Aquinnah Override Is Rejected for Third Time in Five Months

By MAX HART

A large turnout of Aquinnah voters said no to a Proposition 2 1/2
override yesterday for the third time in five months, dealing a final
blow to the town selectmen on the subject of town spending -
except when it comes to plowing snow.

Money to plow the town roads was approved by one vote in the
override ballot, which presented voters with a supplemental budget for
the current fiscal year. The budget, which included $103,000 in spending
requests beyond the state-mandated tax cap, was broken down into 12
separate line items.

Voters rejected a cost of living increase for town employees,
salaries for the town selectmen, funding for the Martha's Vineyard
Shellfish Group, expense money for the town harbor master and
maintenance money for town buildings, among other things.

Expense money for the town library was rejected by the same margin
that saved snow plowing - a single vote.

"This is a very, very clear message from the voters and I
trust the selectmen will approach next year more carefully," said
Peter Temple, a member of the Aquinnah planning board, after the votes
were counted last night.

"People are annoyed that the selectmen have done nothing. I
feel most sorry for the town employees - they are sacrificial
lambs," said planning board chairman Camille Rose.

"I am very disappointed, but we'll deal with it.
We'll have to get by with what they have given us," said
selectman Michael Hebert.

Selectman and board chairman Carl Widdiss could not be reached for
comment.

The election saw a huge turnout; 171 voters cast ballots. There are
just under 400 registered voters in Aquinnah, which is the second
smallest town in the commonwealth. The results went around the town like
electricity a short time after the polls closed at eight o'clock
last night.

The override odyssey in Aquinnah began in June when voters rejected
a $260,000 general override to the annual town budget by just three
votes in a special town election that followed the annual town meeting
by a month. The selectmen then scrambled to find a way to cut 10 per
cent of the town budget in time for the beginning of the fiscal year on
July 1.

A level-funded budget was hammered into shape by slashing the police
department budget, adjusting revenue projections and eliminating cost of
living increases for town employees, along with funding for the
shellfish group and salaries for the three town selectmen. A summer camp
for town children narrowly escaped the budget ax.

The selectmen then tried again and called a special town election
with an override request for half the original amount, $130,000.

On July 22, Aquinnah voters rejected the second override request,
this time by a substantial margin, 75-56.

The third override request followed a special town meeting in
September, crafted this time as a supplemental budget and broken down
into 12 separate questions. The questions amounted to a line-item budget
for voters with 12 choices. Together the items added up to $103,000 in
override requests.

In the end the only request approved was $5,000 for snow plowing.

Mr. Temple said last night that the line item decision was
thoughtful on the part of the selectmen. The results, he said, were
self-evident.

"This shows that voters were very sensitive to what was being
voted on," Mr. Temple said. "They are prepared to go through
the hardships in that we want the town run better," he added.

Mr. Hebert said the next step is still under discussion.

"We've got groups of people looking to the
future," he said.

"The selectmen have to go back and implement ways to raise
revenue and look at structural ways to cut costs," Mr. Temple
concluded.

Final election results are as follows:

* $36,967 in cost of living increases for town employees,
rejected 86-83.

* $2,000 for telephone expenses, rejected 100-67.

* $2,000 for town accountant expenses, rejected 95-72.

* $10,000 for legal expenses, rejected 106-62.

* $5,000 for maintenance on town buildings, rejected 95-73.

* $4,000 for fire department expenses, rejected 101-68.

* $20,000 for the shellfish group, rejected 125-44.

* $5,000 for the town shellfish department and harbor master,
rejected 111-50.

* $5,000 for snow and ice removal, approved 85-84.

* $5,000 for the resident homesite committee, rejected 108-61.

* $2,000 for town library expenses, rejected 85-84.

* $6,000 for community programs expenses, rejected 105-63.