Chamber ought to fix Island Book omissions

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Thank you for the recent news story (Sept. 27, “The Island Book telephone list hits a short circuit”) on this year’s Island Book “issues.” There remain a few questions unanswered by your coverage, however.

In years past when the Island Book dropped my listings (although a Verizon customer), I contacted the Chamber of Commerce and was told to contact Verizon. How could the Chamber claim, as you reported, that this is a new and unknown phenomenon?

Since bundling with Comcast, as you reported, our three telephone numbers and one fax number have disappeared from the book. The Chamber of Commerce executive director claims to take full responsibility for the problem but is quoted as saying that she cannot do anything about the situation this year. Understandable, but what about next year?

Since it is the Island Book, not the Verizon Book, why not get all of the listings from both Verizon and Comcast?

I suspect the answer is that with two sets of data, a method would need to be created to merge the listings alphabetically. Perhaps someone would have to be hired by the Chamber to make this happen. If the advertising revenue generated by the Chamber, for the Chamber, does not cover this cost, I bet Islanders who depend on the book 365 days a year would be willing to pay a bit, say 50 cents or even $1, for a copy.

Susan Silk

West Tisbury