Why Did The Finance Committee Reverse Its Original Vote On The Short-Term Rental Compromise?

On Monday, the Finance Committee voted 4-3 not to support the Planning Board and Select Board’s endorsement of the compromise short-term rental proposal that emerged from a series of negotiations between bylaw sponsors for September’s Special Town Meeting. Then, on Thursday, they changed their minds and voted 4-2 to back the other boards’ positive recommendations. What changed?

Mostly, former short-term rental work group member Peter Schaeffer.

“I think it's got too many words and it's too confusing and it's not going to pass,” he said at Thursday’s meeting. “However, I think it's important for the three committees to stand together and to move forward on something. I thought about it yesterday and tonight, today and I am going to change my vote because I think we need to do something and even if it doesn't pass it shows more unity than we've had before on anything else we've voted on.”

After the Finance Committee wrapped up discussing the last few articles on the warrant for September, Jill Vieth made a motion to reconsider their vote on Article 1, the compromise article. Her motion passed unanimously. Revotes are rare in Nantucket’s local government, and the support for Vieth’s motion, even from the Committee members who ultimately voted against a positive recommendation, waså notable.

One sign of the rarity of such motions? Monday’s meeting lasted two and a half hours and included lengthy public comments from article sponsors and advocates. The revote took less than ten minutes, and the only member of the public who weighed in was Planning Board Chair Dave Iverson.

Joanna Roche, who voted against recommending the compromise article, was absent from Thursday’s meeting, accounting for the other missing no vote. With Chris Glowacki and Stephen Maury, who helped draft the compromise, both recused, that left only Rob Giacchetti and Jeremy Bloomer against the proposal. Chair Denice Kronau, Joe Wright, and Jill Vieth joined Schaeffer in voting for the positive recommendation. For a moment, it seemed that Giacchetti might change his mind as well. When his turn came to weigh in, he hesitated, as if unsure of what to say. But, ultimately, he stuck with his original vote.