ISSUES

Selectman History

Edgartown Selectman 30 Year History (1979 - 2008)

Year	Selectman 1	Selectman 2	Selectman 3	Candidate	Votes	Votes

2008	Arthur Smadbeck	Margaret E Serpa	Michael J Donaroma	Robert M Fynbo
2007	Arthur Smadbeck	Margaret E Serpa	Michael J Donaroma		264/134
2006	Arthur Smadbeck	Margaret E Serpa	Michael J Donaroma		420/98
2005	Arthur Smadbeck	Margaret E Serpa	Michael J Donaroma		614/159
2004	Arthur Smadbeck	Margaret E Serpa	Michael J Donaroma		755/319
2003	Arthur Smadbeck	Margaret E Serpa	Michael J Donaroma	Mark Morris	728/170	550/254/94
2002	Arthur Smadbeck	Margaret E Serpa	Fred B Morgan *		403/98
2001	Arthur Smadbeck	Margaret E Serpa	Fred B Morgan		357/82
2000	Arthur Smadbeck	Margaret E Serpa	Fred B Morgan		393/77
1999	Arthur Smadbeck	Margaret E Serpa	Fred B Morgan		437/75
1998	Arthur Smadbeck	Thomas A Durawa	Fred B Morgan	Peter L. Look	625/356/30
1997	Arthur Smadbeck	Thomas A Durawa	Fred B Morgan		490/137
1996	Arthur Smadbeck	Thomas A Durawa	Fred B Morgan	Mark Morris	722/227/18
1995	Arthur Smadbeck	George E Piper	Fred B Morgan		318/121
1994	Arthur Smadbeck	George E Piper	Fred B Morgan		438/120
1993	Thomas A Durawa	George E Piper	Fred B Morgan	Dana K Anderson	628/408/45
1992	Thomas A Durawa	Dana K Anderson	Fred B Morgan		654/195
1991	Thomas A Durawa	Dana K Anderson	Fred B Morgan		706/171
1990	Thomas A Durawa	Dana K Anderson	Fred B Morgan	T. Curry Jones	601/327/114
1989	Thomas A Durawa	Edith W Potter	Fred B Morgan	Paul Fiedler	561/346/22
1988	Thomas A Durawa	Edith W Potter	Fred B Morgan		587/104
1987	Thomas A Durawa	Edith W Potter	Fred B Morgan	Alishen Haigazain	676/249/29
1986	Thomas A Durawa	Edith W Potter	Fred B Morgan		590/184/38
1985	Thomas A Durawa	Edith W Potter	Fred B Morgan		459/78
1984	Thomas A Durawa	Edith W Potter	Fred B Morgan		590/150
1983	Thomas A Durawa	Edith W Potter	Fred B Morgan		727/152
1982	Thomas A Durawa	Edith W Potter	Fred B Morgan	Margaret S O'Neill	701/477/27
1981	Joseph B Robichau	Edith W Potter	Fred B Morgan		499/114
1980	Joseph B Robichau	Edith W Potter	Fred B Morgan		701/147
1979	Joseph B Robichau	Edith W Potter	Robert Waller		603/477/124

Only once in 30 years has a candidate won against an incumbent (1993) and that was a single term incumbent. Voter turnout is twice as high if a Selectman's seat is challenged.


Years	Selectman	Notes	Term End	Black - Selectman In office - not up for election
24	Fred B Morgan	Previous terms/Retired	End 2002
15	Thomas A Durawa		End 1998	Blue - Selectman up for election - Uncontested
15	Arthur Smadbeck
11	Edith W Potter	Previous terms	End 1989	Red - Selectman up for election - Contested
9	Margaret E Serpa
6	Michael J Donaroma			Number of votes - Uncontested Election (Candidate/Blank-Misc)
3	George E Piper	Win / Anderson	End 1995
3	Dana K Anderson		End 1992
3	Joseph B Robichau		End 1981	Number of votes - Contested Election (Candidate1/Candidate2/Blank-Misc)
1	Robert Waller		End 1979

Finance History

I have created a PDF file showing the actual tax and levy figures for the last 10 years. It shows the impact on our tax levy for the various Proposition 2.5 overrides we have voted for over the years. You can download it here.

