YACK on: Just do it
Grant Sanders
There are two schools of thought these days on YACKon.com. One school held by Allen Reinhard (a.k.a., screen name, Ranger) that the island really needs to sit down and come together and talk about its vision for the future. Then there's the other school, held by everyone else who has posted (and I mean everyone; not a single soul has come to Allen's defense on this point) who say

that the people of

Nantucket have had it up to "here" with planning and meeting and visioning, and it's time to act. Time to engage the electorate and make some substantial changes to the way things work around the island. After all, we've had the comprehensive plan, we've had the 1990 community plan, we've had studies and forums and charrettes and coffees and all kinds of community events. The discussions have been discussed. We've yacked the issues to death on YACKon.com. Time to get to work. Right?

In an effort to get the ball rolling, I went ahead and penned a little vision statement of my own so that the YACK regulars could have a little something we could all agree on. Frankly, I just wanted to move the subject off the table after hearing Allen make a motion (lacking a second) that we needed to develop a consensus on a "vision for Nantucket for the next 20 years" for the eleventh time. My logic is this: it's rather likely that everyone on Nantucket shares the same vision of the island. We just disagree on the ways to achieve that vision. Right?

And I think we can all also agree that the more time that goes by without some kind of comprehensive action on the part of the community, the more unaffordable life on the island is going to get. The less safe our community will become thanks to crime and drugs. And the things we value about the island will become more and more marginalized. Right?

So I wrote my vision statement. It's on my blog. Here: http://tinyurl.com/25vqle. It's rather optimistic. Somewhat ambitious. And likely slightly unattainable. But that's what a vision statement should be. Something to shoot for.

Thank goodness that's out of the way. Now that we have a vision, written by me, that the entire island can agree upon, we can get to work. Right?

Well then another YACKon.com regular with the screen name, "Tobey-Wan- Kanobi," (I wonder who that is…) asked, "So what's the first step?" And that meant I had to go back to my vision statement and add a list of things that needed to be done in order for that vision to be achieved. That took some time. But I put that on my blog too. Go ahead and check. It's there.

Now I realize that not everyone on Nantucket shares my exact same vision and mission objectives. And I also realize that I'm not technically in a position to tell everyone what to do. But I have to point out that I've done a lot of work here writing these vision and mission statements and it would be a shame to let them languish on the internet like the RKG report or the Comprehensive Plan or Jamie Ranney's last blog post which, at last check, was over a year old. The thing to do now is not to haggle or debate or wrangle or disagree. What we need to do now is act and the plan of action we need to act upon, frankly, is mine.

In short, if the island would just do as I say, everything would be fine. Just do as I say and the problems all go away. Just do as I say and the island becomes a better place to live.

Just do as I say. Simple.

I'm not saying my way is the only way to go, but it is a pretty good way; better than no way. After all, I spent the better part of an afternoon and a whole pot of coffee putting it on digital paper and posting it on my blog. It's done. It's spell-checked. It features a picture of my dog, Seven, looking toward the future. And I have to believe that since I've only gotten positive feedback on it, well, it's good to go.

Now you might say, "But Grant! This is a democracy! We have elected officials that are charged with doing that stuff. We've got town employees and unions and consultants to make those decisions. It's their job to lead this island and make important policy decisions and bring them to fruition." To which I reply: "Good point. How's that working for you?"

I mean, we get one group of people into government who come up with a good idea like One Big Beach or a revamped landfill or a plan to upgrade the sewers and then we get another group into office whose energies are spent tearing down what the previous people have built. In politics and chess, that's called a stalemate. In the meantime, nothing good gets done. And what does get done is some watered-down compromise solution that is no help at all. And people wonder why I don't want to run for elected office. If Allen Reinhardt's un-echoed call for a community vision is any indication, running for office is a sure-fire way of guaranteeing that no one will do as I say. And who wants that? Not me, I'll tell you.

So. Again. All we have to do is just do as I say and everything will be fine.

The only problem is, I still have not figured out how to wrest power from our current messed-up town government and place it in the hands of me, Grant Sanders. But I'm working on that. It has something to do with a simple charter change. Shouldn't be a problem. And when I figure it out, you can be sure that I'll be putting it all on my blog.

YACK on. I

Grant Sanders is the host of YACK, The Nantucket Online Community at www.yackon. com which has over 1,300 members and averages well over 4,300 visitors a day, but it is unclear how many of those people are actually doing what Grant says. His views are his alone and therefore do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance of The Nantucket Independent. Or his wife. Grant does what his wife says more often than not.