In the last 25 years, only one person has unseated an incumbent
selectman in West Tisbury. Her name is Cynthia Mitchell, and she beat
Fred Fisher back in 1990. Now she's the one fighting to keep her
chair for a fifth term on the board of selectmen. Intriguingly, a
central issue in this race turns out to be Steamship Authority politics
rather than a village issue.
Challenger Jeffrey (Skipper) Manter Is Winner by Large Margin Over
Incumbent John S. Alley
By JULIA WELLS
Nine-term selectman John S. Alley lost his seat to Jeffrey (Skipper)
Manter in a surprise trouncing in the West Tisbury annual town election
yesterday.
Attorney fees for the lawsuit against the Martha’s Vineyard Commission’s roundabout decision will not come out of the town’s annual operating budget, West Tisbury selectmen said this week.
“I think it’s better not to try to budget . . . extraordinary legal events,” selectman Cynthia Mitchell said at the board’s meeting, held on Tuesday this week. “It ought to be raised separately not as part of the budget. And in that way you get the opportunity to ask the voters how do you feel about such a lawsuit.”
The West Tisbury selectmen say they will need to call a special town meeting to secure additional funds for the roundabout lawsuit after preliminary attorney fees have quickly drained the town’s legal funds budget.
