NANTUCKET WANTS YOU!
BY DANIEL W. DRAKE ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER
Tax Day. Election Day. We can pay our taxes and then vote - or vice versa. Amazing! It isn't often that the stars align so two opportunities to exercise our democratic freedom are afforded us on the same day.

We don't necessarily want to spend a whole lot of time pondering where our tax dollars go. That is probably good.

Conversely, many of us expend considerable mental energy thinking about how to vote. That is also good ...

Even running the weekend gauntlet of candidates at the dump provides a next-to-last chance to rate them by how many signs they have, by how far they and their entourages are sticking out into the roadway and by how much time a candidate spends talking to the person in the car in front of you. Not that we make our decisions on the way a candidate looks or talks or walks. Or on the number of signs one or another has around town. Of course not.

We make our decisions on how well we think a particular candidate will do in dealing with the issues of the day which are before the body to which he or she seeks to be elected. At least I hope we do.

This year, as everyone knows by now, there are four significantly contested races. Two seats are open on the Board of Selectmen, two on the School Committee, one on the Planning Board and two on the Historic District Commission. When the ink is dry on this newspaper, many will already know who won those races and those who voted will go to sleep satisfied that have done their civic duty.

They are wrong. Their task has only just begun.

This Election Day comes at a critical juncture for our town and for our schools. A number of very important issues are out there. Money is at the crux of many of them, but there are others which require no money to address, just some good thinking and some resolve.

One of the most critical and immediate issues to face the Board of Selectmen is Town Meeting. At the beginning of the first night of the 2008 annual Town Meeting, there were about 500 people present - around seven percent of the registered voters. By the end of the second night, I am told - I wasn't there to count them - there were perhaps 100. One can't even calculate that percentage.

The hall was stuffed for the vote on the airport union contract supplemental funding and after that it all went down hill fast. Even on that issue, which may have been the most contentious of the meeting, one side said the contract was good because it did away with step increases for airport workers; the other side said it was bad because it violated the selectmen's guidelines for wage increases in the current round of collective bargaining. But it was just a lot of talk. Neither side presented any numbers to bolster its argument; the whole pro and con was based on emotion. And because the outcome was preordained by the weight of the bloc that came to vote on this one issue in the face of such a small number of the general electorate, the outcome was predetermined. It was a bad scene.

Whether we have a representative town meeting or go to a council form of government, anything would have to be better than the debacle that is Nantucket's town meeting. The selectmen must provide leadership in addressing this issue.

Among the other important matters that the Board of Selectmen must act on sooner rather than later: a financial plan - which has been promised for lo these many years - which at least provides a framework for discipline in addressing essential needs and the funding for them; a mid-term evaluation and, if appropriate, re-prioritization of the Waste Water Management Plan; pushing ahead as rapidly as practicable on solid waste disposal issues and alternative energy solutions, marrying the two if that is logical; completion of the Harbor Plan implementation and setting out to develop a Coastal Management plan; the evaluation of town government to be sure it is operating as efficiently as possible, including potential out-sourcing of processes or functions; and so on.

The School Committee is faced with its own set of challenges. Again money is a big issue, but at this moment, it doesn't seem to be the biggest one.

To the outside observer, the school system seems dysfunctional. Regardless of how valid, or even just well intentioned, its actions, the administration has dug itself a huge hole in its relations with its constituents. If it were subjected to a vote of confidence from faculty and students, it would fall faster than any government in France's Fourth Republic. The School Committee has to step in and deal with the problem immediately.

Working with the administration it also needs to develop an educational model for Nantucket's schools which builds on the strengths of the present school system but also acknowledges and addresses its weaknesses. That process can't result in just a wish list; the outcome must be not only educationally sound but fiscally responsible, so that it can stand up to the perennial budget pressures.

Things that don't work or programs that have become a luxury rather than a necessity (e.g. perhaps much of what the Community School has become) need to be eliminated or reshaped to reflect today's realities. And, again, so on.

These challenges are not simple and there aren't many quick fixes. It is much easier for office holders to act expediently rather than thoughtfully. But they are elected to provide leadership and guidance (in a broad sense); not to drill down to the day-to-day.

This is where the voter has to stay engaged, not just on subjects of special interest, but across the board. Office holders need to be reminded why they have been entrusted with their position. It is not enough to vote them in and then vote them out. They need to be reminded fairly regularly what their role is all about, not just by the gadflies and grumpy columnists, but by voters of all stripes.

If you think you have completed your civic duty by voting, you are only partly right. If you don't stay involved - it would be easy to say you deserve what you get, but it isn't that simple - you put your town and your children and even yourself at risk. It boils down to the accountability of our elected officials; merely voting for someone every three years isn't enough to get the accountability that is needed in these complex times

Come to think of it, maybe that other exercise in democracy - paying taxes - is less

painful. I

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