Tisbury voters elected a new select board member and gave a final, resounding stamp of approval to the bill to create a Martha’s Vineyard Housing Bank in a quiet town election Tuesday that saw low turnout. Just 552 of the town’s 3,710 voters cast ballots.
Chilmark became the fourth town to approve the Island-wide housing bank at the ballot box Wednesday, paving the way for the home rule petition to move on to the state legislature.
Chilmark voters head to the polls today to cast their ballots for the proposed housing bank initiative, along with 15 town positions up for re-election but only one contested race.
Four of the six Island towns will take the first steps next week in deciding the pivotal question of whether to ask the state legislature to allow creation of a Martha’s Vineyard Housing Bank.
The proposed housing bank bill replaces the direct democracy of town meeting with a central committee, consisting of seven commissioners, one elected from each town, and a seventh commissioner elected Islandwide.
An article to create a Martha’s Vineyard housing bank will go on the town meeting warrant with a negative recommendation from the Edgartown finance committee, after a unanimous vote.
The much-debated article to create a Martha’s Vineyard Housing Bank will go on the annual town meeting warrant Oak Bluffs, after a unanimous vote by the select board Tuesday night.
As proponents of a Martha’s Vineyard housing bank seek support for an Island-specific initiative, Nantucket has been working to pass some kind of housing bank legislation since 2016, with the latest version currently stalled on Beacon Hill.