MassVoter.com← AquinnahMunicipal votes · 2025–2026 Board
Aquinnah Select Board
How the Aquinnah Select Board voted, from the Select Board’s official minutes. 3 Select Board members elected townwide. Christopher Manning joined the board after the May 2025 town election; Gary Haley left. Julianne Vanderhoop became Chair and Tom Murphy Vice Chair. Covers 22 meetings, May 27 to May 6, 2026.
A monthly email on what it voted on, starting in November.
What does the Select Board do? It is the town’s executive board. It prepares the Town Meeting warrant (the list of articles voters decide), appoints members of many town boards, hires the town’s top staff, signs warrants to pay town bills, and grants licenses and permits.
Town Meeting, not the Select Board, votes the town budget and town bylaws.
Sources: Massachusetts Select Board Handbook (MMA) · Mass. Division of Local Services: the town budgetYour Aquinnah ballot: 13 quizzes, about a minute each.
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Coming up
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What Town Meeting decided
In Aquinnah, Town Meeting — not the Select Board — votes the town budget, bylaws and zoning. Here is what it did with each article, in the Town Clerk’s own words. Any registered voter can take part, and most votes are by voice or show of hands, so there is no list of who voted which way.
Annual Town Meeting · May 14, 2024 18 votes: 17 passed, 1 passed as amended
- Art. 3 Raise and appropriate the FY2025 operating budget and set salaries of elected officers and employees Passed “PASS: YES · TOTAL 66 – 57 YES, 6 NO, 3 ABSTENTIONS”
- Art. 4 Rescind earlier votes on Parcel 59 (Map 5) and declare it available for disposal; direct Select Board to dispose of the land Passed “PASS: YES · TOTAL 69 – 49 YES, 17 NO, 3 ABSTENTIONS”
- Art. 5 Exempt town land at Map 6, Parcels 25.1 and 25.2 from town zoning (amended to refer to Planning Board, non-binding) Passed as amended “PASS: YES · TOTAL 71 – 60 YES, 9 NO, 2 ABSTENTIONS”
- Art. 6 Take $5,500 from available funds to pay unpaid contract obligations to Atlantic Construction Passed “PASS: YES · Total 69 – 62 YES, 6 NO, 1 ABSTENTION”
- Art. 7 Take $250,000 from available funds for repairs to town hall, fire station and Aquinnah Circle comfort station Passed “PASS: YES · Total 70 – 66 YES, 3 NO, 1 ABSTENTION”
- Art. 8 Appropriate $39,411.27 in FY2025 Chapter 90 state aid for highway work Passed “PASS: YES · Total 65 – 64 Yes, 0 No, 1 Abstention”
- Art. 9 Authorize cancelling outstanding taxes on land owned by the Gay Head Baptist Church Passed “PASS: YES · Total 68 – 59 Yes, 7 No, 2 Abstentions”
- Art. 10 Amend the Island Housing Trust ground lease at Carl Widdiss Way to add an easement for accessible parking Passed “PASS: YES · Total 70 – 61 Yes, 5 No, 4 Abstenstions”
- Art. 11 Transfer $50,000 from available funds to the OPEB Stabilization Fund Passed “PASS: YES · Total 72 – 60 Yes, 7 No, 5 Abstentions”
- Art. 12 Raise and appropriate $5,000 for MVC transportation engineering services in FY2025 Passed “PASS: YES · Total 49 – 41 Yes, 6 No, 2 Abstentions”
- Art. 13 Take $2,400 from available funds for FY22 and FY23 unpaid wages due the Fire Chief Passed “PASS: YES · Total 70 – 63 Yes, 6 No, 1 Abstention”
- Art. 14 Transfer $50,000 from the Waterways Fund to dredge the West Basin Harbor entrance Passed “PASS: YES · Total 69 – 68 Yes, 1 No”
- Art. 15 Accept G.L. c. 44, s. 55C to create an Aquinnah Affordable Housing Trust Fund Passed “PASS: YES · Total 70 – 58 Yes, 9 No, 3 Abstentions”
- Art. 16 Establish the Affordable Housing Trust Fund and its board, and add the trust bylaw to the General Bylaws Passed “PASS: YES · Total 51 – 42 Yes, 5 No, 4 Abstentions”
- Art. 17 Reserve FY2025 Community Preservation revenues ($280,000 projected) among CPA reserves and admin costs Passed “PASS: YES · Total 50 – 47 Yes, 2 No, 1 Abstention”
- Art. 18 Appropriate $227,400 in CPA housing funds (Island Autism Group, rental assistance, IHT projects, Carl Widdiss Way apartments) Passed “PASS: YES · Total 57 – 51 Yes, 5 No, 1 Abstention”
- Art. 19 Appropriate $85,000 in CPA historic funds: ACC archives $35,000, Grange Hall $10,000, Gay Head Light lantern room $40,000 Passed “PASS: Yes · Total 52 – 49 Yes, 2 No, 1 Abstention”
- Art. 20 Appropriate CPA open space funds: $125,000 Town Center playground and courts, $55,500 Aquinnah Circle mortgage costs Passed “PASS: YES · Total 60 – 53 Yes, 5 No, 2 Abstentions”
Source: Town Clerk's minutes of the May 14, 2024 Annual Town Meeting.
Not here yet: the May 2025 and May 2026 Annual Town Meetings and any Special Town Meetings held since January 2024 (the town posts minutes only for the May 14, 2024 Annual Town Meeting, and its 2024 and 2025 Annual Town Reports print only the warrants, not the results).
Titles are short descriptions of each article from the official record; the quoted words are the Town Clerk’s. A vote at Town Meeting is not the final word on everything: some articles also need a ballot vote (such as a tax override) or the Attorney General’s approval (bylaws).
