By now most of my friends and neighbors know that I’m on the county charter commission. They frequently ask: “Well, what’s going on?” And I try to explain. Since many of you may be asking the same question, here is one answer. I need to stress that I am speaking for myself and not the full commission, although I am confident that at least some of my views are shared by my colleagues.

The commission came into existence after the November 2006 election. We had three fundamental questions to answer:

County Charter: Good Lessons From Past

Sadly, the public has shown little interest so far in the work of the Dukes County Charter Study Commission. Part of the reason may be the commission itself, which has spent a good deal of time in the past year tangled in its own process, although perhaps not hopelessly so.

The study group still has the chance to deliver what voters wanted in the first place when they elected the commission fifteen months ago: a thoughtful, cogent report on the state of county government and any recommendations for change.

I’m going to miss my Vineyard Gazette.

We’ve been together a long time. I care about it. I need it.

Whether sitting on the porch in Menemsha reading the Gazette or home in the city reading The New York Times, I’m one of the people the godfather of medium and message Marshall McLuhan was talking about when he said, “People don’t read newspapers, they slip into them like a warm bath.”

50 Years Ago

From the Vineyard Gazette editions of February, 1958:

Bring Your Own

Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

If you would like a drink with your meal in a Vineyard Haven restaurant, you can do that now.

Why risk the possibility of losing control of the way our quiet, safe town develops by voting to serve beer and wine.

Once Tisbury is not dry, it is not dry forever.

After you vote on April 15 to keep Tisbury dry, you can take your beer or wine with you and go to dinner in many of our local restaurants.

Shirley Kennedy

Vineyard Haven

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