The Lighthouse Keeper
Three weeks from today there is an election. At least so we are told by the mainland media.

In television commercials, we see the candidates for governor of Massachusetts going after each other. We read about what seems to have become a closer call than anyone would have predicted three months ago as to whether the Republicans will retain control of either or both houses of Congress.

The "mainstream" press has become fixated on the peccadilloes of congresspeople, as well as on their financial misdeeds. The ultimate success of the Republicans in the national midterm election may come down to whether the president actually did snicker behind their backs at some of his conservative supporters.

What one doesn't read a whole lot about is whether any of them, whatever their affiliations, actually have governed well. Maybe that is because there are as many views of what good governance is as there are people willing to opine on the subject. Or, maybe it is because that kind of information isn't what sells newspapers or gets people to tune into the evening news. Somehow good governance, if it exists, doesn't stand much of a chance against sex, gore and sensationalism in the competition for the news hole.

Be that as it may, what is most interesting is that without cable and newspapers from America, Nantucketers would, seemingly, have no reason to know that we will be voting for a governor, a senator, a congressman, a state senator, a state representative, the district attorney and - locally - a clerk of the court. True, there was a primary a few weeks ago, but that was blip on the radar screen. To be honest, I didn't even know that Sen. Kennedy was up for re-election until I went looking for the information. (Does it mean something that the Secretary of State's Web site couldn't find my address when I went looking for election information?)

One or two signs supporting Duval Patrick have been spotted around town but aside from those - nothing! No signs or bumper stickers have been in evidence. There have been no campaign rallies around the gazebo or renditions of "Happy Days Are Here Again." In fairness, the two candidates for state representative for the district which includes Nantucket have slipped into town and made some rounds, but unless you knew them, you would probably have not even realized they were here.

Except for these two gentlemen, Nantucket is being ignored in this campaign. (Patrick was here in August for the primary.) Although there are rumors to the contray, as best we can tell, nobody has even deigned to send over a box of campaign buttons to be passed out at the Stop & Shop. (If someone did, no matter their affiliation or pedigree, that candidate should win hands down among Nantucket voters, although the candidate should be put on notice that Nantucket's voters can only be fooled once.)It would be easy to blame the affairs. It could have scared candidates off. Most campaign materials fly in the face of the HDC's signage rules; it will not come as a surprise if that body tries to make campaign buttons subject to its rules about approvable colors. However laying such blame would not be entirely fair, since the campaign materials have to get here before the HDC can exercise its muscle. In fact there is no sign - I couldn't resist - of anyone having favored Nantucket with so much as a poster or a lawn placard. (I have to believe that the ones for Patrick were acquired off-island.)

There was a time, not so long ago, when Nantucket had a state representative of its own. That position was killed off, unfortunately, by the one-man, one-vote proposition; today the island shares representation with Martha's Vineyard and Falmouth. In the old days, no doubt, the local candidates got out and about in their quest of the seat and Nantucket knew that there was an election going on. True, it may have taken days, if not weeks, to get the results from the mainland elections, but at least Nantucket knew right away the results of what was important - the local election.

Today, the results are available almost instantaneously, but they do not have the same weight, because there is no local involvement. We tend to shrug elections off just as the off-island candidates tend to write us off. In a country with 300 million people, Nantucket's 10- or 12- or 15,000, is a drop in the bucket and in most respects, we want to keep it that way. However, since we are force-fed the principle that every vote counts, it would be nice to know that the candidates had at least thought fleetingly of us.

Maybe Nantucket should withhold the results of its voting for two or three days. Wouldn't it be fun if Nantucket's votes actually made the difference in an election? That would make people across the water sit up and take notice.

Maybe that topic should be put on the agenda for the next Town Meeting. Town meeting? What Town Meeting?

In addition to the election, one wonders how many people are aware of the Special Town Meeting to be held this coming Monday, October 23. If you happen to suffer from the same disease that I do and watch the selectmen's sessions, or if you attend Planning Board meetings, you would be aware that the STM is happening. Or you might know if you paid attention to your local newspaper. However, it is a safe bet that if people were stopped at random on the street and asked when the next town meeting is, the great majority would say either "Next April," or "huh?"

The upcoming Town Meeting is important for two reasons. First, there are some important issues under consideration. The zoning questions are part of the foundation of the new master plan being worked on by the planning department. The sewer issue is potentially critical in establishing the future direction of sewer and waste water treatment funding.

In order to deal with these issues, there needs to be a quorum of 398 voters (five percent of the 7951 or so voters registered on October 13, 2006) present at the meeting and a two-thirds majority vote is required to pass the articles. And herein lies the second important facet of this particular town meeting. Zoning and sewer issues are among the most arcane and convoluted that the citizenry deal with in town meeting forum. If the importance of these questions at this STM will overcome voters' ennui and over-all inertia and make them turn out in adequate numbers, that is an indication that the system still works reasonably well - although the gathering will still not be representative. If not, that will be another indication that changes are needed.

And, oh, by the way, if the sewer article passes, there will be another special election on October 31 for the proposition 2 1/2 vote to fund the taxpayer's share of the cost. And then there will be the special election on November 22, to fill the empty selectman's seat.

Do we feel ignored and taken for granted? Perhaps, but hopefully we have enough will and good sense to overcome any concern about being irrelevant. As citizens and voters, we can be heard. We should educate ourselves and then we should vote in the elections and go to town meeting. That is what it is all about!

+ + +

The "Lighthouse Keeper" reflects the views of the author and does not necessarily represent the editorial position of The Nantucket Independent. Please send any comments to drake@nantucketindependent. com.