Chris Perry Column: It's The Right Thing To Do

The fix is in.

I know it because I am starting to feel like Doyle Lonnegan in The Sting.

With dribs and drabs of information slowing being released to the public, Arcadis’ initial environmental impact report going viral and the lawyer-speak starting to ramp up, you gotta give Avangrid and Vineyard Wind credit because they are playing this better than Redford and Newman.

We shouldn’t be surprised.

For me, reality set in a while ago as I felt the con unfolding. In turn, I refocused my attention and narrowed my local focal point knowing that my shock and the community’s collective outrage would fall on deaf ears and be considered insignificant by higher authorities.

Consequently, I think it is a mistake to be preoccupied with decisions that are out of our control. Let those who have the power and money fight it out in the appropriate arena. For the rest of us, I can all but guarantee you that as a community, we are not going to hear what we want to hear or get an honest assessment of the facts and ultimate responsibility.

Why?

Come on… you know the answer. But I’ll tell you anyway: lawyers and insurance companies.

What troubles me isn’t what is being said. What troubles me is what isn’t being said -  not only here on the island, but also at the state and federal levels because that’s where Nantucket’s fate will ultimately be sealed.

On the federal level, with limited work starting back up on site, I would anticipate the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement to step aside as the “all clear” signal comes from the bridge. Since the Biden-Harris administration blindly rushed approvals through as a cornerstone of their support for wind power, nothing is going to change with this administration,  especially with the vice president now on top of the ticket. Harris has been “adamant about wind power’s safety," and with Vineyard Wind being aided by a $1.2 billion tax-equity package via J.P. Morgan, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America, not even Denzel Washington and Chris Pine are going to stop this runaway train.

On the state level, Governor Maura Healey, State Rep. Dylan Fernandes, and State Senator Julian Cyr have all downplayed the situation. When a politician passes on an ideal photo op and a public relations bonanza like standing shoulder to shoulder with Nantucket’s Clean Team on Nobadeer Beach holding a bag full of “non-toxic, fiberglass fragments," then you know they just hope this all goes away.

Both Cyr and Fernandes were invited to next Wednesday’s Select Board meeting and State Senator Julian Cyr has confirmed. I suspect he drew the short straw but it will be interesting to see if our Select Board chair will allow questions from the public to be directed to Senator Cyr.

So, while the lawyers, insurance companies, and the politicians fight it out in places like Boston and Washington D.C. behind closed doors over what could be potentially lost offshore, I worry that we have already lost something even more valuable on shore.

Confidence.

We have lost confidence in our leadership.

More specifically, as co-signers of the Good Neighbor Agreement, we have lost confidence in our Select Board to govern.

We have lost confidence in the Maria Mitchell Association to help protect our dark skies.

We have lost confidence in the Nantucket Preservation Trust to preserve Nantucket as a designated National Historic Landmark.

That is not to say that each in their own right can’t lead, protect and preserve. In fact, history has shown they can admirably perform. But by remaining silent, their credibility and our confidence in these institutions have been shaken to the core.

I think it is fair to say that the Select Board, the MMA, and the NPT are not going to budge. Lord knows, I have tried; but to date, all three have refused to publicly debate the merits of their signatures on the Good Neighbor Agreement.

Moving forward, whether they are unwilling or unable, there continues to be no public statement as to why each one would remain an active party in the existing GNA and, as required, continue to promote Vineyard Wind’s agenda.

It’s a stalemate.

Who blinks first is the $64,000 question. Money aside, I can tell you that “renegotiating” the existing Good Neighbor Agreement as described by Select Board chair Brooke Mohr is about as popular as the idea of serving Manhattan-style chowder at The Angler’s Club.

So where do we go from here?

I have a suggestion: Give it back.

That’s right - you read that correctly - whatever money has not been awarded give it back because it shouldn’t have been accepted in the first place. Don’t give it back to Vineyard Wind - give it “back” to the Nantucket community.

Here’s how:

Set up a committee. Set up a fund. Spend the money.

Nantucket does all three very well.

Set up a new committee that is more representative and understanding of the Nantucket community because some existing members of the Nantucket Offshore Wind Community Fund are part of the problem and not part of the solution.

Secondly, set up a fund that can receive payments from the Town of Nantucket and the Nantucket Offshore Wind Community Fund as well as payments from the Maria Mitchell Association and the Nantucket Preservation Trust. Future payments, if any, from Vineyard Wind can be accepted and then redirected into the new fund.

That should be easy.

Lastly, award the money to appropriate people and organizations that have been truly impacted by this environmental disaster.

Nothing against the Nantucket Preservation Trust which applied for and received money to help design and print the annual preservation magazine, Ramblings, for two years as part of the first tranche of grant payments by the Offshore Wind Community Fund, but I think Gaven Norton of ACK Surf School on Nobadeer Beach or any of the charter fishing captains in town or out of Madaket Harbor might feel differently.

This is more than symbolic.

This is our leadership taking decisive action and making a bold statement without criticizing the Good Neighbor Agreement. As I read it, this action does not violate the terms of the GNA so why throw good money after bad when you have over 2 million reasons why we should change bad money into good?

More importantly, it instantly rebuilds credibility with the Nantucket community and, in turn, immediately restores the public confidence in these three co-signers that they can, in fact, govern, protect, and preserve.

Actions do speak louder than words and this would help heal some open wounds. Additionally, it gives the Select Board, the MMA, and the NPT some cover because let’s be honest, it hasn’t been their finest hour.

So… Give it back.

Too simple?

Too easy?

I don’t think so because I know we can do better.

We have roughly four weeks left in the summer season. It won’t be long before the mass exodus begins and the island is returned to the year-round community. Schools start up, football at the Boys & Girls Club, friendly faces reappear, and we are afforded an opportunity to count our blessings and enjoy Nantucket in the fall.

But, this community has been wounded. When we all resurface just after Labor Day, it will be an angry crowd that has lost confidence in our elected officials and two of the island’s leading non-profits. With a fiery debate expected at Town Meeting on September 17th over short-term rentals, we enter a time where leadership is key and confidence is necessary for success.

Continued silence will only make matters worse.

So, do the right thing and give the money back.

Not only is it the smart thing to do…

It’s the right thing to do.