Town Council Study Committee Chair Shares Progress Update

To the editor: I am writing to update Nantucket voters on the progress that the Town Council Study Committee (TCSC) has made over the past 7-plus months. The Committee has worked diligently to develop new draft charters for the Town and County of Nantucket that reflect a conversion to Town Council form of governance.

The TCSC would like to hear your thoughts and answer any questions:

• The TCSC is hosting three open house sessions on Thursday April 10^th at 6 p.m. and Saturday, April 12^th at 10 a.m. in the Community Room and Monday, April 14^th at the Atheneum at 5:30 p.m. All are welcome in person or via Zoom.
• Non-binding “sense of the meeting” and “sense of the ballot” votes have been included in the upcoming Annual Town Meeting Warrant and on the election ballot. These votes will be an opportunity for voters to express their opinions about converting to a Town Council form of government. The non-binding vote will be the first piece of business taken up at Town Meeting.

Consistent with its founding charter, the TCSC plans to submit an article formally proposing the change to Town Council at November’s Special Meeting. We will be hosting additional public outreach sessions over the summer and early fall to continue answering questions and educating Islanders about this proposal. We want to give voters as much information and opportunities for input as possible prior to the November Special Town Meeting.

Converting to a Town Council form of government would be a big change for Nantucket. The TCSC believes that a Town Council form of government could deal more effectively than Open Town Meeting with many of the issues facing Nantucket. We look forward to discussing our proposal over the coming weeks and months.

For the Town Council Study Committee,

Joe Grause, Chair