Updated June 24
Former selectman Larry Gomez is back on the select board after defeating incumbent Melinda Loberg and political newcomer Melanie Englert.
During Tuesday’s election, 855 people turned out at the Emergency Services Facility to cast ballots — 24 percent of the town’s 3,527 registered voters.
There was a bit of drama, as the polls closed about five minutes early because the polling machines indicated it was 8 pm. About four voters missed out on their opportunity to cast ballots, and one voter was mad and attempted to argue, but poll workers wouldn’t budge.
In an interview Wednesday morning, Joan Shea said she has sent a letter to Secretary of State William Galvin to complain, and intends to reach out to town clerk Hilary Conklin.
“There were four people who made the effort to go and vote, and we were denied,” she said. “The town website said the election was from noon to 8 pm, it didn’t say noon to 7:55 pm.”
Shea left her job as an aide with enough time to make it to the polls; when she was outside the door, her watch said she still had three minutes. The doors were locked and the voters were told by the constable on duty that the polls were closed.
“Ultimately, the thing that upsets me the most is they closed the doors before 8 pm,” Shea said.
The election was overseen by Oak Bluffs town clerk Colleen Morris, because Conklin was on the ballot.
Morris said she was still overseeing three or four voters who were inside casting ballots at the time of the dispute. She said it’s not the town clerk’s call. “Once that’s done, no one can reverse it. It’s not for me as the clerk to say,” Morris said. “You can’t undo it. It’s impossible.”
Debra O’Malley, a spokesperson for Galvin’s office, said it’s up to the election warden to determine when the polls close, and the constable to enforce it. She said there is no specific clock that has to be followed to determine when the polls open or close. “In these situations, you are going by one specific clock,” she said.
In an email, Conklin acknowledged an issue with the clock. “This is what I now am aware of. Regrettably, our ballot machine clock was one minute ahead, and that clock was what we used as our official time to open and close the polls,” she wrote. “Going forward, we will revise our official timekeeping method. I apologize to those who were unable to cast their ballot, and assure them and all our voters we are changing our practice to eliminate this issue.”
O’Malley said anyone lined up in time to vote should be allowed entry. Doors to a polling place should never be locked, which is a different issue, because the public and press are allowed to observe the counting of the ballots, she said.
Gomez defeated Loberg by a vote of 422 to 368. Englert came in third with 45 votes, which is almost the amount of voters separating Gomez and Loberg.
Gomez was the only candidate at the polls when the votes were tallied. He said he was somewhat surprised by the results, but is ready to join the board again. “In my opinion, I think some things need to move quicker,” he told The Times. “We need to be more decisive with decisions, and get away from so many committees.”
Loberg faced some public criticism for her 2018 decision to abstain on a vote about the Tisbury School project. She could not be immediately reached for comment.
Englert said she enjoyed her experience. “They’re both nice people. In terms of running against someone, that’s the hardest part,” she said. “It was an eye-opening experience. I would definitely do it again.”
Voters also approved the lone ballot question 623-176, a $6.4 million Proposition 2½ debt exclusion to pay for a sewer system expansion.
Finance director Jon Snyder said about half of the cost will be borne by users of the system, and the other half will increase taxes. He said the borrowing will add about 9 cents to the tax rate, so for Tisbury’s median home value of $620,000, the annual tax increase will be about $40 over 20 years.
Every other seat on the ballot was unopposed. Jennifer Cutrer replaces Janet Packer on the school committee, who decided not to run for re-election. She received 677 votes. Constance Alexander, another new candidate, was elected to the planning board with 663 votes, taking over for Dan Seidman who retired after serving 12 years.
Town moderator Deborah Medders (713) and town clerk J. Hillary Conklin (740) were re-elected to three-year terms.
Here are the rest of the totals:
Town constable, Kenneth Barwick: 664
Assessor, Roy Cutrer Jr.: 705
Board of health, Jeffrey Pratt: 687
Finance committee, Jynell Kristal: 528
Finance committee, MaryEllen Larsen: 640
Finance committee, Sarah York: 582
Library trustee (three years), Carolyn Ruth Henderson: 586
Library trustee (three years), Sandra Johnson-Pratt: 662
Library trustee (three years), Dennis Gene Agin: 550
Library trustee (two years), Myra Stark: 662
M.V. Land Bank Commission, Nancy Weaver: 674
Water commissioner, David Schwab: 706
Isabel Gitten contributed to this report. Story updated to provide more information about what happened when the polls closed and with official numbers.
In America, the only legitimate means the common people are given to remove from office a wealthy, entitled politician who has wrested control from their constituents is to vote. That is why it is so important that every citizen who is legally entitled to vote do so. Way to go, Tisbury!
Trump was a Tisbury Selectmen?
Is Melinda a wealthy, entitled politician who has wrested control from her constituents?
I’ll abstain from answering.
Yes; and she and her husband do not take responsibility for their actions if they harm others.
How did they harm others?
Loberg out? WOW. Makes sense though. You’re not really a leader if you can’t represent the town’s people on it’s most pressing issues. Vote yea or vote nay, fine, but abstaining is just plain cowardly.
Not voting due to conflict of interest is not cowardly, it is exemplary.
Tisbury should lead the way and start a trend vote in new people each and every time there is a chance.
What makes you think that new people are better than old people?
New people are better because they have no experience in local politics.
Just recycling an old selectman… nothing to see here, move along.
And your old staid comments.
Long ago, when I lived off-Island, we would regularly go to a fast food joint just before closing time. We got used to the idea that some employees wanted to go home early! This didn’6 make it right.
Lived off-Island, fast food joint, that sounds perfect.
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