Graham tax fight generates plenty of ink

By Nelson Sigelman - August 4, 2005

The Vineyard Gazette broke the story of the complex and expensive civil tax case against West Tisbury by William Graham with a report headlined, "Town defends tax challenge," published on Feb. 11. The newspaper expanded its coverage in earnest with the start of the Massachusetts Appellate Tax Board hearing on May 3.

Since the start of hearings in May, the Edgartown weekly, which publishes twice a week, on Tuesday and Friday, during the summer months, has sent a reporter to Boston on a regular basis to report on the legal arguments, which have yet to conclude. Mr. Graham's side rested Tuesday when the hearing convened on the Vineyard for the first time, to hear testimony from two West Tisbury assessors. The town will begin its presentation when the hearing resumes today in Boston.

Since May 6, when the case first began, the Gazette has published 13 news stories about it, 11 of which began on the front page. The paper has also published two editorials.

On July 1, the Gazette also published a three-page, 12 photograph spread describing the deconstruction of Mohu, what it called the "storied" estate built on the property at the heart of the tax case, where Mr. Graham's mother, Katherine Graham, former publisher of the Washington Post, once lived and entertained.

The Gazette's decision to devote considerable space and resources to it recalls the close personal relationship that has existed between the Reston and Graham families.

James "Scotty" Reston, famed New York Times columnist and longtime Washington bureau chief and the father of Gazette publisher Richard Reston, and his wife Sally were close friends of Katharine Graham and her husband Phillip, former editor and publisher of the Washington Post, a position filled by Mrs. Graham upon her husband's death.

In her autobiography, "Personal History," Ms. Graham wrote that she and her husband chose the Restons as guardians for their children in the event the Grahams died in a plane crash.

She wrote, "We believed Scotty and Sally would most nearly approximate our values and our love; in addition, they knew the children and the children knew them. The Restons performed the ultimate act of friendship by agreeing to this arrangement."

In addition, according to one well-placed source, Julia Wells, current editor of the Vineyard Gazette, has been living in a cottage on Mr. Graham's property, known as Mohu, for the summer.

Ms. Wells did not return telephone messages left Tuesday and Wednesday by The Times.

The tax case has not been the subject of detailed coverage by The Martha's Vineyard Times, which has described the case in broad terms only. The story was first reported on in the context of a story published on March 9, "West Tisbury property re-val explained," about the revaluation process. The case was reported on again on July 7, in a news brief and again on July 13. The Times' limited coverage has been shaped in part by the unwillingness of town assessors to speak about the case on the advice of the town's attorney, according to a Times editor.

The Times lack of reporting was the target of criticism at a meeting of the West Tisbury selectmen on July 20 by Jonathan Revere, a resident of Seven Gates in West Tisbury and self-appointed good government watchdog.

Mr. Revere said his remarks were prompted by the selectmen's criticism at their meeting of the Edgartown newspaper for a story, "West Tisbury principal assessor stayed in luxury Boston Hotels," published on July 15 that selectmen said lacked context and was unfair to principal assessor Jo-Ann Resendes.

The Graham tax fight story has also attracted the attention of Boston Globe columnist Alex Beam. In a column published on July 14, "Ouch! My taxes are killing me," he wrote, "What is said to be one of the longest-running tax assessment cases in Commonwealth history has culminated in a series of downtown Boston hearings, pitting William Graham - the son of the late Washington Post Co. chairwoman Katharine Graham - against the Martha's Vineyard town of West Tisbury, population 2,500.

"Graham inherited his mother's 225-acre, latter-day Xanadu after her death in 2001, but the taxes are killing him. Since 2003, he has been arguing that the property is worth $20 million - not $58 million, as it is assessed - and that his $262,000 annual tax bill should be reduced accordingly. In a nutshell, Graham says the town's assessors have unfairly compared his sprawling oceanside estate - the front driveway is a half-mile long - with smaller, pricier, waterfront parcels that have recently changed hands."

Mr. Beam relied on a Gazette story describing an exchange in which Mr. Graham contended his assessment should not be linked to that of his neighbor, Dirk Ziff.

He wrote, "The Tax Board hearings, which began in mid-May, have produced plenty of confrontation, and some unintentional hilarity. The Vineyard Gazette reported on an unusual instance of Graham crying poor - at least compared to publishers who make real money:

"[Graham] said that three of the recent waterfront purchases - a 12-acre parcel for $10.4 million, an eight-acre parcel for $15.25 million and a seven-acre parcel for $11.8 million - are linked to the family of publishing company heir Dirk Ziff, and therefore are not representative of the true real estate market.

" 'I know from published sources that Mr. Ziff and his brothers are among the richest people in the country and can clearly pay what they want to pay,' Mr. Graham testified. 'I don't pretend I'm not a wealthy man - I am - but it's a different league.' "