Time to move on

To the Editor:

Members of the Tisbury School Building Committee have been wont to characterize all critics of their plan as “the opposition.”
After the majority voted no on April 24, the shoe is on the other foot. Now, it is the TSBC and their supporters who are “the opposition”: the minority faction, so to speak.

In advance of Election Day, critics of the plan were prepared to lose, prepared to bow to the will of the majority, prepared to work to make the plan a success and reduce its negative fallout for the town, no matter how misguided the plan appeared to them.

Now it is incumbent upon every member of the building committee to answer a simple question. Were they, in advance of the vote, committed to abiding by the outcome? Yes or no?

The answer appears to be no. Not a single one. At their meeting on April 30, the committee members voted virtually as a body to petition the MSBA to extend the process for two to three months, and then ask the selectmen to authorize a revote on the exact same plan via a special election (only Melinda Loberg and Jay Grande voted no).

Committee members appear to be using Massachusetts School Building Authority regulations as cover for their push to reverse the outcome of the election.
The TSBC members are not elected. The members’ collective and individual intention not to abide by the will of the majority is further evidence of their unwillingness to take on board the views and wishes of a large segment of Tisbury voters — even when the latter are a clear majority. Their oft-expressed belief in their own process and priorities is more important to them even than majority rule. This committee has forfeited its credibility and authority as a policymaking body.
On the potential revote, selectmen should vote no. It is time for the town to move on to a more creative and productive process. 

Katherine Scott
Tisbury