Let's Stop Turning Against Each Other

To the editor: As described in last Friday's newsletter, "Elisa Allen runs an architectural, construction, design and furnishings consulting company and is the subject of a formal ethics complaint due to a conflict of interest."

To clarify, this is because she has the word 'rent' mentioned on her website. Ms. Allen's business will not be affected in any way if this ZBA decision passes or not. Yet she's being accused of having a conflict of interest because of a word on her website. The word 'rent'. Sigh.

I ask those criticizing a year-round resident who has volunteered her time for free on this board and countless other Boards over the 35 years she's lived here for that matter, (including eight years on the Nantucket Cottage Hospital Board), whether or not they have ever considered that the word 'rent' referred to on her website could also be for year-round rentals too? Or for seasonal rentals?

Why is it assumed the now dirty word 'rent' only means 'short-term rentals'. It seems a fair question to ask.

Has anyone reached out to her to ask? Because if we took the time to do this, we'd find out that one of her most recent projects was finishing an apartment for a client to house year-round tenants, who now live in that 'year-round rental'. That probably less than 10% of the numerous homes she's decorated over the years became 'rentals'. The majority are not.

Nearly every person on every board on this island likely has conflicts. They're unavoidable because we all know each other.

Would this mean no local should be allowed on any board because we'd all have conflicts? Plumbers, electricians, HVAC folks, cleaners, landscapers, caretakers, pool cleaners, builders, retail owners, architects, surveyors, engineers, attorneys can't partake in any discussion if they've ever serviced any home on the island that's a potential rental? Or sold something to decorate a home that is a rental. Is that also a conflict? Would they too have to be recused from every discussion? Where do we draw the line?

It's hard to understand why anyone would choose to be of service to our community by being on one of these boards when the backlash of doing something good is so strongly criticized.

We have to keep in mind that all these boards have volunteers, many that we voted for, unpaid humans, who spend more time than probably any of them want, away from their families for countless hours every week, doing what they feel is best for the island that they love for free. Do we think people have nothing better to do with their time than do this week after week to benefit themselves? Life is way too short for that.

We're all just doing our best here, in this short life we have. And we all have constant reminders these days of just how short this life is. And this is how we're spending our limited time?

Let's take a breath, reach out to people we don't agree with, and have conversations before publicly shaming each other for something that is assumed.

There are always three sides to every story. Why can't we communicate kindly and respectfully and hear all sides.

The common denominator we all agree on is that everyone so badly wants what's best for Nantucket.

Our year-round home.

We all have good intentions.

We pride ourselves on community, small town living, having each other's backs...... we're so good at this.

Yet we're turning against each other, and maybe we should ask ourselves why.

We're better than that.

An extremely disheartened resident,

Sam Parsons