For Second Time, Aquinnah Voters Reject Budget Override; A Difficult
Year Ahead
By JULIA WELLS
Voters in Aquinnah spoke - and loudly - for the second
time in four weeks yesterday, rejecting a $130,000 general override to
Proposition 2 1/2 by a decisive margin in a special town election.
The final count was 75-56 against the override to the state-mandated
tax cap. There was only one question on the ballot. The vote echoed a
special election last month, when voters rejected a $260,000 override by
three votes. The final count then was 40-37.
Oak Bluffs Results Were a Surprise - Is Healing of Long Battle
Under Way?
By Julia Wells
In Oak Bluffs the landscape has changed, and it's not just the
daffodils and day lilies. In this seaside town of honky tonk and
gingerbread and emerald parks, the landscape of local politics has also
suddenly changed.
The agreement grew out of formal mediation and was signed in 1994
during one of the most heated debates in the history of the town, but
today it is a forgotten document, the details fuzzy and faded, even in
the memories of the people who signed it.
Marking a painful new chapter in the checkered history of the
Steamship Authority, the people of Nantucket voted, without dissent, at
a public meeting this week to launch a formal study of whether to secede
from the boat line which has been their lifeline for over four decades.
The study will be privately funded and led by a private group that
was spearheaded by Nantucket SSA governor Grace Grossman and port
council member Flint Ranney.
The diver goes over the side and disappears into the shallow
saltwater pond with a small splash. Several minutes later he breaks the
surface, cradling his prize: a clear plastic cylinder that contains a
large plug of gravelly sand topped with pond water. A wisp of green
algae waves gently in the watery top layer like a slender flag.
Did the Commission Correctly Act in Refusing Gas Station? Is There
‘Tunnel Vision'? Judge Will Decide
By JULIA WELLS Gazette Senior Writer
The unique power of the Martha's Vineyard Commission to hear
evidence, weigh facts and use judgment in deciding whether to approve or
deny development projects went on trial last week in the Tisbury Fuel
Services case, which will now go to a superior court judge for a
decision.
Boatline Interim Manager Will Tackle Reservations and Ticketing
Problems
By JULIA WELLS Gazette Senior Writer
HYANNIS - Steamship Authority governors bid a quick adieu to
chief executive officer Fred C. Raskin and voted without dissent
yesterday to name Wayne Lamson, their longtime treasurer, as interim
general manager for the next four months.
"Wayne, it's a pleasure, thank you," said
Barnstable governor and board chairman Robert O'Brien during the
monthly boat line meeting held here yesterday morning.
A gnarly two-year struggle over issues of governance and lines of
authority came to a new head last week when Steamship Authority chief
executive officer Fred C. Raskin launched a process that may lead to his
resignation - and a hefty severance deal to boot.
Mr. Raskin gave written notice to the boat line board last week that
he intends to terminate what is called a readjustment period under the
complicated terms of his contract.
All fund raising, no debt. This was the message from leaders at the
Martha's Vineyard Hospital this week when they hosted a forum to
update the public on plans to build a new hospital.
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