The BOS Report Card for 2006

Back in March of 2006, I conducted the following poll on YACKon.com asking people how they felt the BOS at the time was doing. As you’ll recall, the BOS at the time was composed of Bruce Watts, Brian Chadwick, Doug Bennett, Whitey Willauer and Chairman Mike Glowacki. The results were pretty telling.



As you can see, 44% thought the former board was doing either a “poor” job or an “awful” job and 24% considered the performance of the BOS worthy of the labels “good” or “exceptional.”

This past week, I duplicated the poll and the results were equally interesting.



As you can see, the situation has turned completely around. 45% feel the BOS is doing a good or exceptional job and 17% feel the BOS is doing a poor or awful job.

Clearly many people on YACKon.com are feeling better about the latest iteration of the Board of Selectmen. It appears that many issues — sewers, growth, traffic, and harbor management — are being addressed under this administration and that the government is making some progress.

But the BOS is not exactly a cohesive body. The five members (in the case of 2006, six members) are not equal in their contributions or their actions on the board. Here, therefore, is my report card for the BOS members for 2006.

Michael Kopko: A
When Mr. Kopko was elected in April, he promised to “kick some ass” and get town government to do the work they are supposed to do. So far, he has made good on that promise by pushing forward initiatives like the Sewer Advisory Committee, prodding the Planning Board to complete the 41-81D master plan, maintaining a family atmosphere at the Jetties Beach concession, promoting a community arts center and getting growth management on the agenda for the board. His participation on YACKon.com earns him extra credit points for being willing to listen and discuss important issues with islanders of all stripes.

Chairman Whitey Willauer: B+
As Chair, whitey has not been as vocal as Mr. Kopko in meetings, but the progress and high marks of the current board could not be achieved without his leadership and cooperation. The meetings he runs are not as streamlined and flawless as those chaired by his predecessor, Mike Glowacki, but a great deal more is getting done. The proof is in the pudding. Chairman Willauer’s only low marks are for his performance with regard to the Great Harbor Yacht Club. Whether his conflicts are real or merely the perception of conflict is immaterial. He promised to recuse himself from GHYC votes if elected two years ago and not keeping that promise means that many voters feel they cannot trust him.

Doug Bennett: C
With a race for state senate that took up much of Doug’s time in 2006, a great deal of work that could have gotten done did not get done. Doug’s only committee appointment, the Mid Island Area Work Group did not meet in 2006 and many of the mid-day and morning workshops and meetings that the BOS held were not attended by Doug. In addition, he exhibited some rather rude and untoward behavior in the past 12 months that was in no way befitting the office of the Board of Selectmen. Still, Doug was the swing vote on many critical policy decisions and appointments, so one cannot give him a failing grade. If he runs for Selectman again when his seat is up in 2007, it is doubtful that he will win, but one hopes he continues to play a role in local politics. We need more young people in the game. And he does have an undeniable charm and energy that is often missing from the political scene.

Brian Chadwick: C-
Elected with the highest number of votes in Selectman History two years ago, Brian Chadwick continues to be lackluster performer on the job, choosing instead to police the actions of others (The Rector Rule, the open meeting law, reading from the town charter), remove valuable and instructional links to YACKon.com from town web pages, and obstruct programs that are obviously good and valuable (The Sewer Advisory Committee for one) spurred by motivations that can only be described as “questionable.” His only redeeming quality is that he shows up and attends meetings and appears to grasp the material and issues before him. But all in all, unless he is able to champion some positive programs and ideas for 2007, the name Brian Chadwick will be synonymous with disappointment and squandered potential and the likelihood that he will serve a second term is small.

Mike Glowacki: D
As the former chair of the BOS, the poor showing of last year falls squarely on Mike’s shoulders. As chair, his accomplishments were abysmally few. In addition, his performance on the Board in 2006 was punctuated by rancor, ill will and several long rants that berated the work of so-called special interests such as Sustainable Nantucket — an organization whose only “agenda” is to make the island a better place to live. Glowacki’s tenure on the board was underscored by the worst brand of local politics. Obstructionist. Status quo. Destructive. Negative. Cronyism-filled. Only after he resigned from the board in August, due to health reasons, did the tenor of the board change and become more productive and positive. Personally, I hope Mike Glowacki’s health improves and he lives a long and prosperous life. But by the same token, I hope he steers clear of island politics as his involvement has been disastrous for the island and he seems to bring out the worst in everyone around him.

Catherine Stover: Incomplete
With only one month on the job, it is difficult to gauge Catherine’s performance. But if her exemplary conduct during her election to the interim seat and her even-keel approach to the emotionally-charged recount process are any indication, she could prove to be one of our most valuable BOS assets. Her motto, “Kindness Counts,” is clearly evident in her words and actions. Plus, she, like Mr. Kopko, is a regular participant on YACKon.com which means she is open to both listening and talking to the people of this island.

YACK on: Gifts

Here's my column from last week's Nantucket Independent. Edited slightly. :-)

It’s that time of year again. The season of giving. There are so many people on the YACK gift list. In fact, the YACKon.com Santa (which is actually a relational database and artificial intelligence expert system written in PERL) has been making a list and checking it twice. In no particular order, here are the Christmas gifts that we at YACKon.com would give out if we had not spent all our available cash on Red Bull and iTunes downloads. (Since we have no money, we can make the gifts we would have given as extravagant as we want!)

