From the very moment Jim Newman arrived in Aquinnah after moving to the Island from New Jersey, he was enamored of the overwhelming sense of community and connection.
“I’ve always had a strong belief in community,” Newman said, who has served as an Aquinnah selectman for 18 of the 20 years he has lived in the town with his wife, Kathy Newman.
But his interest in public service didn’t start on Martha’s Vineyard. Newman told The Times he grew up in a family that valued community, and ever since he was young, he’s seen collective involvement in any form as essential.
“I went to a progressive school as a kid, where the focus was really on the community,” Newman said of his youth and adolescent days. “Somehow, that really stuck with me.”
Once Newman went to college, he spent several months in Mexico with the American Friends Service Committee, a peace program and social service organization founded by the Religious Society of Friends.
After digging latrines during the day and teaching English at night, he joined the Peace Corps, and spent two years teaching and living in a mud hut near the border of Sierra Leone and Guinea.
Newman returned to the U.S., and began a 30-year tenure at an inner-city school in Newark, N.J. He also served on the school board for many years, and was an emergency responder on the local rescue squad. “I just always wanted to participate,” he said. “It was very gratifying. Then I came here, and it just seemed so natural.”
Summer trips to Martha’s Vineyard preceded his big move, but once he settled into his new home in 2000, Newman immediately jumped into public service. “I had very few connections, and knew very few people, when we moved here. I asked about getting involved, and was appointed to the finance committee for two years,” he said.
During a meeting of the board of selectmen, Newman witnessed someone trying to forbid a member of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) from scalloping. “I thought it was really unfair. At that point, I wasn’t even familiar with the tribe, and that’s what sparked my interest in running for selectman,” he said.
Newman also began tutoring for the tribe, which he continued to do for a decade.
But now, Newman said there’s no question that “it’s time” for him to retire, and encouraged the next generation of Island leaders to get involved in local politics.
Wherever he has set his roots, Newman said, he has witnessed the strength of communities that work together, and the potential for change when people are passionate about public service.
“Wherever you live — it’s your home, and that’s what has always driven me to get involved, and encourage others as well,” he said.
But with teamwork and collaboration at the center of a strong community, Newman said none of the work he has done has been in a vacuum. “Whatever I have done, I have not done alone. It has been with the consensus of the other two selectmen,” he stressed.
As an example of how well the town of Aquinnah can work together, Newman cited the saving of the Gay Head Light, and how the condition and impending danger to the historic Island icon “drew so many people together.”
“The community really did save the lighthouse, people working together, making donations, making sacrifices really,” Newman said. “They mobilized and were able to get the finances to save the lighthouse, which speaks so highly of this community. It’s a testament to this town.”
Newman said Aquinnah, and the Island, hold a special place in his heart because of the history, the diverse mix of people who live here, and the feeling of togetherness that is immediately palpable after stepping off the boat.
“When it works, it works; sometimes there is a glitch, but it has usually worked out because almost everyone who lives here is invested in this community. I think it’s a wonderful place to live,” Newman said of his Aquinnah home.
He also noted that promoting a greener future for the town was a major focus of his time as a selectman, and sustainability has always been a part of his family life.
Even though he will no longer be a selectman, Newman said, he is planning on taking out a petition to run for the Aquinnah seat of the Island school committee.
Newman said he sees a bright future for Aquinnah, but said that meaningful change takes time, and is complicated to achieve. “You always want to be better, but you don’t want to bring about change that is going to impact the town in a negative way — change is hard,” he said. “But this is a special place, and I consider myself very lucky to live here.”
What a loss for Aquinnah and the Island! Thanks for all you have done for Martha’s Vineyard, Jim. We are lucky to have you and Kathy.! Don Ogilvie
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I had the opportunity (and good fortune) to work with Jim for 7 years while serving as town administrator for Aquinnah. In that time I came to know him as a caring, considerate and effective leader for not only the town but the Tribe as well. He is a dedicated volunteer who holds service above self as a chief principle in his day to day activities.
In addition to his long tenure as selectmen, Jim served as Aquinnah’s representative to the Tri-Town Ambulance Board. He effectively used his education background to tutor young students in the tribal community. He was also an important voice in negotiations between the town and the Wampanoag Tribe, insisting there should always be open communication between the entities while trying to settle disputes between the two governments. Jim was the kind of elected official any administrator would savor; a person who would come to you for counsel and base decisions on logic and sound judgement.
And there is something to be said for his wife and community leader for so many years as well. Kathy Newman has also dedicated a significant amount of time here on the Vineyard to serve as Aquinnah’s rep to the MV Commission. She also came to the rescue when the town was sorely in need of a personnel committee by chairing that board through several retirements and hirings, review of the by-laws and establishment of a classification & compensation study that helped define work roles for town employees.
Together the two have been vital members of our Vineyard community. I wish them nothing but the best in the years to come and I hope they stay active in their volunteer roles. The island will only benefit from their active engagement as volunteers for our community.