A small but vocal audience turned out on Patriot’s Day for an Aquinnah candidates’ forum hosted by the League of Women Voters of Martha’s Vineyard.

Aquinnah’s lone contested race is for an open seat on the select board. Three-term incumbent Gary Haley is being challenged by first-time candidate Chris Manning. Mr. Manning is a town constable and the Gay Head lighthouse keeper. Mr. Haley is an electrician by trade.

On Monday both candidates answered questions about rising property taxes, regionalization and civic participation at the forum moderated by Joan Kass.

The town election is May 15, following the annual town meeting May 13. 

Both candidates highlighted their priorities if elected to office. Mr. Haley’s remarks emphasized the board’s accomplishments over his tenure and highlighted the work on the new town playground, upkeep for the town buildings and repairs to the lighthouse. 

“We’re in good shape for the shape we’re in and we’re trying to keep it going,” Mr. Haley said. 

In 2022 Mr. Haley ran into trouble with the Massachusetts Ethics Commission, when the commission found he had violated the state conflict of interest law stemming from work he had done at the Aquinnah Circle. He was fined $10,000 in civil penalties.

This is Mr. Manning’s first time running for the select board. He stressed the need for younger voices in local government, following an Islandwide narrative this election season.

“Should I get elected, I’m hoping to bring some fresh voices in and usher in the next generation for Aquinnah,” Mr. Manning said.

Several members of the audience peppered the candidates with questions. Jay Macleod inquired about the town’s finances and asked how each candidate would work with the finance committee to eliminate unnecessary spending.

Mr. Manning said he wouldn’t want to take money away from any individual or agency within the town, but that he’d go line-by-line looking for reasonable cuts. 

Mr. Haley said his current process is to review the budget line-by-line with the finance committee, note departments that have an increase and see where cuts can be made. He added that the town is in good shape.

“I think we’re out of debt period after this year” Mr. Haley said. “We’re just waiting on the schools to see what happens.”

Carla Cuch, a member of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) who owns a shop on the cliffs with her sister, said taxes are off the charts and continue to rise each year, making it difficult for residents to live in town.

Mr. Haley said the reason for the tax increases is to compensate for salary increases and that a majority of town employees are already part-time. He said the town’s hands are tied in those matters. 

Mr. Manning spoke of the sale of the 300-acre Kennedy property on Moshup Trail to the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank and the Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation as an example of a missed opportunity to expand the town’s taxable land.

“That increases the taxes that the rest of us have to pay,” Mr. Manning said. 

Ms. Cuch also asked how the candidates would help mend the town’s relationships with the tribe.

Mr. Manning, a tribal member that worked for the Aquinnah Wampanoag natural resources department when he moved back to the Island in 2019 after serving in the U.S. Navy, said he would be a bridge between the two governments if elected. 

“[The tribe] is also stakeholders in Aquinnah and what affects Aquinnah affects them as well,” Mr. Manning said.

Mr. Haley said the select board sends notes to the tribe asking questions on various matters, but the town often doesn’t get a response.

“[Tribal] council has been answering some of the questions, but in general, the questions that we send and the messages we send over there come back unaddressed,” Mr. Haley said.

Berta Welch, who is Ms. Cuch’s sister and co-owns their shop on the cliffs, asked each candidate for their perspective on regionalization. 

Both candidates said they want to avoid regionalization and mentioned the police department as an area of focus.

Mr. Haley said the town waited two months for someone to apply for an open police officer position but received no applications. The Dukes County Sheriff’s Office is deploying special duty officers to help in the meantime, and Mr. Haley said he is optimistic. 

“I believe that in the not too distant future, there’ll be people that are stepping up to that job because we need it, and we can’t regionalize,” Mr. Haley said. “I [wouldn’t] like to regionalize the police department but if that’s what has to be done, that’s what has to be done.”

Mr. Manning worked as a police officer in Tisbury and as a special police officer for Aquinnah and the tribe. He said one of the drawbacks with regionalization is determining funding, and what each town would contribute.

He mentioned that with the regionalization of the up-Island emergency medical services, oftentimes the town’s police officers are the first to arrive on the scene. 

“In the dead middle of winter when your ambulance is 20 minutes away, because it’s coming from either Chilmark or West Tisbury, the very first people who are arriving at that doorstep are going to be the police officers….,” Mr. Manning said. “If we regionalize the police department, then are they going to be 20 minutes away as well?”

Kathie Olsen, who is an Aquinnah representative on the Up-Island council on aging, mentioned the political polarization in the country and asked what each candidate would do to help on the local level.

Mr. Haley said the Trump administration’s recent actions with grant cuts and rising tariffs are on too great a scale for the town to do anything.

“I think our only [option] is to wait the four years out and do our best from there,” Mr. Haley said.

Mr. Manning said he feels the effects of the national political polarization on Aquinnah are minimal and commended the town’s civic engagement.

“There is still a lot of civic discourse and respect for our neighbors here, which we don’t always see with the current administration…” Mr. Manning said. “I think it really brings into focus just how great Aquinnah is with our civic respect.”

The town is encouraging people to run write-in campaigns for town moderator, two open positions on the planning board, an associate position on the planning board and two library trustee positions.