Straight From The Baker's Mouth: Matt Fee Is Running For Reelection

Initially, it felt more like a conversation with an old friend versus me grinding for a much-anticipated political announcement.

In fact, before getting to the crux of the matter, we reminisced about a dear friend and mentor, Dick Duffy, who recently passed away. Then we shared a chuckle about the time Tabor’s lacrosse coach, Richard Roller, kicked a plastic water bucket in frustration at halftime of our game against Concord Carlisle, hitting Matt in the face and splitting his lip wide open.

It wasn’t pretty.

While it took a few attempts, I finally cornered Select Board member Matt Fee recently after he finished wrestling with an IT issue at the Town Building and pressed him on what everyone wanted to know.

It’s now official:

“I haven’t turned in my papers yet, but you heard it here first,” Fee told me. “I am running for another term on Nantucket’s Select Board.”

It would be Fee’s fifth consecutive term and sixth overall as Matt served a single stint in the 1990’s before taking some time off “to help shuttle Henry and Ruby to soccer.”

Before making a final decision, there were some doubts.

“Knowing I had some time to think things through before deciding, I really wanted to take stock and reflect on a variety of factors,” said Fee, who first got involved in local government over 30 years ago with the town’s Comprehensive Plan.

“When I started, I was the young guy - not a politician,” he continued. “Now, I am one of the older guys. I heard all the rumors like I wasn’t going to run because I was frustrated. That wasn’t the case.

“I simply wanted to pause for a moment. I am getting older. I have a business to run and I want to transition to the next generation the right way. And, as everyone knows who has been an elected official on Nantucket, there is a huge time commitment. Before deciding, I wanted to make sure I could fully invest. Today, I know I can and I am ready to go. The institutional knowledge which I have earned over the years is valuable. And even though it sounds like an old cliche, I have some priorities that I want to see through,” added an optimistic Fee.

Before getting to the one topic that I have sparred with Matt on for the last few years, I asked Matt why the Nantucket rumor mill thought he was “frustrated.”

“I have been on the losing end of a few important yet controversial votes,” he said. “For example, I was on the losing end of a 3-2 vote regarding Surfside Crossing. I don’t think the Select Board should drop litigation without first consulting with the ZBA (Zoning Board of Appeals). I supported Ashley Erisman and Ian Golding for ConCom (Conservation Commission). Both were not reappointed by the Select Board even though they were very qualified. Sometimes community members think being in the minority can be frustrating. While I believe both decisions were a mistake, it’s how government works.”

I asked: “What are some of the topics fueling you to run for another term?”

Fee responded: “We don’t have unlimited money. Too often, people think Nantucket has vast amounts of cash available since 80 percent of the taxes are paid by off-islanders. I want to make sure we attach numbers and know what things will truly cost to any project before we vote”.

The five-term Select Board member continued: “One of my biggest priorities will be improving public engagement. A perfect example is the Washington Street coastal resiliency plan. I am on the Washington Street Collaborative Workgroup and one of our goals is to improve public participation; and specifically, seriously consider the views of the immediate neighbors in our final recommendations. We need to be better prepared. By the time you get to a vote, people should be tired of hearing about it. If we do a better job, big issues become less contentious.”

On cue, this fed into my biggest concern and a source of community-wide frustration with the Select Board, which is Vineyard Wind, the Good Neighbor Agreement and Cultural Heritage Partners.

So, I asked: “In light of the blade failure, Sunday’s lighting strike, and the community’s angst toward the Good Neighbor Agreement, how can you reconcile your goal of improving communications with what appears to be an obvious attempt by the Select Board to stifle public dialogue on this matter?”

“Honestly, I think it is fortunate we are in a ‘pause’ right now,” responded Fee, who is one of the two current Select Board members who signed the original Good Neighbor Agreement in 2020. “The public thinks we have more influence than we do. If I could go back five years, I would do things differently, like try and push the platforms outside of eyesight. Even if that happened, it would not have prevented the blade failure last July.”

Following up, I asked: “Knowing there are obvious negotiations taking place, will you support Article 79 which was a non-binding resolution that easily passed at last year’s Town Meeting asking the Select Board to come before the voters at Town Meeting and update them on any negotiations with regards to the existing Good Neighbor Agreement?”

“I cannot support that,” Fee answered bluntly.

“The community has to have faith in town officials to do what is in the best interest of Nantucket. We do not negotiate in public, and if there is legal action, the community will know. However, at this time, I do not think it would be wise to open Town Meeting up to a public update.”

I did my best to remain calm. We discussed several of my past columns on the subject and my concerns about the Select Board not doing what is in the best interest of the Nantucket community, so I had to push back.

“The community has been very vocal in its opposition to the GNA; yet in mass, the Select Board continues to support the town’s participation,” I said. “The Select Board agreed to preconditions for its meeting with BSEE (the federal Bureau of Safety & Environmental Enforcement) which BSEE ultimately blew off. Maria Mitchell eventually dropped out of the G.N.A. Cultural Heritage Partners is aloof and antagonist to the local community. What are you seeing that the rest of the community does not”?

Fee paused for a moment and responded, “I am disappointed the community feels that way, but this is not a popularity contest. I think it would be best if we let this play out…”

“Matt… If we let this ‘play out’ as you say, aren’t we financially rewarding Cultural Heritage Partners whose legal advice has come under question and who has become a lighting rod on Nantucket as they seem to be steering the community towards a second GNA with direct negotiations with the developer?”

“To date, I am satisfied with their advice,” he said.

Fee continued, “I know everyone wants us to pull out of the existing G.N.A. but I think it is unwise to get us into an adversarial position. I cannot speak for Maria Mitchell, but for the Town of Nantucket, I want to let this play out.”

Agreeing to disagree, I turned the page and asked, “What else are you looking forward to tackling”?

“We must plan for the future. When I first got involved with the Comprehensive Plan in the 90s, it is amazing how the same issues are still hanging around our necks today,” Fee said with some irritation.

“It is frustrating to see housing, traffic, congestion, development all still at the top of the island’s list. Back then, we all said, ‘There’s no way there will be long delays on Old South Road or parking issues would explode around town’. But here we are today wrestling with the same themes. If we do not seriously address these problems, we will slowly foul our own nest.”

Fee added, “It’s a math thing. For example, we have 22,000 cars registered on Nantucket in February. In August, I bet we have over 30,000 vehicles on-island. That does not work. We are choking ourselves to death. If we care about the island, open beaches, architecture, etc., then we need serious answers to these problems.”

Fee seemed comfortable in his decision to run again. As he described himself, “I am an old-fashioned guy. I voted against alcohol sales on Sundays; but then again, I advocated for paid parking for the downtown core.”

With his family supporting his decision to run, I think it is fair to say that Matt will be tough to beat. In fact, his wife, Sheila, couldn’t resist chiming in and humorously added: “I support Matt’s decision to run again. Wednesday night, he’s out all night attending the Select Board meeting. It’s my favorite night of the week…”

Will his signature on the original G.N.A. and the Select Board’s stubborn stance on the matter, which has alienated the elected members, come back to haunt him?

Who else is considering a run?

Time will tell, but you can’t argue with the fact he is one of the more approachable Select Board members in recent times - fully prepared and well read.

So… you heard it here first, and straight from the baker’s mouth….

Matt Fee is all in.