Private Use of Public Space

The use of prominent public places in Oak Bluffs for private profit is legitimate cause for concern.

The most serious example is the shanghaiing of Ocean Park, the oceanfront jewel among town parks, for a privately backed performance of the Boston Pops.

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.

Regional Trash Disposal: Long Overdue

Fifteen years ago Tisbury and Oak Bluffs decided to pull out of the Vineyard’s regional solid waste disposal district, figuring they could operate their own solid waste disposal system more efficiently and inexpensively. But there was never any logic to operating two off-Island transfer operations on a small Island.

Sticker Shock in West Tisbury

Staggering increases in property taxes in some areas of West Tisbury this year have come as a blow to residents, some of whom have seen their tax bills more than double. The increases put enormous pressure on people who own valuable property but are not wealthy — including some property owners on the Tisbury Great Pond, many of whom have held property in their family for generations.

So the questions are coming fast and furious from a group of taxpayers who want to know how this happened.

School Bond, Town Obligation

The regional high school district committee was correct to rescind its vote on the sewage treatment bond issue once it came to light that Island towns had not been properly informed of their right to vote on the matter.

Winter Sunshine

Enrichment is indeed alive and well at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School where the education programs reach well beyond the traditional academic confines. Here are three examples:

Six students at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School were honored for excellence in art work this week as winners in the prestigious Boston Globe scholastic art competition.