We are all worried. Some of us are actually scared. The Steamship Authority is our connection to critical, lifesaving services. The Steamship Authority’s failure to operate as we need and expect threatens what makes this Island special — winter and summer.
When Dukes County Commission (DCC) members were contacted by Island neighbors demanding answers from the Steamship Authority, the commission chair went to the Steamship Authority and organized the Nov. 19 meeting at the Film Center.
Did having this meeting solve all the Island’s transit problems? Of course not. But this meeting allowed Islanders to publicly let the Steamship Authority know that its customers (who are also the taxpayers who contribute to its operating expenses) are not just angry, but scared.
The Dukes County Commission has a lengthy history of recognizing problems and working cooperatively to find and fund solutions.
For example, recently Dukes County committed the last installment of funding from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). The funds, totaling more than $3 million, are going to the airport, Edgartown, Oak Bluffs, Tisbury, and West Tisbury, to improve water quality and to assist income-qualified homeowners in upgrading septic systems. And $100,000 has been earmarked for emergency management planning.
The Dukes County Health Council created the Health Care Access Program years ago. Now grants and Island town budgets pay for a substantial portion of the operating costs for this service, which is working hard to help meet the Island’s healthcare needs.
The county’s Public Benefits Access program, created to help take the pressure off the Health Care Access Program, processes food stamp and fuel assistance applications, among many other social-support options.
As early as 2015, Dukes County began advocating to meet the needs of the homeless with the Island’s first count of the homeless, to document the need. Harbor Homes, providing homelessness prevention programs and interim housing for men and women on the Island, is the result of many years of concern, coalition building, and inter-Island partnering by the DCC. Starting with the Island’s first homelessness case worker, the homeless prevention network was launched. Ultimately, Harbor Homes of Martha’s Vineyard was launched, and evolved into a nonprofit that creates consistent and reliable housing for homeless men and women. Their efforts continue to address the needs of our underserved Island community members through their own fundraising activities, and with financial support from the towns, administered by the county.
The Dukes County Commission knows that its job is to listen, hear of the Island’s challenges, and work cooperatively to find or create the solutions. It is a noteworthy assignment.
Christine Todd, chair
Don Leopold, vice-chair
Tristan Israel
Randy Milch
Doug Ruskin
Juli Vanderhoop
Peter Wharton
Dukes County Commission
