Incumbents face challengers in Oak Bluffs selectmen's race

By Ezra Blair - April 6, 2006

Oak Bluffs voters go to the polls next Thursday to elect town officers. Among the races voters will be asked to decide is a four-way contest for two seats on the five-member board of selectmen.

Incumbents Roger Wey and Greg Coogan face challenges from Christine Todd and McKinley Starks, both of whom are relative newcomers to town politics. The polls will be open from 10 am to 7 pm in the new Oak Bluffs Library meeting room.

Roger Wey, Oak Bluffs senior center director and an elected Dukes County commissioner, is seeking his seventh term as a selectmen. He formerly served on the Martha's Vineyard Commission (MVC) and on the town board of appeals.

Greg Coogan is finishing his first three-year term as selectman but is not a newcomer to town or Island politics. Mr. Coogan has taught mathematics at the Tisbury School for 23 years. He is an original member of the MVC, former chairman of the Oak Bluffs conservation commission, and is former chairman of the Oak Bluffs school building committee.

McKinley "Mac" Starks is a former business owner and currently works for the Oak Bluffs Highway Department. He volunteers around town and enjoys boating and fishing.

Christine Todd worked in corporate sales until moving to the Island six years ago. She has two children, one at the regional high school and one in the Oak Bluffs School. She is currently a real estate salesperson and is a member of the Oak Bluffs zoning board of appeals.

The Times recently asked each of the candidates to respond in writing to a series of questions. Following are the questions and their responses.

1. Why are you running for selectman, and why do you think you are the best candidate.

Roger Wey: I am running for selectman because I deeply care about the town in which I have raised seven children. I have been elected selectmen for six terms and feel that I can continue to serve the citizens of Oak Bluffs effectively. During my tenure I have gained experience that will be invaluable in addressing the upcoming needs of our community.

I truly care what direction the town will follow in the future and insuring that the town of Oak Bluffs remains a community we can all be proud of and a great place to live and raise a family.

I have also, for the last year, been the director of the Council on Aging. This valuable opportunity has sharpened my awareness of and sensitivity to the needs and desires of our senior population. As always I intend to bring this knowledge to the execution of my office as selectman.

Greg Coogan: I think I've brought a positive element to the board. My approach has and will continue to be: What is the problem and how can we help fix it; How can we make Oak Bluffs a model of efficient government, where people want to work and we let them do their job without getting in their way?

McKinley Starks: I am running for selectman because it is time for new leaders with new ideas, and a different point of view in the town. I believe strongly that in a democracy, we all should have a turn at governing as well as being governed. No one person should lead indefinitely, each of us has something to contribute.

I think I would be a good candidate because of my background and experience. I served our country as a Marine for years. I learned to work with and for people from around the world. I learned to listen and to respect people with ideas different from my own. I learned both to lead and to work with others as a team.

Christine Todd: As a widowed parent and the mother of two teenage children I have high stakes in the Oak Bluffs community. My job selling real estate also keeps me in close touch with the ever-changing economic shifts of the residential and commercial entities in town.

I am interested in the health and safety of our children and will work hard to bring the concerns of parents and teachers to the foreground. Affordable housing for seniors and others in need is also of the utmost importance.

I will bring a fresh perspective with no hidden agenda to the board of selectmen. I am a team player who enjoys working with people and will make myself available to all citizens and their ideas.

2. What are some of your goals?

Mr. Wey: My main goals are to continue to balance our budget without an override, to provide a new facility for our police department, upgrade our town hall building, protect our open space and parklands, complete our addition to the senior center, develop long-term solutions to the intersection at the blinking light on the Vineyard Haven-Edgartown Road and encourage the construction of more affordable housing for Oak Bluffs citizens. Additionally, I support the construction of the new hospital on the current site of the Martha's Vineyard Hospital.

