city of New Bedford when it came to the
Steamship Authority.

They got involved.

In Massachusetts and across the nation this week much was said and
written about the mood of the electorate, as voters used the ballot box
to turn the political world on its head. And when it was all over,
conservatives rejoiced in their newfound power and liberals shook their
heads in dismay.

But on the Vineyard voters went their own way, and if it mattered
little when it came to bucking the state trend in the race for governor,
it mattered much more when it came to voting on issues that were
directly connected to the future of the Island.

The Martha's Vineyard Commission election offered a clear
choice between seasoned incumbents and candidates who believed in the
core mission of the commission, and a smaller handful of candidates who
were pro-growth and far less supportive of the commission and its unique
powers to regulate development.

Question 4 was something of a riddle, conceived in a back room and
out of the public eye by former New Bedford city solicitor George
Leontire and a group of Vineyard selectmen who were allied with the New
Bedford grab for control of the Steamship Authority. Understanding the
genesis of the question was a key factor in the outcome of the vote, and
people on both sides of the question worked hard to educate voters
- or confuse them - depending on the point of view.

But in the end it was up to the voters to decide, and the results
speak for themselves.

"Do I think there is a message? I do indeed. I think the
voters said the all-Island selectmen's group is a nice group, but
it's not going to speak for us. I think they also said,
‘We've got to be careful about what we do with our land, and
we don't want angry people telling us what to do here,'
" said Barbara Day, a West Tisbury resident who helped spearhead
the first-ever political action committee on the Vineyard before the
election this year.

"I think people were interested. There was a lot of buzz and
people did feel some responsibility about these local issues. They were
excited about an election that could excite them. I also think people
were very concerned; they were concerned that the Vineyard would indeed
disappear," she added.

"I think they delivered a message to George Leontire,"
said Richard Knabel, a West Tisbury resident who also worked on the
political action committee. Mr. Knabel was referring to Question 4, the
ballot initiative aimed at changing the way the Vineyard Steamship
Authority governor is appointed.

"I don't have to say anything; the voters said it all. I
think the voters were sending a message that they didn't want an
outside community telling the Vineyard how it should choose. I also
thought they were telling the selectmen that they are out of touch with
the electorate," Mr. Knabel said.

He also commented on the commission election.

"There was no way to avoid concluding that the election for
the Martha's Vineyard Commission was a bit of a referendum on golf
courses, but I think the message from the Island was, they want a strong
commission; they support what the commission has done and they want to
put people on the commission with those values. I think it's
encouraging - people were seeing the Island as a broad Island and
not six small towns - and they want to see an Islandwide approach
to managing development," he said.

The political action committee included an ample network of people
who worked in every Island town before the election. A card was sent to
postal patrons a few days before the election urging them to vote for a
suggested slate of candidates for both the MVC and the county
commission.

The committee now plans to turn its attention to the movement in the
town of Oak Bluffs to withdraw from the Martha's Vineyard
Commission amid the controversy over the Down Island Golf Club.

Mrs. Day said voter education is a crucial ingredient in any
election, but especially in an election that involves as many candidates
and as many issues as the one on the Vineyard this year.

"These elections are also very confusing and more needs to be
done to get information to people about the candidates, because people
need it," she said.

Mr. Knabel downplayed the work that he and Mrs. Day put into the
committee. "I think we were able to be effective, but it
wasn't just us. There were a lot of people involved. We had a
steering committee of 10 people who went out and enlisted people in all
the towns. It was a large effort and that was the only way it could
succeed. We had support from Edgartown to Aquinnah," he said.