≥Barnstable is too small to be a city and too mean to be a town,"

On November 4, the voters in Barnstable swatted down an override for 7.2 million dollars and sent it into the cheap seats. Out here, on the lucky island, we should pay very careful attention to that result.

The repudiation was total. 48% of the voters turned out and 62% of them voted ≥No.≤ All of the supporters came out and voted like-minded souls onto the School Committee, but they were overwhelmed. So was Barnstable Town Government, a well organized advocacy group, and the local papers. The voters also tossed out four members of the town council and no one is even using the word ≥override≤ anymore. It has been replaced by ≥Suck it up.≤

There will be a lot of sucking going on. Nine high school teachers, along with two per elementary school, as the district needs to trim 4.5 million over three years. The school budget will drop to the foundation level, and will begin leeching money from other town departments. All of this was well known on election day.

And it went down in flames.

Now, the town did some dumb political things. The Teacherπs Union had announced a new contract with a pay raise. The stabilization fund is pretty full at ten million. Finally, the timing of this particular election was mind-bendingly obtuse. Real estate valuations had just gone out to many voters and, as you can bet, they were sky-high. You canπt get a tax increase right after the voters get hit with the new bill.

Now, I do not have lovely things to say about the ≥Strip Mall By the Sea≤ Everyone in the town seems bent on getting twenty bucks a night to park on the lawn. It is a town built on scratch tickets, returnable bottles, and close-out t-shirts. The best things about Barnstable get flown over in little white boxes.

However, Barnstable and Nantucket have more in common than Arthur Desrocher and the Flying Clud. Both communities have high property valuations while having (relatively) low rates. Hyannis and Nantucket have a similar total valuation in the neighborhood of 7 trillion dollars, and they hit up the summer residents for a chunk of it.. Both communities are growing rapidly, although Nantucket more so. Finally, both communities have about 20% of their residents under eighteen.

Most importantly, both towns have undergone tremendous change in the last ten years. Part of that change has been growth. With growth comes a need for more services: more schools, more cops, and more snow plows. All of that translates into more money. With the 2.5 cap on property taxes, both towns have a financial straight jacket. Further, with their high valuations, both towns get little money from the state. Both governments really, really, really, need property taxes.

The voters in Barnstable didnπt give. They looked at all of the bills that were going up, especially their tax bill, and held tight to their wallets.

What will the voters on Nantucket do? Their valuations are also rocketing, the townπs need is pretty severe and the island that the natives grew up on is vanishing faster than the early bird buffet at the Hearth n Kettle. Voters have only one, effective means of control. It involves pen.

The Surfside Upgrade for $35 million could be a pretty albatross in April. It needs to get out of Town Meeting with a 2/3 majority and then make it in a vote. It may have to fight other overrides. It will come to a group of voters as they key to building more 40B housing, increasing town services (and costs), creating more traffic, and lowering the value of their own house. And, as Ackpeep points out, the voterπs plumbing works just fine.

If it the override doesnπt fly, it will hang in a noose around town government. Most departments have been level funded for years, while salaries have climbed. With new contracts coming, those salary levels will continue to climb while the town will add 2.5 million budget line for the next twenty years. Even eliminating the Community School wonπt eat all that money up.

The game is early yet. April is a long way away. John Kerry may have found his Presidential campaign by then. The Red Sox will return to the field. For this override to pass, the voters with functioning plumbing and high bills will need to know a lot more about why the town needs this. Finn the Murph canπt do this himself, nor can the Town Fathers (and Mothers) talk the voters into eating their vegetables. Other voices need to be heard, be they realtors, contractors, or plumbers.

If other voices donπt break out in song, then the town needs to come up with a Plan B (for Bail Out). Failing overrides echo in the sounds of silence.

Barnstable is only 22 miles away.