Select Board Appoints Members Of Town Council Study Committee
Jason Graziadei •
Back in May, island voters approved Curtis Barnes' citizen petition to form a committee to investigate whether Nantucket should adopt a Town Council form of government. On Wednesday, the Select Board appointed seven members to the new Town Council Study Committee, choosing from a relatively large field of 18 applicants.
After one round of voting, the initial members include:
- Beau Barber
- Curtis Barnes
- Jeff Carlson
- Kelly Steffen
- Joseph T. Grause Jr.
- Caroline Baltzer
- Rachel Mandle
Select Board member Tom Dixon and Finance Committee member Jill Vieth will both serve on the committee as ex-officio members.
Select Board chair Dawn Holdgate said there will be an initial organizational meeting scheduled to allow the committee to determine its leadership and decide whether to hire a facilitator or not.
The Town Meeting vote back in May to create the study committee followed an extensive debate over the participation and inclusivity (or lack thereof) of Nantucket's Town Meeting form of government, spurred by Barnes' citizen petition.
The other applicants that submitted interest forms to the town for a seat on the committee but were not selected include:
- Peter N. Schaeffer
- Michael L. Alvarez
- Jerico Mele
- Donna Martino
- Jill Vieth
- John Riccio
- Hillary Hedges Rayport
- Adam Dread, Esq.
- Jeremy Bloomer
- Linda Williams
- Susan Carmel