First, let’s start with the Board of Selectmen. To Chairman Whitey Willauer we would give a pair of really nice running shoes so that he can continue to keep up the incredible pace he has set for the Board in 2006. Many of us on YACKon.com are stunned at all that this board has been able to achieve this year. It hasn’t always been pretty, but it’s been very, very effective. Kind of like the New England Patriots. Well done.

For Selectman and Innkeeper, Michael Kopko, we would give a new pair of boots so he can continue to kick some posterior in town government, which was something he promised to do on the evening he was elected last spring. So far, so good, Citizen Kopko.

For Catherine Flanagan Stover, we give a genuine jewel-encrusted throne to replace the ejector seat which apparently has lost all of its evil powers (perhaps the BOS took my advice and hired a voodoo priest to exercise the evil spirits from that seat).

Doug Bennett receives a new suit, a new tie and a new sheet of 4 x 8 plywood for any future campaigning he may do. Doug got 3,000 votes in his Senate race this year without spending a whole lot of money. Well done, sir! Anyone counting him out of politics in the future is placing a sucker bet.

For Brian Chadwick we have the entire, unabridged works of Keats, Shelly and Wadsworth to go the rather professorial, be-speckled, bow-tied look he’s been sporting lately. Plus it will give him something to read besides the town charter.

For the Sewer Advisory Committee members (a.k.a., the Sewer Dwarves) and the town government study committee members (a.k.a., the Government Elves) and the Car Limit Advisory Committee (a.k.a. the poor suffering bastards who can't win either way) we wish we had the cash to buy everyone a three-week, all-expense-paid trip to some remote and beautiful tropical island. Your hard work has been a wonderful gift to this island. You deserve a vacation!

For Dr. Sarah Oktay, Director of the U-Mass Field Station, and a member of the Conservation Commission and a Clean Team Co-captain we would give a $200,000 trip on Richard Branson’s "Virgin Galactic" spaceliner charter scheduled to begin in 2008, so she can look down on the earth and see all of the good work she’s been doing in one glance. (We would give the same gift to all of the wonderful folks at thee Maria Mitchell Association, the Land Council, the Land Bank, Conservation Foundation and everyone else who works hard to ensure that Nantucket remains a wondrous ecological jewel. If we had the money.)

Captain Blair Perkins receives a full degree in meteorology. He deserves it given all of the incredibly accurate weather reports he’s been sharing with the yackon.com readers this year.

For selectman candidate, Patty Roggeveen, we give a copy of Dale Carnegie’s book “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” Note that there is no chapter on the best method for accusing the Town Clerk’s office or the Chairman of the Board of Selectmen of malfeasance and vote tampering when requesting a recount.

For traffic planner, Mike Burns, we give a restored 1975 Chrysler Cordoba (with rich, Corinthian leather seats), in which he can do donuts around the new Sparks Avenue roundabout late at night when no one is looking.

For Planning Board Alternates, Charity Benz, John Wagley and Jason Flanagan, we would hire the services of top legal mind Alan Dershowitz, who will work on their behalf to sue the Planning Board for defamation of character, a violation of their civil and trampling upon their constitutional rights. Or settle for a huge undisclosed sum. Or a public apology.

For Planning Board chairman Donald Visco, we would give him (secretly) a whoopee cushion so that the next time he gets out of his chair to raise his voice and point at an alternate, he can sit down and make a noise that befits his recent service on the board.

For town Administrator, Libby Gibson, we would give a gift card so that she can go shopping for a whole new wardrobe. Not that her current style isn’t very smart and attractive. But if she is going to get a new title of Town Manager, it might be a good idea for her to have a whole new wardrobe to go with it. And let’s throw in a new car while we’re at it. And a spa weekend. (And, Libby, if you can think of anything else, let me know.)

Aaron Marcavitch, the New Housing Office Director would receive a home of his very own so that he and his wife, who are wonderful assets for the community, can stay here forever and raise a family. We at YACKon.com feel that it is rather ironic that Aaron will be working hard to find housing for others while still renting himself.

To my fellow columnist, Dan Drake, the Lighthouse keeper, I would give a gift certificate to the pet store in the Cape Cod Mall so that he can purchase several more animals with which to converse in his columns. It is thought that perhaps he may be missing the goldfish perspective in town politics and the ferret voice is woefully underrepresented.

And, finally, to Dreamland owner and developer Hiram Zahavi we would give a Day-Timer® scheduler and planner, so that he can actually have a snowball’s chance in hell of opening the Dreamland Theater for the summer of 2007.

To everyone else, we wish happiness and joy this holiday season as well as a prosperous and healthy new year.

YACK on.

Grant Sanders is the Host of YACK, The Nantucket Online Community at yackon.com and he hopes he receives a new, shiny, black MacBook laptop for Christmas. And one of those huge chocolate bars from Trader Joe’s in Hyannis. And peace on earth. His views are his own and may not necessarily reflect the editorial stance of The Nantucket Independent. Except the peace on earth bit.