Well isn’t this a great way to start the new year. The executive secretary and the board of selectmen of the town of Aquinnah opted to break the rules and regulations that were put into place by the shellfish committee. The Aquinnah shellfish committee spent hours putting the regulations together to protect valuable resources in Menemsha Pond, only to have the regulations totally disregarded by the executive secretary and the whole board of selectmen. I’m chairman of the Aquinnah shellfish committee. I left a message on the executive secretary’s voice mail and later talked to him personally and told him that I would like to have it stated for the record that four out of five shellfish committee members said no to a recent scallop application that was being discussed.

The executive secretary never mentioned this at all. The aforementioned application was not on the agenda or in new business so no one from the shellfish committee was present, creating a situation where the selectmen awarded a license to an applicant that was unlawful and illegal. This is definitely not the way to conduct town business and it’s shameful.

Buddy Vanderhoop

Aquinnah