4 Weeks to Go

I attended the Nantucket Sailors meeting in Annapolis over the March 7th and 8th weekend. About 100 sailors from Nantucket attended. We heard Dave Perry explain the new sailboat racing rules and discribe his experiences as a coach at the China Olympics . On Sunday, I visited the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. They have a very similar situation as Nantucket with their oyster beds and water quality. Interestingly enough their Headquarters is certified Leeds Platinum.

On Monday, I attended the Ms. Mantucket competition at the Fairgrounds restaurant. This has become a great Nantucket tradition sponsored by the Rotary for the High School Scholarship program. Next stop was the US Coast Guard Reserve meeting at Station Brant Point. This time of year, our Nantucket Flotilla flies missions up and down the New England Coast and is preparing to teach boating safety courses to our youth

On Tuesday, I attended the SHAB meeting where we discussing moving seed scallops from Fourth Bend to the area between First Point and Abrahms Point. The plan is to move 100 bushels on April 1st.

On Wednesday, I attended the Downtown Revitalization Committee where a Nantucket Business Survey of all businesses and organizations is being developed in order to identify goals for the downtown area.

The next stop was the BOS meeting where the Annual Town Meeting Articles were reviewed. The Board of Slectmen voted in favor of a seasonal rental tax which the Finace Committee voted against. The problem with this tax is that 60% goes to the State. This tax is highly regressive for the Nantucket economy.

On Thursday, I attended a presentation by Patty Roggeveen on the Dreamland renovation. This was an excellent presentation that was very well attended. The Dreamland will be disassemble piece by piece and the land will be grass this summer. Next fall a new steel structure will be built and the old pieces will be put back in their original places.

On Friday, I chaired a meeting of Nantucket Behavorial Health Service. NBHS serves the mental health issues on the Island. In the afternoon, I participated in the first organizational meeting of the Nantucket Shellfish Plan (NSP). Dr. Jake Kritzer of the Environmental Defense Fund was our guest and we started to develop the goals and objectives of the NSP.

On Saturday and Sunday, my campaign committee was out at the land fill. We were joined by School Committee Candidate, Melssa Bonvini Murphy, her husband Devon and daughter. As it turns out Devon is newly employed by Grey Lady Marine to manage their outside operations. Devon has great experience.

To cap off the week I attended Mike Kopko's kick-off party at the Chicken Box. It was a fun event and gave me a chance to have very productie conversations.