Members
ChairJulianne VanderhoopChair · Elected townwide · at 19 of 22 meetings
Vice-ChairTom MurphyVice-Chair · Elected townwide · at 22 of 22 meetings
Christopher ManningMember · Elected townwide · at 22 of 22 meetings"At X of Y meetings" counts the members the minutes list as present at the start of each meeting in this record. Members who step out are listed on each meeting page.
Meetings
About missing minutes
Loaded: Select Board minutes from January 5, 2021 through June 2, 2026, from the town website (the town had not posted anything newer as of October 4, 2026). Executive session minutes are not included. Aquinnah’s minutes are written as a story of each item rather than a formal vote list. When they give a count such as “3 in favor, 0 opposed” or say a motion passed “unanimously”, every member present is shown voting yes, and members who abstained are shown by name. Many decisions are recorded only as “the Board voted to…” or in the item’s heading, with no count or names; those show the result only. Several files the town posted under June–December 2021 dates are copies of other meetings’ minutes, so those meetings are missing. We will ask the town about these.
Votes where members disagreed
Most board votes are unanimous. These are the ones where at least one member voted no or abstained, newest first.
Apr 14Accepted monies from Gay Head 10K RoadraceMotion: Accepted monies from Gay Head 10K RoadracePassed · see note
April 14, 2026: Accepted monies from Gay Head 10K Roadrace
Accepted monies from Gay Head 10K Roadrace
The minutes say the board voted or acted but give no count and no names, so only the result is shown.
From the minutes
“Following a short discussion the Board voted to accept net receipts of $11,306.57 from last year’s 10K Road Race..”
Mar 17Send letters of SupportMotion: Send letters of SupportPassed · see note
March 17, 2026: Send letters of Support
Send letters of Support
The minutes say the board voted or acted but give no count and no names, so only the result is shown.
From the minutes
“The Board voted to send the support letters..”
Mar 17Agreed to move forwardMotion: Agreed to move forwardPassed · see note
March 17, 2026: Agreed to move forward
Agreed to move forward
The minutes say the board voted or acted but give no count and no names, so only the result is shown.
From the minutes
“Voted to allow agreement with Cemetery Mapping project as presented by Stepfanie Hecht..”
Feb 10Agreed to place an article on Annual Town Meeting…Motion: Agreed to place an article on Annual Town Meeting for consideration…Passed · see note
February 10, 2026: Agreed to place an article on Annual Town Meeting for consideration of Exemption
Agreed to place an article on Annual Town Meeting for consideration of Exemption
The minutes say the board voted or acted but give no count and no names, so only the result is shown.
From the minutes
“Following discussion Board voted by consensus to place necessary language before the annual town meeting in May that would allow Town to consider adoption of an exemption..”
Feb 10Set date of January 20 to interview applicantsMotion: Set date of January 20 to interview applicantsPassed · see note
February 10, 2026: Set date of January 20 to interview applicants
Set date of January 20 to interview applicants
The minutes say the board voted or acted but give no count and no names, so only the result is shown.
From the minutes
“Following discussion the Board voted to hold interviews for the vacancy in Highway Department Supervisor on January 20, 2026..”
Feb 10Appointed Nancy SlateMotion: Appointed Nancy SlatePassed · see note
February 10, 2026: Appointed Nancy Slate
Appointed Nancy Slate
The minutes say the board voted or acted but give no count and no names, so only the result is shown.
From the minutes
“Following the reading the Board voted to appoint Nancy Slate to the Board as Aquinnah representative..”
Jan 20Accepted information relating to All-Island VoteMotion: Accepted information relating to All-Island VotePassed · see note
January 20, 2026: Accepted information relating to All-Island Vote
Accepted information relating to All-Island Vote
The minutes say the board voted or acted but give no count and no names, so only the result is shown.
From the minutes
“Sam Hart and Skipper Manter from the All-Island School Committee were in attendance to confirm that the AISC will request that a Special Election be conducted in all Vineyard towns on June 2, 2026 to vote on the appropriation of funds for the new high school..”
Jan 20Accepted information relating to All-Island VoteMotion: Accepted information relating to All-Island VotePassed · see note
January 20, 2026: Accepted information relating to All-Island Vote
Accepted information relating to All-Island Vote
The minutes say the board voted or acted but give no count and no names, so only the result is shown.
From the minutes
“Following short discussion, the Board accepted Mr..”
Jan 20Authorized signing newest agreementMotion: Authorized signing newest agreementPassed · see note
January 20, 2026: Authorized signing newest agreement
Authorized signing newest agreement
The minutes say the board voted or acted but give no count and no names, so only the result is shown.
From the minutes
“The Board voted to sign the Agreement but not to expand administrative costs beyond current costs of Carolyn Feltz..”
Jan 20Accepted Town Administrator Report of no progressMotion: Accepted Town Administrator Report of no progressPassed · see note
January 20, 2026: Accepted Town Administrator Report of no progress
Accepted Town Administrator Report of no progress
The minutes record this decision only in the item’s heading (“Accepted Town Administrator Report of no progress”), with no count or names, so only the result is shown.
From the minutes
“(Accepted Town Administrator Report of no progress).”
From the Aquinnah Select Board’s official minutes, posted on the town website. We check every vote against the members present and quote the exact wording. MassVoter never grades or scores officials. Photos: Christopher Manning (Sarah Shaw Dawson) and Tom Murphy (Nikeya Tankard), The Martha’s Vineyard Times; Julianne Vanderhoop (Amber Bettencourt, The Martha’s Vineyard Times, 2017); Gary Haley (Ray Ewing, Vineyard Gazette).
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