Chris Perry Column: She's Pushing All Her Chips In

The drama has played out for almost five years like a game of high-stakes, Texas Hold’em that would make poker greats Phil Hellmuth and Chris Ivey proud.

Along the way, and with the Nantucket community watching from the gallery, there have been a few check-raises, several accusations of slow play, and numerous bluffs that have resulted in the final two combatants and their supporters limping towards a showdown where only one could cash in with a victory.

However, when the Nantucket Planning & Economic Development Commission (NP&EDC) recently announced a compromise in anticipation of Town Meeting, it appeared the warring parties were looking to split the pot.

Not so fast….

Hillary Hedges Rayport is pushing all in.

Trying to wrap your head around the game that is being played out in front of the Nantucket community and understanding the role and responsibilities of the NP&EDC is virtually impossible unless you have a dog in the fight. That does not mean the commission is not important. But frankly, from my seat in the gallery over the last few years, it has appeared to be a spiteful, confusing, and tedious journey that apparently will result in a new and improved Nantucket Regional Commission by way of an amendment to Article 74 followed by no action on Article 75, paving the way for the compromise to pass at Town Meeting on May 5th.

One has to go back to January of 1973 when the NP&EDC was created at a Special Town Meeting. It has been amended over the years, but the bottom line is that Nantucket has the only regional planning agency (RPA) that represents just one single town in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

In section one of the enabling legislation, the local commission was established “in order to plan for orderly and coordinated development,” supported by section two, which makes the commission “responsible for the preparation of comprehensive plans and make recommendations for action to implement said plans to the responsible county and town agencies."

That’s a mouthful, and depending on who you ask, that can be interpreted a thousand different ways. This ambiguity has led to many stops and starts for the NP&EDC as well as skepticism in the community as to exactly what the role and responsibilities are for this commission, as it remains the only one of 13 regional planning agencies in Massachusetts that has the unique ability to act locally while having direct access at the state level.

There have been many highlights for the NP&EDC over the past 52 years. Certainly, the development of the Comprehensive Plan for Balanced Growth, the introduction of public transportation on Nantucket, and the commission’s staunch support for the initial creation of the Land Bank rank right up there.

However, on the other side of the coin, the NP&EDC’s silent stance as a seat holder on the Ocean’s Advisory Council, emboldening Vineyard Wind and ducking the opportunity to apply pressure on National Grid to bury more utility lines underground via the L-8 Project, should be considered swings and misses.

Nevertheless, the NP&EDC is facing a new set of questions as it struggles internally for a philosophical compass moving forward. Some say this battle has been simmering since 2005 when Andrew Vorce was appointed Nantucket’s planning director, resulting in Alvin Topham and Christine Silverstein immediately resigning from the commission. However, today’s battle for control of the NP&EDC actually started five years ago when Hillary Rayport “started poking at this bear."

“It’s been a long journey, but I came to the decision in 2021 that I wanted to try and fix the regional planning authority," said Rayport who described herself as a “civic preservationist” during a lengthy discussion last week.

“The NP&EDC is a unique commission with the ability to improve people’s lives. I think I have offered alternative ways to make the NP&EDC more effective. I believe the community wants change too, and I am happy with this compromise”, she added.

Long-time NP&EDC member and sparring partner, Nat Lowell, sees things differently.

“The NP&EDC was set up in 1973 when things were a lot different. There’s community confusion about the Planning Commission (advisory) and the Planning Board (regulatory) and their respective roles. The most important thing is our ‘connectivity’ to the state, and as Frank Spriggs used to say, ‘we have a separate voice at the state level through this commission'," said Lowell, who has continued the family tradition of community service by serving on several town boards and committees.

Lowell added, “I wish we could ‘de-complicate’ things. I don’t want this infighting to continue because it causes too much confusion, and it makes us look bad in the eyes of the state. Consequently, it is important to understand that we have already made several concessions in an attempt to work things out, and now, this new compromise has even more. In the end, I want people to understand that inventing new ideas to close Nantucket’s gates is not the answer."

With any proposal, there’s always the bitter and the sweet, and with this compromise, I see several.

For example, I am a big fan of the residency requirement and the County Commission’s (Select Board) expanded role of appointing four members to the NP&EDC.

However, I am disappointed that term limits were not included. Additionally, I think adding one elected position plus an appointed position reserved to represent local business interests reeks of desperation to appear inclusive because anytime you increase the size of a commission or board - in this case from 11 to 13 - you are going backwards, not forwards.

Assuming this compromise makes it to Town Meeting floor, most people think that today’s battle for the heart, mind and soul of the NP&EDC will be settled on May 5th when the final votes are counted on articles 74 and 75.

I don’t.

While it certainly will be a barometer, the vote that truly counts will take place on May 19th when Hillary Hedges Rayport’s seat on the Planning Board (originally John Trudel’s seat up until his resignation in April 2024) will be up for re-election.

“My intentions are to run and it is my goal to win that five-year seat on the Planning Board," Rayport offered, understanding nothing is certain.

In my opinion, the results from that town election will cement the philosophical direction of the NP&EDC regardless of what happens at Town Meeting. Certainly, Rayport must feel confident knowing her warrant article at last September’s Special Town Meeting, aimed at restructuring the NP&EDC, passed overwhelmingly, garnering 72 percent of the votes. However, that vote came with only 400 people in attendance, and at 9 p.m., hardly the ideal time or a true cross-section of eligible voters on Nantucket.

But, a win is a win is a win.

Two weeks after May’s Town Meeting, local elections will be held, with thousands of voters casting their ballots behind a curtain, far different from a few hundred attendees at Town Meeting with a clicker in their hand. If Hillary Hedges Rayport wants to chart a new course for the NP & EDC - and it certainly appears that she does - then Rayport must not only successfully thread the needle and get the proposed compromise through Town Meeting, but she also must win that town election.

Like poker, the stakes are high in local politics, and Rayport has pushed all in.

If the compromise passes, but Rayport loses her Planning Board seat, I would call it a hollow Town Meeting victory, knowing the voters spoke loud and clear.

However, if Rayport helps pass the compromise and ultimately secures a five-year seat on the Planning Board, there will be a new de facto face of the NP&EDC, confirming what Lou Krieger once said, “Poker is a lot like life. If you’re patient and wait for the right spots, you’ll be rewarded…”