Chris Perry Column: How To Fix Town Meeting

For a good portion of the meeting, it seemed like an odd combination of a group therapy session, Festivus with the airing of grievances, and a political rally with one Town Council Study Committee (TCSC) member fawning over the presence of the Select Board’s rep as if Trump walked into the room.

Once they got done patting themselves on their backs, reality finally set in as the TCSC acknowledged going 0 for 2 in its effort to do away with Town Meeting in favor of a Town Council, even though it seemed like they didn’t know why.

To their credit, the Study Committee is determined to move forward. Step one is having chair Joe Grause write a summary report. The initial draft for the committee’s review should be available in two weeks, with a final draft ready for the Select Board in roughly three weeks.

As Grause said, “We owe it to them.”

From there, it is anyone’s guess, but the general consensus seemed to be a move toward setting up some sort of political action committee with the goal of drafting a citizen warrant article for an upcoming Town Meeting. Between now and then, there will be plenty of internal debate as to why the Study Committee’s recommendations were not adopted; but if you have Curtis Barnes as conductor, not even Chris Pine and Denzel Washington are going to slow down that train.

Personally, I wasn’t stunned with the first vote at Town Meeting but I was mildly surprised with the second one at the ballot box. Since I am interested in the fate of Town Meeting on Nantucket, I thought I would offer three suggestions that perhaps the Town Council Study Committee did not initially consider.

LANDFILL: One of the biggest complaints about Town Meeting centers around scheduling, timing and location. Over the years, tweaks have been made in an effort to improve the public’s participation, but to date, no one has come up with the ideal compromise.

So I ask you: Have you been out to the landfill on a Sunday morning?

In a four-hour period, there are hundreds of cars and thousands of people willing to wait in line on Madaket Road just for the privilege of dumping their trash in an utterly chaotic environment. Therefore, I suggest you move Town Meeting to the landfill on Sunday morning, and as an added incentive, if you vote, you don’t have to sort or use a clear, plastic bag.

For the gadflies passing out information who are posted to the front door of the high school during Town Meeting, you can now camp yourselves at the entrance to “the dump” at 188 Madaket Road and mirror the traditions of our local campaigning politicians.

There’s plenty of parking. The NRTA regularly drives right by, so shuttle service is available, and if Waste Options can clean up the C&D building, you’ll have an ideal venue.

If Town Meeting is only able to attract roughly 6 percent to 7 percent of the registered voters while the landfill is pulling in thousands from the community on any given Sunday morning, covering every socio-economic background on Nantucket, that’s sayin’ something about the allure of the Madaket Mall vs. the Mary P. Walker Auditorium.

BUILD EXCITEMENT: The only exciting thing that regularly happens at Town Meeting is when Moderator Sarah Alger says, “Voting is now open,” followed soon thereafter by “Voting is now closed.”

For a brief moment, everyone is giddy with excitement, anxiously waiting for the Moderator to read the voting results like patrons standing in line for an ice cream at the Juice Bar.

In an effort to build some excitement around Town Meeting, hold the event as scheduled. Let those diehards in attendance call the various articles and listen to themselves talk. Moderator Alger will then close the debate and announce, “Voting is now open…”

But, it stays open for 24 hours.

Why the rush?

What’s the hurry?

Community members who are unable to attend in person can watch Town Meeting on TV. Once Alger ends the debate, they will have a 24-hour window to wander over to the high school to exercise their right to vote.

Parking won’t be a problem.

If you work the graveyard shift, swing by in the morning.

If you like catching up with your neighbors, hang around for as long as you want.

If you’re a baker, a barber, a banker, a barista or a business owner, meander over at the end of the day.

If you are stumbling out of the Box at 1 a.m., grab a cup of coffee inside and vote on the way home.

If you have kids, put them to bed and then stop by.

For security, Jerry Adams goes the first 12 hours, and Mike Day finishes it off with Jim Perelman warming up in the bullpen.

I guarantee you that the number of voters will skyrocket if they know they have a 24-hour window to vote. Instead of watching the parade of voters exit Town Meeting once their sole article of interest is over, anticipation and excitement will naturally build as the votes roll in and the clock ticks away.

Once the 24-hour window ends, the community comes together on Main Street like a Christmas Eve drawing. With the NCTV cameras rolling, Alger stands in the back of a Don Allen pick-up truck with a microphone in hand and announces:

“Voting is now closed, and here are the results…”

That’s must-see TV.

DRAFT KINGS: You want to capture the interest of the younger generation and get them engaged, get DraftKings involved, and let them bet on it.

The Gen Xers are constantly glued to their phones, and if they’re not on TikTok or Instagram, they’re placing a bet.

It’s pretty simple.

The town retains DraftKings. Once the warrant is adopted, DraftKings posts a line for every article. Early voting is encouraged, and once you vote, it triggers access to the betting site.

Talk about engagement. They’ll flood the site.

The possibilities are endless.

You can put together a two-article parley - bet the Over / Under for the total number of articles that pass - create a four-article teaser and move the line, or perhaps take some side action on the number of times Linda Williams rises to speak.

The Gen Xers are not alone…

Come on, don’t be shy.

Secretly, everyone has a DraftKings account and has placed a bet at one time or another. Moreover, if the town of Nantucket can cut a deal with DraftKings and get a piece of the action, then when the public is voting to spend some money, the town of Nantucket could actually be making some money.

It’s a win-win!

At this point, no one knows what the next move will be from the Town Council Study Committee. Historically, non-binding resolutions mean little, and the track record for success with articles coming back year after year to the Town Meeting floor is not good. All you have to do is look at the recent short-term rental debate.

Therefore, it might be time for the TCSC to take their medicine and call it a day.

However, if the TCSC is truly committed to the cause and considers my suggestions, your next step is to advise the community that they don’t have to attend Town Meeting but can vote during a 24-hour window, can dump unsorted trash in any bag twice a year, and if you wager wisely you can make some money.

If you do that, I’d bet you’d have a nine-member Town Council voted into office faster than Bobby DeCosta can shuck a dozen oysters.

Like Iowa corn farmer Ray Kinsella once said, “If you can bet on it, they will come…”