Mr. Coogan: We have a lot of real estate issues that need to be cleaned up. Many of them are intertwined. We need to upgrade our town hall, public safety facilities and move on with some of our unused public buildings. The old town hall and library need to be used or put back on the tax roles. We need to retain our highly skilled professional staff that works in our town. We've come a long way in the last few years and I hope to continue to be an integral part of a town that listens and acts in a positive way.

Mr. Starks: As a selectman, I would work to continue balancing the budget and avoid overrides. I would work with the business owners on a plan to spruce up the downtown area without sacrificing the charm. I would encourage better attendance at town meetings and elections so that the decisions reflect the opinions of a larger number of citizens. We need a new town hall for the convenience of our citizens and to give the employees a better work space as well as more meaningful programs for the senior citizens.

Ms. Todd: My primary goal is to work with the board in managing the growth of our community by ensuring thoughtful development of the town, taking into account the economic prosperity and aesthetic appeal of the downtown area and its surrounding neighborhoods. As a member of the zoning board of appeals I know that we can enhance this effort by improving our zoning bylaws and architectural review so that we can better manage our commercial growth for the benefit of the entire community.

I will support efforts to maintain safe streets, sidewalks, beaches and parks for the enjoyment of young and old alike. I want to continue to maintain high standards of excellence in our schools for all kids while keeping a frugal eye on the budget.

Providing affordable housing for teachers, service providers, seniors, and young couples who might otherwise leave our Island is also a priority.

3. Oak Bluffs continues to struggle with a tight budget and growing tax burden. Please outline some of your solutions to deal with this issue.

Mr. Wey: We must continue to build on our financial team, led by the financial director, Paul Manzi. All departments must work as a team with our finance committee. We must continue to use our revenues wisely, balancing and separating desires from needs. Over the last three years we have balanced the budget without the need of an override. As selectmen, we have the obligation to be good stewards of the taxpayers' money, spending wisely while maintaining the high level of education, public safety, and human services that we have grown to expect from our local government.

Mr. Coogan: I think this is a very tough question to answer. We have a very sound team in place to help us balance our budget. Paul Manzi and Casey Sharpe do a great job working with a tireless finance committee to account for every penny. Our department heads have shaved their budgets each year to help us out. However, we have a town that continues to grow and we will continue to search for some other revenue sources. The ferry fees have been a welcome relief to help us out with supporting our needs around the harbor and with public safety. The Community Preservation Act will give us additional revenues to keep the things we love in and about our town. Many towns in the Commonwealth are finding this to be a tough problem to tackle. Additional monies that will contribute significant amounts of revenue are hard to find locally. I think we are all looking for creative solutions to this situation.

Mr. Starks: I don't think Oak Bluffs is struggling with tight budgets and tax burdens any more than any other town in the commonwealth. These are financially difficult times, the population on the Island is growing, and more services are demanded by more people. The solution is to spend every penny wisely; to explore the availability of grants like the one that provided our patrol boat and encourage our citizens to volunteer their time and talents.

Ms. Todd: It is an unfortunate fact that taxes keep going up. This is something we must accept but also something we must strive to control. There is no hard and fast solution. The first and most important thing is to make sure that our citizens are getting the best quality of services with the tax dollars they pay. When we are satisfied with the service, the price is more acceptable. Secondly, we must always revisit our service list to make sure that we are getting what we need; nothing more and nothing less.

As the needs of the community change over the years, so should our service list. Through good financial planning and management of our services we can, at least, maintain the tax burden and insure that we are maximizing our limited resources.

We are lucky enough to live in a community with an extremely healthy tourism industry. There are advantages and disadvantages to this, but I think it is something we can exploit in order to offset tax increases.

Thoughtful development and management of the harbor could open up additional opportunities to generate revenues. Also, the town owns vacant lots and buildings that could be creatively brought into the financial picture.

I think that we need to keep an open mind and never be opposed to exploring new ways of generating revenue that can help to minimize the tax increases and maximize our well-being.