Martha’s Vineyard Commission members Katherine Newman and Greg Martino have attended their last meeting as commissioners before stepping down at the end of the year.

Both will be missed, commission chair Peter Wharton and executive director Adam Turner said at the Dec. 18 MVC meeting, as they thanked Ms. Newman and Mr. Martino for their service.

Greg Martino.

Mark Alan Lovewell

Greg Martino.

Mark Alan Lovewell

“You’ve always offered your opinion in a very positive [and] a unique way, in terms of talking about how you think and what you believe,” Mr. Turner told Ms. Newman, who has served as Aquinnah’s appointed representative since 2003.

Mr. Martino, Tisbury’s appointed MVC member since 2022, has been a well-informed commissioner and a strong vice-chair, Mr. Wharton said.

“I could not have had a better partner in leadership,” he said. “Your lack of presence here will definitely be felt, but your voice will echo, for quite some time.”

Mr. Martino said he hopes to serve on the commission again in future years.

“This is a see-you-later, not a goodbye,” he said by video conference, as his young children played in the background.

“They are getting older, life is kind of moving on, and I need to focus on the family stuff and the business stuff,” said Mr. Martino, who was reappointed by the Tisbury select board in November to a fifth one-year term. The select board is expected to choose another appointee in January.

The Aquinnah select board has named Bill Lake to succeed Ms. Newman, who thanked the commission for widening her understanding of the Island as a whole.

“I mean, you’re out in little Aquinnah, and you see the same people most of the time, and it’s just such a nice thing to be Island-wide and really get to know people and hear their other opinions,” she said.

During the remainder of the meeting on Dec. 18, commissioners finalized their Oct. 30 denial of the Edgartown Gardens condominium project and named officers for 2026.

Mr. Wharton will continue chairing the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, with Brian Smith as vice-chair and Ernie Thomas continuing as treasurer.

The commission’s next meeting is scheduled for Jan. 8, 2026 at 6:30 p.m., with continued public hearings on a proposed home-based automobile repair shop in a residential West Tisbury area and a requested accessory dwelling unit in a Chilmark subdivision.