Opinion
On November 21, an election will fill the vacancy on the Board of Selectmen. The easy course would be to endorse one of the three candidates and be done with it. Unfortunately, the easy course is not the right course in this election.

Two of the candidates are paid by the taxpayers to perform full-time jobs for the town - Catherine Flanagan Stover is the Town Clerk and Patty Roggeveen is the Director of the Community School. A seat on the Board of Selectmen requires, by some estimates, 25-30 hours per week of time. With that additional time requirement, it is hard to imagine that it is possible to balance the two roles, as well as their responsibilities away from work in a manner that each function gets the attention it is due. In addition, since 80 percent of the town's budget goes to salaries and benefits, no one on the town payroll should be in the position of dealing with labor-related issues as a selectman.

Under Massachusetts law, a town employee is not permitted to serve as a selectman if the town's population is more than 10,000. Nantucket just squeezed under that limit in the 2000 census, but no one knows how many more people live on Nantucket now. Some say it may be as many as 15,000. Whatever the number, the spirit of the Massachusetts law should apply, because of the inherent conflicts in the roles of selectman and town employee.

The third candidate, David Gray is no longer a town employee (except as a call fireman) and since last spring's election, he has worked hard to develop his understanding of the issues and processes of government. However, he continues to focus primarily on one issue - the deterioration of the town's infrastructure - which certainly needs more attention than it has been getting. However, a selectmen needs to have a broader view, which is not yet evident in Gray's statements.

As Town Clerk for nine years, Stover has the most direct government experience and her expertise in the regulatory area would be of great value to the board. However, she does not seem as well versed in many of the issues. Her proposal to deal with the town's fiscal squeeze by applying for more grants, while having merit, is not practical in the sense of providing significant budget relief.

Roggeveen has done her homework. She has a good understanding of the challenges that face the town and as a selectman might bring some creativity to the process of addressing them. She also has experience in dealing successfully (if occasionally heavy-handedly) with municipal inertia. However, if elected, she would be the most conflicted, both in balancing job roles and in dealing with the personnel issues that come before the board.

So, while in our view there is a frontrunner, we can not give our endorsement to anyone. The circumstances dictate that outcome. At the same time we are frustrated, because we all must still vote. The situation serves to underscore, once again, the pressing need for significant municipal government reform on Nantucket. I