Two incumbent Oak Bluffs selectmen — Duncan Ross and Ron DiOrio — held off a strong showing by challenger Hans von Steiger yesterday in the annual town elections, as each won a second term on the five-member board.
All three candidate campaigned on a platform of fiscal reform and economic development, a theme which dominated both the special and annual meetings held earlier this week and to be continued in a third night meeting set for Monday at the Oak Bluffs school.
Just a few months ago Oak Bluffs leaders idealistically looked to the future and discussed plans like the renovation of the town waterfront, the creation of a fund to pay for employees’ post retirement benefits and the dredging of Sengekontacket Pond to reduce bacteria levels.
But much like the New England weather, things change pretty quickly on the Oak Bluffs political landscape.
Despite lingering financial and legal questions, Oak Bluffs selectmen on Monday decided the show must go on and unanimously voted to accept a proposal from the organizers of the Boston Pops concert to again hold the popular event this summer in Ocean Park.
Although the three candidates for Oak Bluffs selectmen this year boast vastly different backgrounds — one is a former teacher, one worked for a resource recovery corporation and the other is a former union president — all agree the town is at a crossroads, and must start changing the way it does business.
An Island man was killed last Thursday after he reportedly drove his vehicle off a 50-foot cliff along East Chop in Oak Bluffs into the shallow ocean water below.
The body of Benjamin Viera, 35, was recovered two days later after a passenger aboard a Steamship Authority ferry spotted the body inside the Vineyard Haven harbor breakwater.
Police this week declined to comment on how Mr. Viera’s vehicle went over the cliff, although there were indications that the incident may have been a suicide.
A Pennsylvania woman who was driving a sport utility vehicle carrying three people that fell off the Chappaquiddick ferry and into the Edgartown harbor last week has been cited by police for negligent operation of a motor vehicle and operating under the influence of alcohol.
Susan McLean, 54, of Ambler, Pa., was issued a citation by Edgartown police last Thursday evening. She has since requested a show cause hearing in front of the Edgartown district court clerk magistrate. The date of the hearing is kept confidential.