Facilities Manager

Edgartown owns a lot of buildings. These include the town hall, library, senior center, police department, fire department, highway department buildings, and on and on. We have no one who is in charge of maintaining and overseeing these various facilities. Each department head is responsible for their own building. We have no “public works” department and many department heads have relied on handy staff members, spouses, and other volunteers to fill this role, but there are not enough of them and some are not qualified.

As I have covered elsewhere, these department heads are hired for their skills relating to their jobs, not for their knowledge in buildings, boilers, and the various other components that make up the facility. As a result, many of our buildings are deteriorating rapidly, and no one is stopping this. We, as taxpayers, will pay dearly for this. We will pay for overrides to rebuild structures, or replace equipment that could easily have been repaired years earlier for a fraction of the cost.

In 1980, the town attempted to create a maintenance department, but failed to do so. I think they attempted to over shoot the mark. Let’s start out more gradually; a full time position that requires an individual to have basic handy-man skills, a general contractor license, and the ability to write RFP’s (requests for proposals – a bidding contract). This job would be a combination of hands-on work and overseeing other contractors, volunteers, or inmates.

Yes, I said inmates. The jail allows town departments to use individuals who are in jail for non-violent crimes. They use this “free” labor to help out with painting, cleanup work, and other things they are qualified for. We are paying for their stay at the house of corrections, so we should feel free to use some of their time and skills to help us recoup the costs of incarcerating them. We could also work more closely with the courts regarding individuals who are sentenced to “community service”.

OK - back to the Facilities Manager. This individual will be able to put up a shelf or change the more complicated light bulbs and do a lot of basic maintenance. He will be able to go through each department’s building and make a list of items that need regular service (boilers, HVAC systems, etc) and follow through to make sure they are performed.

He will make another list of facility repairs or replacements in order of their severity. If they are outside of this person’s abilities or time constraints, he/she can sit down with the department head and figure out which items they have money for in that department’s budget; or if the repairs are severe enough and the department does not have the funds available, the department head can go to the finance advisory committee (FinCom) to request money.

He/She will write the RFP for the department head so as to make sure the work is exactly what the department needs. The bidding process generally requires that the lowest bidder is awarded the contract. To avoid shoddy workmanship or materials these bids need to be very specific. The department head will put this RFP in the newspaper and go through the bids received with the Facilities Manager. Once the work is under way, the Facilities Manager will act as the “clerk of the works” and monitor the project to make sure it is done in accordance with the RFP.

They can also determine at this point what volunteers or inmates may have the expertise to help out with the various items on the list. Each department has had volunteers to help them, and we should continue to use them whenever practical. We also have the senior assistance program that allows low income, older tax payers work off part of their tax bill.

This is not going to interfere with our town’s private companies. We will still need licensed plumbers, electricians, and contractors to do specific tasks. This leaves us with the big question. How will we pay for this?

Each department that is responsible for a building has a “maintenance” budget, the size of which is relative to the size and age of the facility. If we reduce each of these budgets by an equal percentage, it would keep it proportional to the size/age of the facility and we can create a sum large enough to fund this position. This person will do far more for each department and easily offset the budget reduction. Each department will have their remaining budget for outside contractors and to pay for materials the Facilities Manager may need for some of their work.

Over a relatively short period of time, this position will save the town some serious money. Our buildings will look better, work better, and we will reduce the number of large override articles needed for major renovations that should have been avoided in the first place. We will also save money as our department heads will be far more productive with the extra time they have free to devote to their jobs, possibly even avoiding new hires.

This arrangement would allow the town to add part-time or full-time employees under the Facilities Manager if the workload requires it. We could hire a couple of part-time employees that have specific skills and avoid the cost of benefits associated with a full-time employee. During the first year, I suspect we may find we are far behind on this project. We will not need a separate building for this position as it would be "on-site" work. If needed, we do have space at the highway department to store materials or tools that the Facilities Manager may need.