Editors, Vineyard Gazette
Oscar Wilde told us that a cynic knows the “price of everything and the value of nothing.” This best captures Nelson Sigelman’s comment on the Gazette’s 9/29 article “Edgartown Eyes Katama Farmland Purchase” regarding the county property in Katama.
You wouldn’t know it from Mr. Sigelman’s comments, but the county provides real value to its residents. At their request the county works for all of the towns managing town funds paid to Island-wide social service agencies.
In addition, significant services like the Veteran Services office and the Healthcare Access office, among others, are run by the county. And, directly due to county efforts, all the towns have before them a comprehensive blueprint for implementing Island-wide emergency management preparedness and response which, had it been in place last winter, would have made life easier for everyone. These services support and assist thousands of county residents every year; for each town to take them on individually would add unnecessary expense and burden.
The county is also deeply accountable to the towns on a financial basis. Its budget is approved by the County Advisory Board (“CAB”, one selectperson from each town). Any excess unrestricted funds the county might have at the end of a fiscal year are, by law, credited back to the towns.
The CAB has advised for years that the commissioners should seek additional revenue sources. The same is true of the Edgartown selectboard itself. In a 2024 letter to the commissioners, the selectpersons admonished the County “…to address its financial challenges by identifying and implementing additional revenue-generating strategies…”
The county stands by its record of providing valuable services to all county residents. Finding a better home for the lots in Katama isn’t a cynical exercise — it is simply good management.
Christine Todd, Randy Milch, Doug Ruskin — members of the Dukes County Commission
This article appears in October 2 2026.