Embattled County Commission Appoints Five to Airport Board

By JAMES KINSELLA
Gazette Senior Writer

The Dukes County Commission Wednesday named five people to the
Martha's Vineyard airport commission, even as a replaced airport
commissioner has asked the Cape and Islands district attorney's
office to investigate the matter.

The county commission named Fred Condon, John Coskie, James Craig,
David Ogilvie and Constance R. Teixeira to the seven-member airport
commission, pending clearance by the state ethics commission for
potential conflicts of interest.

The appointees, selected from a field of 13 applicants, will join
commission members John Alley (who also is chairman of the county
commission) and Norman Perry.

But one of the replaced commissioners, Leslie Leland, has brought
concerns about the appointment process to the district attorney's
office. Mr. Leland said he also plans to present the issue to the
Massachusetts Secretary of State.

Mr. Leland (who also is a county commissioner) and Jesse (Jack) Law
3rd contend that they were denied due process to remain on the airport
commission when the county commissioners reappointed them, but failed to
make their appointment letters available.

Because the two men did not receive their appointment letters, they
could not be sworn in. That opened the way for the county commissioners
several days later to rescind the two appointments.

In contrast, a signed letter was made available to Mr. Alley on Jan.
11, the same day the appointments were made.

At Wednesday's meeting, Mr. Leland told his fellow county
commissioners that he had raised the issue with the district
attorney's office, and that a letter would be coming from that
office.

"I'm just putting it on the table so that everyone is
fully aware of it," he said.

In response to Mr. Leland, assistant district attorney Thomas G.
Shack 3rd sent a letter dated Wednesday to Mr. Alley, notifying him that
the office had received a complaint about a possible violation of the
state open meeting law by the county commissioners.

"Please provide this office with a copy of any notices or
postings with regard to the meeting that occurred on Jan. 17,
2006," Mr. Shack wrote. "Also please explain where, when and
how the meeting postings were made."

At the Jan. 17 meeting, the county commissioners rescinded the
appointments of Mr. Leland and Mr. Law that they had made at the Jan. 11
meeting.

Mr. Shack yesterday declined further comment on the issue, saying
that the matter is under investigation.

But Mr. Leland said the district attorney's office is
exploring whether a chain of communication between county commissioners
on the issue effectively created a quorum that led to a decision taken
outside an open meeting: the decision to call the Jan. 17 meeting.

Mr. Alley said he called the meeting after hearing from two county
commissioners, Nelson Smith and Paul Strauss, that they wanted to
reconsider the Leland and Law appointments. Because the men initially
voted for the appointments, Mr. Alley said, Robert's rules of
order holds they could request reconsideration. County administrative
assistant Deborah Potter posted the meeting notice on the morning of
Jan. 13.

The sequence of events has raised the question of whether three or
five seats were open for appointment on the airport commission.

Despite the controversy, the county commission voted 5-1 at a
special meeting Wednesday at the county administration building to name
five new airport commissioners. Mr. Leland voted no. Commissioner Paul
Strauss was absent.

Mr. Condon, Mr. Craig and Mrs. Teixeira each received five votes.
Mr. Coskie and Mr. Ogilvie each received four votes.

None of the other candidates received a majority of the
commission's votes. Among the candidates was T.J. Hegarty, the
county rodent control officer, who resigned last month from the airport
commission in protest over commission practices.

Mr. Condon, an Edgartown resident, has served as a chief executive
officer of a multi-national company, and also is a pilot. Mr. Craig,
also of Edgartown, is chairman of the Katama airport commission, and a
commercial and helicopter pilot. Mrs. Teixeira, a Vineyard Haven
resident, is a former airline station manager.

Mr. Coskie, an Edgartown resident, has worked as a manager at
technology companies around Boston. Mr. Ogilvie, a Vineyard Haven
resident, has worked as chief executive officer of a national bankers
association and is a longtime aircraft owner.

"The people who were appointed last night possess outstanding
qualities and have a varied background in business and airports,"
Mr. Alley said yesterday. "I think they're excellent
choices. I'm confident that they will do a good job for all the
citizens of the Vineyard."

Mr. Leland, however, continues to argue that only three, not five,
seats are available on the commission. In his Feb. 24 letter to Mr.
Shack, he questions the series of events where he and Mr. Law were
unable to obtain their appointment letters.

Among other things, he questions whether county manager E. Winn
Davis knew of the probability that a special meeting would be called,
and deliberately withheld the appointment letters.

Mr. Davis was on vacation this week. But he said at last
week's commission meeting that a number of meetings on that
Thursday delayed his signing of the Leland and Law appointment letters.
By the time he could sign the letters, Mr. Davis said, he was aware of
the motion to reconsider the appointments, so he held off.