Fitful gusts from an Editor Emeritus

Opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the the B.I. Times owner, management or staff

A personal note about the Bayberry Wreath

As I did last week for Robbie Gilpin and Gil Plumb, I have been privileged to write the words lauding the year's Bayberry Wreath recipient for 21 years. In the beginning it was a privilege I awarded myself; since the Montgomerys took over the Times they have graciously asked me to continue the task.

Conservation has long been my particular concern, especially the preservation of open space as an antidote to overdevelopment. Conservation, therefore, has weighed heavily in the choices made by the paper. But special service of all kinds, above and beyond the normal call of duty, has been singled out. Edith Blane following her long and varied work at Town Hall, Sean McGarry and Mike McGinnes for cleaning up the dump, are examples.

The problem each year — if one can call it that — has not been what to write but who to laud. There are so many among Block Island's citizens who have conspicuously, effectively and selflessly contributed to that ineffable quality — hard to define but easy to recognize. Call it simply spirit of place.

Indeed, that spirit is so pervasive across the broad spectrum of Block Island life that it is a wonderment and profound disappointment to me that I find it all but absent in two areas where we need it most. I speak of our public utilities, the ferry company and the electric company.

Without citing chapter and verse, and mindful of such public-relation gestures as free passage for certain school activities by the ferry company and the waiver of a month's electric charges for Christmas light winners, the history of both these utilities vis-à-vis the town has been primarily confrontational rather than cooperative.

It is hardly a coincidence that both companies have for years now engaged the same legal counsel, Michael McElroy, to represent what appears to be their interests in general opposition to those of the island.

I am not talking here so much about rates or ticket prices. It is reasonable to expect companies to make profit a prime concern, and equally fair to expect the Public Utilities Commission to protect the public from unwarranted charges. What concerns me is the adversarial posture that each of these businesses exhibits when it comes to considerations of the island's future.

The island might or might not benefit from a so-called port authority, but where was Interstate Navigation when such an issue was being considered for an update of the Comprehensive Community Plan? If anything, it was alerting attorney McElroy to be prepared to oppose any such move.

Years ago, legal action and amendments to the zoning regulations were required to prevent Interstate from saddling the island with a second major ferry terminal, in Great Salt Pond. Why was the ferry company unable to see that certain restraints and order in the maritime sector were in the best interest of the island, and even, taking the long view, of the company itself?

Why is it necessary at present for the town to file a formal complaint with the PUC to force the power company to be more transparent in its future planning and to consult with the town-appointed Municipal Energy Committee? And then when the complaint is mistakenly filed with the Division instead of the Commission (or was it the Commission instead of the Division?), doesn't it seem fatuous for BIPCo to have McElroy try to have the whole matter voided?

Why isn't BIPCo sitting down with the town and hammering out a program for the island's future power needs? If a cable to the mainland or a large wind generator are impractical, let's hear about it in open forum instead of having to take legal action to force BIPCo to open its books.

They are not alone: witness the Cutting Cottages development and the rental moped debacle, prime examples of business interests disregarding the community that supports them. In the latter case, there were some, like Rally Migliaccio and the late Dick Kiley, who put the island first. So you see, it can be done.

All ancient history now. But wouldn't that history read better had the spirit of place trumped the bottom-line mentality that animated both those unwanted impositions?

People do change; and institutions as well. The Times, I expect, will continue to honor annually those many Block Islanders who, like the latest Bayberry Wreath Award laureates Gil Plumb and Robbie Gilpin, show their dedication to making the island a better place.

And perhaps it is not too much to hope that some day that spirit of place will have seeped into the minds and hearts of the management of the island's two major utilities; that the scales will have fallen from their eyes, and they will realize that their future and the island's future are inexorably wed. What is good for the island, likewise, is good for them.

And then, years hence, when the Times editorial board sets about picking its annual laureate from its long list, the names of BIPCo and Interstate will be right there with the rest.