Aquinnah Voters Tangle Over Budget; Town Meeting Adjourned Until
June

By IAN FEIN

Aquinnah town finances were left in tatters after a tumultuous town
meeting on Tuesday. But at the polls on Wednesday voters approved more
than $120,000 in Proposition 2 1/2 overrides, giving the town some
breathing room to balance its budget.

Six of the 12 operating override requests approved on Wednesday came
as a pleasant surprise to some town officials in Aquinnah, where voters
have traditionally been weary of overriding Proposition 2 1/2, the state
law that restricts annual increases in the town property tax levy limit.
And the boost to the town's levy limit might help restore some
semblance of order in Aquinnah after an annual town meeting that was far
more chaotic than most.

Town moderator Walter Delaney on Tuesday night called for a vote to
adjourn the meeting when it became clear that a large contingent of town
voters were unhappy with the budget as presented. After more than an
hour and half of discussion, marked by frequent disruptions and debate,
voters were only halfway through the town budget - the third
article on a 30-article warrant.

Mr. Delaney, selectmen, and finance committee will now meet with
town counsel Ronald H. Rappaport on Monday at 5 p.m. in an attempt to
reorganize the budget and untangle their financial mess. When they
reconvene the annual town meeting on June 8, selectmen will have to ask
voters to either cut costs or tap the stabilization fund to balance the
budget.

If the voters do not approve a budget by June 30, the Aquinnah town
hall will have to shut its doors.

Selectman and board chairman James Newman said yesterday that it was
too early to tell what the board will try to do, but he acknowledged
that he had been humbled by the week's events.

In the annual town election on Wednesday, Mr. Newman nearly lost his
seat to a last-minute write-in-campaign by Skye Lane resident Barbara
Bassett, one of the selectmen's loudest critics at the town
meeting on Tuesday. Mr. Newman narrowly edged Ms. Bassett, 72-59, while
all of the other candidates on the ballot were easily elected to their
positions without contest.

Some 157 residents, or 40 per cent of registered voters, cast
ballots in the town election. Ms. Bassett yesterday could not be reached
for comment.

"I felt the result of the election was a vote of no confidence
in me as a selectman," Mr. Newman said. "And so I will need
to work hard to regain the voters' support."

Mr. Newman also apologized yesterday for a personal comment he made
about an elected assessor on the town meeting floor. He said his
comment, about the assessor's time spent in the Bahamas during the
winter, was out of place.

The remark came during a larger discussion about the future of the
town board of assessors. Acting on the recommendation of the
Massachusetts Department of Revenue, which has expressed multiple areas
of concern in the Aquinnah assessing department, the selectmen are
seeking to switch the board from elected to appointed positions.

Voters at the polls on Wednesday voted 89-63 against having the
selectmen act as assessors, but they also rejected override requests to
pay for the assessors' salaries, health insurance and expenses.
The assessors retained their positions, but, as of now, will not be
compensated in the coming fiscal year. The ramifications of the votes,
as well as the assessors' budget, will likely be discussed again
at the June town meeting.

Mr. Newman yesterday also said that the selectmen made a strategic
error by separating out certain budgetary line items for override votes.
Specifically, he said it was a mistake to put the $40,000 harbor master
budget at risk.

The selectmen took a good deal of heat about the harbor master
override at town meeting, which was adjourned after voters decided 33-30
to put the harbor master budget back in the operating budget. Ms.
Bassett at town meeting called the override maneuver manipulative, and
said it was unfair to the town harbor master and shellfish constable
Brian (Chip) Vanderhoop.

The selectmen and finance committee members tried to explain to
voters on Tuesday that they were forced to seek overrides because they
faced an operating budget shortfall of more than $200,000. And when
deciding how to present the override request to voters, they decided to
put on the chopping block some operating budgets - from key town
programs such as the town harbor master, Up-Island Council on Aging,
town community programs committee, and the Martha's Vineyard
Refuse and Resource Recovery District - that they believed voters
would support.

Voters on Wednesday approved those override requests, as well as
library wages, for a total of roughly $120,000. But they rejected six
other operating override requests that totalled $85,000.

Aside from the assessors' funds, voters also turned down the
town's contributions to regional organization such as the
Martha's Vineyard Shellfish Group, Dukes County Regional Housing
Authority and the Martha's Vineyard Commission. The $27,0000
commission assessment is mandatory, so the selectmen must still find a
source of money to pay it.

Voters at the polls also rejected a $167,000 debt exemption request
to fund the construction of a new public safety garage, as well as two
other override requests totalling $8,500 to install a carbon monoxide
detection system and warning siren in the fire station.

In the special town meeting that preceded the annual town meeting on
Tuesday, the night actually began somewhat smoothly, with voters
approving the first five articles before turning down a $1,900 request
for a water heater in the police station.

But the annual town meeting quickly turned divisive when Mr. Delaney
reached the line items for the assessors' office in the budget.

Debate about the assessors' positions showed stark divisions
among town residents. Roxanne Ackerman said she was outraged that the
Department of Revenue asked town voters to eliminate their elected
officials, and two of the three elected assessors defended their records
on town meeting floor.

"We the assessors have done our job as we have known it to be
over the years," said assessor Carl Widdiss. "Sure we do
function in albeit an unconventional manner. But the assessors'
office does function in service of our town," he added.

"We feel very confident that our job is done appropriately to
the size of the community," said assessor Hugh Taylor.
"There are lots of details that the Department of Revenue pointed
out we are not complying with. But none of them I think are
illegal."