With the endorsement of striking bus drivers, Tisbury selectmen reappointed Elaine Miller to the Vineyard Transit Authority board at their regular meeting Tuesday evening.
Full-time VTA drivers have been on strike for nearly two weeks, protesting employment practices of the management company, Transit Connection Inc. (TCI).
The VTA board is intended to include a representative from each Island town, a representative from the rider community and a representative who is disabled. The board meets four to six times per year, according to its website. Mrs. Miller, who said she was originally appointed last fall, expressed concerns about the level of engagement among her fellow board members. Edgartown VTA board member Louis Paciello abruptly resigned earlier this week.
“We have not been as engaged as we need to as a board and that has bothered me,” Mrs. Miller told selectmen. “I have sat down with [town administrator] Jay [Grande] to give him a report on what I felt was not really happening. But again, please remember that I’ve got a short life on the board, so I can’t speak very in depth about it, but I was not very comfortable.”
She said meetings have not been well attended. “We’ve had a couple more board members who will not show up for board meetings, and so we don’t have a quorum. So I’m kind of operating by myself, which is not appropriate,” Mrs. Miller said.
Selectman Melinda Loberg also noted that the town missed its opportunity to appoint an at-large representative to the board last year.
“We missed our opportunity in 2017 when a letter did not arrive to us reminding us to make this appointment,” she said. “We know that other towns too have not made their appointments in the correct rotation — or at all, resulting in vacancies on the board, which is deplorable.”
Selectmen asked Mr. Grande to write a letter to other towns urging active participation among town representatives on the board and inquiring about who will appoint the next at-large members. Striking bus drivers present at the meeting applauded Mrs. Miller’s appointment.
In other business, selectmen also appointed Gregory Leland as assistant fire chief. The town voted to fund the full-time position for the volunteer fire department at last spring’s annual town meeting.
Selectmen reappointed shellfish assistants, two community preservation committee members, and the town cabinet.
They heard from concert organizer Adam Epstein about plans to sell beer and wine at the Beach Road Weekend music festival in August. The festival is expected to draw thousands to Veterans Memorial Park. Selectmen voted to accept Mr. Epstein’s beer and wine plan, but stopped short of granting a license, opting to schedule a public hearing before taking further action.
“Our proposal is in the interest of both the economic but also public safety,” Mr. Epstein told the board. “We want to discourage people from trying to drink beforehand and over-consume and/or trying to sneak alcohol into the festival.”
Selectmen asked Mr. Grande to schedule the public hearing as early as possible.
Police chief Mark Saloio presented a new proposed policy for hiring practices for new officers.
“It seems to be anything but consistent in how we go about hiring, training, and sending people [to the police academy],” Mr. Saloio said. “Sometimes we’ve hired people and paid for the academy. Sometimes we’ve not. Sometimes we’ve paid for lodging sometimes we have not, and I just think it’s in everyone’s best interest that we just have a clear policy moving forward.”
He said consistent practices will go toward the department’s goal of achieving accreditation with the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission.
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