Three write-in candidates step forward for SHAB seats
BY PETER B. BRACE INDEPENDENT WRITER
With no official candidates for the three open seats on the Shellfish & Harbor Advisory Board, three Nantucketers have put out their names as write-ins in the April 3 town election.

For the first time that Town Clerk Catherine Stover can remember, no one filed candidacy papers with her office for the open spots on SHAB. Instead, Peter Boyce, Bancel "Bam" LaFarge and former SHAB member Wendy McRae have all said they will accept positions on SHAB if voters choose to write them in.

Both McRae and Boyce will be actively campaigning.

"First of all, I was on it before and thoroughly enjoyed it and second of all, no one took papers out," said McRae. "It's such an important board; it has to have active members.

"I've always been interested in it. I think my past years serving on the board prove that my interest is genuine."

Boyce shares McRae's belief in the necessity of SHAB and expressed disbelief in no one filing candidacy papers for the board.

"I've been asked by a couple of people [to run] since there weren't any candidates at all," said Boyce. "I think it's important to give back to the community, and I think I have some expertise and experience to serve on SHAB."

LaFarge is on the low-key end of the campaign spectrum and said he is not going to be glad-handing at the landfill or Stop & Shop, nor being grilled at the Nantucket Civic League's candidates' night on March 16. If voters want to write in him as a candidate for SHAB, he will be glad to serve a three-year term because he believes that it is important for those seats to be filled, and for SHAB to go on as a full board. LaFarge is also interested in harbor issues and being involved in the harbor planning process.

As casual as the write-in process may appear, Stover said there is a protocol for write-in candidates who plan to sell themselves as such to voters.

"They will have to file papers because if the state feels you're acting like a candidate, you are a candidate," she said.

For write-ins, that filing deadline is March 26, eight calendar days before the election. Campaigning write-ins must also file campaign contribution statements 30 days after the election and again on Jan. 20, 2008. Once committed to joining the local election fray, Stover said, write-in candidates are free to act like regular candidates.

"Absolutely," she said. "What they ought to do if they're serious candidates is contact the Nantucket Civic League to be considered for candidates night." Write-ins not actively campaigning do not have to file candidacy

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