Dukes County commissioners voted Wednesday to appoint Beth Toomey, retired West Tisbury police chief, and briefly an interim county commissioner, to the Martha’s Vineyard Airport Commission to fill the unexpired three-year term of Peter Bettencourt, who resigned from the board in August.
The appointment comes against the backdrop of a legal battle between the county commissioners and the members of the airport commission about authority over the county-owned airport.
“I’ve tried to stay out of a lot of this angst and issues,” Ms. Toomey told commissioners during a brief interview. “I want to come at this as a job. I’ve been known to be a very good mediator. Going in and telling them what to do isn’t going to work. It’s just plain mediation.”
Commissioners Lenny Jason, Jr., of Chilmark, Tristan Israel of Tisbury, Leon Brathwaite of West Tisbury, and David Holway of Edgartown, who participated by conference call, voted for Ms. Toomey.
Commissioners Christine Todd of Oak Bluffs, who also serves as an airport commissioner, and John Alley of West Tisbury voted for Myron Garfinkle, a retired businessman and pilot.
Commissioner Tom Hallahan was absent.
Eight people, including several with extensive aviation experience, had expressed interest in filling the seat. The applicants included Jeffrey “Skipper” Manter, a West Tisbury police sergeant, selectman, and member of the county advisory board that oversees the Dukes County budget; Kristen Zern of West Tisbury, a realtor and president of a marketing firm specializing in the travel industry; Robert H. Rosenbaum, a seasonal resident of Chilmark who is a retired computer executive and pilot; Geoffrey Wheeler of Vineyard Haven, an aviation consultant and commercial pilot; James Graham of West Tisbury, a former private school executive; and Benjamin Hall. Jr., of Edgartown, an attorney who served one term on the airport commission, until county commissioners declined to reappoint him earlier this year.
Following the vote, commissioners discussed expanding the seven-member airport commission. “We have a lot of good candidates, and I’m wondering if at some point we should consider expanding the size of the board,” Mr. Israel, a Tisbury selectman, said. “I think the board could use an injection of more people. I know there are people that feel we’re trying to change things. Damn right. From my point of view, damn right.”
The commissioners agreed to discuss the issue at their next meeting, on Sept. 24.