The Vineyard’s Islandwide planning agency will have four new members when it convenes for its first meeting of the year on Thursday. 

The Martha’s Vineyard Commission welcomes Mary Bernadette Budinger-Cormie, Mark Gauthier, Jannette Vanderhoop and Willa Kuh as its newest commissioners. Ms. Cormie is from Tisbury and was elected in November, along with Ms. Vanderhoop from Aquinnah. Mark Gauthier was appointed by the Oak Bluffs select board and Ms. Kuh was appointed by the Chilmark select board. 

The four new members join the board as long-time commissioners Fred Hancock, Joan Malkin and Clarence (Trip) Barnes step away from the commission. 

Mr. Barnes, the owner of Barnes Moving and Storage had been on the commission since 2013, serving as a member from Tisbury. Mr. Hancock, who was the chair of the commission when he decided not to run for reelection, has served as a Oak Bluffs representative since 2010. Ms. Malkin, a member of the Chilmark zoning board of appeals, had been on the board since 2013. 

The commission oversees large projects that have a regional impact, one of the only two such commissions in the state. 

On Thursday the new commissioners will take on applications for a new boat yard in Tisbury, as well a plan to rebuild the East Chop bluff. Other projects before the commission are the controversial housing proposal at 97 Spring street in Tisbury, the Green Villa affordable housing development in Oak Bluffs and the demolition of a historic cottage in Oak Bluffs. 

Ms. Cormie’s decision to run for the commission was galvanized by the 97 Spring street project. Ms. Cormie is a neighbor of the development and has filed a lawsuit in land court, arguing that the project is an illegal lodging house in a residential district.

While campaigning, Ms. Cormie said she wanted to defend the Island’s character.

“I really felt it was necessary to have a voice of preservation and to help make it so that people don’t have to go through what I’m going through.” she said in November. 

Mr. Gauthier was appointed by the Oak Bluffs select board in a 4-0 vote in December. Jane Edmonds also initially had put her hat in the ring for the seat, but she later withdrew her name. 

Mr. Gauthier had worked with municipal boards in the past while living on the mainland, and he has worked on the Oak Bluffs five-year strategic plan. Mr. Gauthier said he had talked to both Mr. Hancock and Brian Smith, the other Oak Bluffs members, about the requirements of the role.

He said he had also gone through news stories about the commission and had a firm grasp on how municipal committees operate. He decided to run to give back to the community, which he had visited for decades before moving to the Island. 

“It’s somewhat daunting but I’m willing to take it on,” he told the select board.

Ms. Vanderhoop, an artist, landscaper and member of the Wampanoag tribal council, was elected via a write-in campaign. She wanted to help Islanders continue to live here.

“I know that it’s hard for locals, year-rounders and the working people to maintain their hold on the Island,” Ms. Vanderhoop said last month. “I’m very much interested in seeing Islanders thrive and survive here.”

Ms. Kuh, a longtime seasonal resident who moved to Menemsha in 2020, has experience in writing grants for the city of Salem’s planning department and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. She also worked with a consulting firm that helped with Aquinnah’s land-use plan. 

The Chilmark select board voted unanimously to appoint Ms. Kuh in December.

“I’m very excited to have an opportunity to be a volunteer here in the town, and I feel like I’ve got all these different kinds of experiences about environmental issues, historic preservation that pretty much matches the range of topics that the Martha’s Vineyard Commission entertains,” she said.  

Katrina Liu contributed to this article.