In Oak Bluffs, it's all about yes. Back Wednesday.
Oak Bluffs voters approved a $24.1 million dollar operating budget and gave a green light to $770,000 worth of Community Preservation Act spending at their annual town meeting Tuesday night.
There was spirited debate over pay raises for town employees, school spending, and using public funds to restore historic churches. But in the end, voters overwhelmingly approved all the money the town asked for in a fiscal 2010 budget that is level-funded to the dollar from this year's spending plan.
Oak Bluffs selectman Roger Wey, who is stepping down after seven terms, heard honorary proclamations from the state House of Representatives and state Senate, read by Martha's Vineyard legislative liaison Nell Coogan. Photo by Steve Myrick
When the meeting got under way, 202 voters, 6.3 percent of the town's 3,195 registered voters, were officially counted.
In a stark contrast to last year's meeting, which took four nights, voters zipped through six articles on a special town meeting warrant, and acted on 11 of the 18 articles on the annual warrant, before adjourning at 10:40 pm. Town bylaws mandate that no article be taken up after 10:30.
The annual meeting is to continue this evening at 7 pm, with several controversial articles still to debate, including changes in animal control legislation, a project to dredge in Sengekontacket Pond, and a raise for the town clerk.
Town meeting tribute
Before voters got down to business, they paid tribute to selectman Roger Wey. Currently the director of the Council on Aging, Mr. Wey served seven terms as a selectman. He is not running for re-election. Martha's Vineyard legislative liaison Nell Coogan presented Mr. Wey with proclamations from both the Massachusetts House of Representatives and the Massachusetts Senate, on behalf of state representative Tim Madden. Mr. Madden had hoped to attend, but was held up by votes at the State House.
"I will not be going far, just changing seats from where I sit now, to where you're sitting," Mr. Wey said, in a voice cracking with emotion. Voters stood to applaud as Mr. Wey left the stage.
Raising ire
The budget article was among the most contentious debates of the evening. Town budget writers crafted a plan that granted three-percent raises for town employees, substantial raises for the town administrator and town clerk, and increases in school and police spending. To offset those increases, they cut a substantial chunk out of the highway department's budget, and made smaller cuts in nearly every other town department.
Rupert Robinson questioned all of the salary increases, including a $17,100 increase for town administrator Michael Dutton.
"I know I'm throwing dynamite," said Mr. Robinson, "but why did you go up?" The first attempts of town officials to answer his questions did little to satisfy Mr. Robinson. "We're getting an answer, but we don't like it. Why are those people getting increases? I've heard nothing but complaints down at the senior center."
Selectman Duncan Ross defended the town administrator's increase. "When we did the classification study, the town administrator did not get a raise. He hasn't had a raise for two years," said Mr. Ross. He then rattled off a list of grants totaling millions of dollars that he credited Mr. Dutton with winning for the town. "Right now he is one of the lowest paid administrators on Martha's Vineyard; he deserves this adjustment."
Mark Wallace, who owns several businesses in the downtown area, also offered support. "I can appreciate, from a business point of view, as someone who deals with the selectmen all the time, that office has been streamlined extremely well," he said. "I think Michael Dutton has done a wonderful job."
Mr. Robinson's view came from another perspective. "I'm not questioning what he's done for the town," said Mr. Robinson. "What I am questioning, for people who lost their jobs, who didn't get a raise, no raises should be approached or given. There are people in other jobs that deserved a raise, too."
"It looks to me like we're taking away services to give raises," said Catherine Deese.
The budget line item including the raises passed on a voice vote, by a large margin.
School math
Thad Harshbarger, chairman of the financial advisory committee (Fin Com), offered an amendment to the budget for the Oak Bluffs School. He asked voters to slice $109,145 from the proposed $6,001,130, to reflect level funding from the current fiscal year.
"Money was taken from the highway department and given to the Oak Bluffs School and the high school," said Mr. Harshbarger, "That balances the budget, but it's an unbalanced situation. That deprives the town of needed infrastructure development. This amendment would put the schools back at the same amount they had last year. I'm asking the school to be level-funded the same way the rest of the town is."
A similar amendment and debate followed in discussion of the Martha's Vineyard Regional High School assessment to the town.
"One thing we say is we're all in this together," said FinCom member Peter Palches. "Some of us are all in this together, and some of us are not. If the raises systematically go to the school department, then the cuts have to systematically go to the other departments. To take the highway department and cut it back 17 percent puts them in a position a year from now of having to ask for a 17- to 20-percent increase just to get back to level funding. We're being shortsighted. It's true, we love children more than we love concrete, but we already pay a lot of money for children, and we pay a relatively little amount for concrete."
Voters rejected the FinCom's amendments by a wide margin, approving the school spending requests as proposed, on a voice vote.
Preservation projects
Community Preservation Act (CPA) projects met a smattering of objections, including a $24,000 proposal to repair windows at Trinity Methodist Church, and $24,000 to repair windows at the Martha's Vineyard Campmeeting Association Tabernacle. Several speakers thought it was inappropriate to give public funds to a private church.
"This church is much more than a house of worship," said Bob Iadicicco. "It's a historic church in the historic campground. It's an important tourist attraction."
"All that's very true," said Brian Hughes. "We have another historical document that we have to look to, that's our Constitution."
Voters approved the church projects, and eight other CPA recommendations. Among them was $224,000 for the old library project, which includes affordable housing and retail space, as well as $42,000 to help Oak Bluffs residents with rental assistance. A total of $300,000 was voted to restore the clay brick bathrooms near the Steamship Authority terminal, and the Civil War Statue across the street. Voters approved $75,000 for engineering studies to repair beaches and coastal banks, $15,000 for improvements to Eastville Beach, $18,000 to repair drainage at Niantic Park, and $10,000 to repair an antique fire engine.
Earlier in the meeting, voters approved a transfer of $15,000 from the ferry fee account to fix drainage and improve disabled access to town beaches. Also approved was money to fund an increasing share of pest control and healthcare access programs previously funded entirely by Dukes County.
All wet
The longest debate of the evening was over a seemingly innocuous proposal to change town bylaws. The proposal prohibited washing cars on town roads in business districts. Mr. Dutton said selectmen and police receive numerous complaints each summer from pedestrians forced to walk into the street to avoid large puddles caused when car rental companies wash their vehicles.
"The objective of the bylaw," said Ron DiOrio, chairman of the board of selectmen, "is that people that own private businesses are not doing business on town property."
"Where do you draw the line," asked Christine Todd. "Can you power wash your house, can you wash your dog? I've really not heard anything quite so silly."
Voters wrangled over several amendments, including one that would have prohibited water draining from private to public property.
In the closest vote of the night, the proposal to ban car washing on town property passed, after two voice votes.
