Head Vs. Heart

Now what?

They got spanked at Town Meeting to the tune of 477 to 251.

Despite the results, Curtis Barnes, who was the original architect of Article 81 at the 2023 Annual Town Meeting and Joe Grause, chairperson of the Town Council Study Committee, were committed to taking another swing.

With the majority of Town Meeting voters not supporting the committee’s non-binding resolution to move Nantucket away from Town Meeting to a Town Council form of government, Barnes and Grause set their sights on the local ballot box where they anticipated stronger, island-wide support and a much bigger turnout.

In fact, immediately after the recent Town Meeting vote, Barnes offered, “We anticipated that kind of reaction. However, we are confident we will prevail when the question appears on the ballot.”

Grause, who served on Nantucket’s Finance Committee for nine years and who has become “increasingly frustrated with the process of Town Meeting,” echoed a similar sentiment.

“Getting a majority vote at Town Meeting which would, in effect, eliminate Town Meeting as we know it today is like asking turkeys to vote for Thanksgiving. It just wasn’t going to happen,” said Grause.

Unfortunately for Barnes, Grause, the majority of the Town Council Study Committee members, and those community supporters who yearned for changes to Nantucket’s town charter, the May 20th ballot vote produced another swing and miss.

For : 982

Against : 1,121

Strike two.

Does that mean the Town Council Study Committee has struck out?

“Not at all. I think we learned a lot,” summarized Grause.

“We took away some valuable lessons. Honestly, I think we underpromoted it. We need to reach out to more groups such as various homeowners’ Associations, Rotary and the Builders’ Association. In the end, we could have done a better job,” said the disappointed chair.

Barnes quickly chimed in, “At Town Meeting, the emphasis was on STRs, Our Island Home and the DPW. I think we were in a tough spot. However, after the town elections, it is clear we need to generate more support and not just look for a majority. I believe it is time to get out from under the Select Board. We’ll know more next week but I think the Committee will want to move forward”.

Barnes is referring to a meeting of the Town Council Study Committee scheduled for next Wednesday afternoon at 3 pm at the Pleasant Street trailer. This will be the committee’s first meeting since the Town Meeting vote and the May 20th Town elections.

“I plan to attend Wednesday’s meeting,” said concerned community member Lucy Hehir.

Hehir continued, “I just think this committee is going down the wrong path. First and foremost, I want everyone to understand that I am not telling people how to vote. I am just asking people to educate themselves before voting.

“I always tell my kids to ask questions. I do not think the Nantucket community realizes what they are voting for and that’s my biggest fear. Frankly, I like the community coming together for Town Meeting. I want to connect with my neighbors and friends. Instead of getting rid of Town Meeting, I think we should simply make it better and changing to a council of nine does not do that,” said a passionate Hehir.

Ironically, one of the themes that both Hehir and the Barnes - Grause - T.C.S.C. triumvirate agree on is educating the voters.

Interestingly enough, as Barnes and Grause talked about more outreach and doing a better job of outlining the positive benefits of a nine-member council, Hehir was reviewing some “unofficial polling done with Campbell Sutton in front of Stop & Shop.” And according to Lucy, “roughly 90 percent of the people we spoke to did not know what they were voting for when it came to supporting changes to the Town Charter.”

Grause offered a different perspective.

“You are not losing your vote but gaining more efficiency. I believe nine elected community members will better represent the whole island. Among other things, the Committee recommended a $40,000 annual stipend for each member and I think that will entice some of the island’s best candidates to come forward,” said Grause.

“The process is frustrating. Five hundred hardcore community members attending an Annual Town Meeting or a Special Town Meeting does not lead to efficient government and it certainly does not accurately reflect the majority of registered voters,” added Barnes.

“Over the past 20 years, Nantucket has averaged anywhere from 4 percent to 15 percent of registered voters attending Town Meeting. That’s not good enough, especially when attendance typically dwindles from day one to day three - often times to less than 3 percent,” Barnes pointed out.

Curtis continued, “Most people have no idea that the Select Board is administrative and the vote of Town Meeting is legislative. Town Meeting is budgets, articles, etc. and it sets the tone. With citizen articles needing to be submitted six months in advance, knowing there are only one or two Town Meetings a year, it is completely ineffective. Town governance is a continuous process throughout the year and it does not happen just once or twice”.

Hehir is not convinced.

“I’m not so sure we are ready to give up on an annual Town Meeting just yet. We often hear that ‘Town Meeting is broken’…Is it?” she asked rhetorically.

“I believe all we need to do is tweak what we have. Whether it is our present board of five or increasing it to nine, it does not guarantee better representation. Right now, each voter can represent themselves by voting at Town Meeting,” Hehir added.

There’s some validity to that.

All one has to do is look at the Select Board’s refusal to update the Nantucket community regarding Vineyard Wind and the Good Neighbor Agreement. Regularly thumbing their noses at the Nantucket community, which has routinely asked the Select Board to withdraw from the agreement, the Select Board has defied the will of the people and steadfastly refused to publicly debate the topic despite an overwhelmingly large and vocal island majority looking for answers from their elected representatives.

Roughly two years ago, Beau Barber, Jeff Carlson, Michael Alvarez and Roberto Santamaria got the ball rolling. Along with Curtis Barnes and his article in ‘23, their combined efforts morphed into the Town Council Study Committee and eventually its proposed changes to the town’s charter. At that time, I penned a column ( ) in support of their initial efforts because like Alvarez said at the time, “Nantucket needs to move into the 21st century…”

Like Barnes and Grause, I, too, felt a positive vote in favor of the non-binding resolution at Town Meeting was a bridge too far. Moreover, I too, was surprised at the results from the ballot vote in late May. However, I am not convinced that the 20 percent of the registered voters on Nantucket who turned out for the recent town elections was a good enough sample size to give up the fight.

Selfishly, I like Town Meeting. Like Hehir mentioned, I feel a great sense of pride when the community comes together. Sitting in press row, I have an ideal seat for the action on the Town Meeting floor and it certainly provides plenty of material for a column.

It’s the classic head vs heart, but practically, it just doesn’t work anymore. As Grause pointed out, “When you count everything including the town’s budget, enterprise funds, etc., we are a $300 million dollar business that needs efficiency. We can do better…”

I do not know what the committee will do on Wednesday afternoon. If I was a betting man, and I am, I would bet a pound of Nantucket scallops that they will vote to move forward. I bet they decide to organize a well-oiled, public relations campaign that targets every registered voter on Nantucket with the sole purpose of educating them on the benefits of creating a Town Council / Town Manager form of government and ultimately bring it back in the form of a legitimate citizen’s article next year.

Clearly, it’s a bold step.

Two years ago, I felt it was worth the debate and I still feel that way today.

Nevertheless, it could be their last shot.

If the Town Council Study Committee opts to move forward as predicted and introduces an article at the next Town Meeting and whiffs again?

Like Chicago’s Harry Caray used to sing, “It’s three strikes and you are out…”