Thank You Jesse Bell

To the editor: I wish to thank Jesse Bell for her many years of service to the Nantucket Land Bank. In a day when job hopping is very common, Jesse Bell’s tenure of almost 20 years at the Land Bank is quite remarkable. That should not be eclipsed by her announcement that she will be a real estate and land use attorney at a local law firm after three years as executive director of the Land Bank.

The Land Bank is an institution that enjoys bipartisan support, or all-partisan support, in Nantucket, a rarity on an island that is now fractured by disputes about development and STR’s. It would be difficult to imagine Nantucket without its wildly successful Land Bank. But that success did not happen on its own. It happened because of the very hard work of the staff, including Erik Savetsky, the very long-time, former executive director.

The success of the Land Bank is also measured by the willingness of home buyers to pay the transfer fee of 2 percent. No one that I know of has ever objected to the fee. I even paid the Land Bank a fine when it was discovered that I sold a piece of land in a land swap that was of higher value than the land I received.

Jesse Bell came up through the ranks at the Land Bank. Until I read about her background, I did not know that she has both a law degree and a master’s of studies in environmental law. She was never one to boast about her credentials. Jesse not only has a house in my former neighborhood of Angola Street and Mill Hill, but the Land Bank was instrumental in creating the beautiful Garden of the Sea at North Mill and Angola. I should not forget to credit a neighbor, Anne Dewez, for organizing the neighbors to resist development that would have ruined the lovely view across the Pony Field and land adjacent to it.

Jesse was named the point person for the Land Bank when the Arthur Cooper Memorial was first proposed for the Garden of the Sea Park. I have seldom worked with a more effective team, led by Hillary Hedges Rayport, than the one that created the memorial. The Land Bank as the owner of the Garden of the Sea Park was fully on board, but it was Jesse who helped the process.

The other thing I will say is that on a island small enough to have its own gossip channels other than social media, the Land Bank has been able to stay above the political fray. Too many times we do not know, or appreciate, the competencies and accomplishments of persons in key positions until they decide to leave. That was my standard joke with Libby Gibson, the town manager. I realize that I am quick to judge and criticize but maybe slow to be grateful for the very hard work and dedication. So that is the other reason that I am thanking Jesse Bell now.

As a woman who has worked incognito on many large projects, health care in my case, I have never sought recognition. But I am also aware that many women never get the recognition they deserve. Jesse Bell will not blow her own horn but I can guess that she was very much part of the policy advanced by the Land Bank. We can see that clearly in the time that she has been executive director. The Land Bank has been systematically purchasing land around the harbor so that public access to parks and beaches is maintained and coastal resiliency is enhanced. The park on Easy Street is a jewel in an area that has long needed beautification. All of this was no doubt set in motion by the former executive director and the board, but staffers seldom get the credit for the invaluable role they play in implementing policy.

During Jesse’s tenure, the Land Bank now has an explicitly environmental focus. That cannot be underestimated on an island facing the environmental challenges that Nantucket is and willbe. Although an organization as important and historic as the Nantucket Land Bank has to do a national search for a new executive director, those of us who have been in Nantucket for a very long time know that island experience—a depth of it—is essential.

Rachael Freeman, the interim director, would be the natural choice. And with her choice, she can continue the environmental focus that Jesse Bell, during her tenure, amplified and made explicit.

Maureen Searle