First, I will opine but briefly on the presidential race and say: whew! Dodged a bullet on that one. Plus: it succeeded in cheesing off Donald Trump in a huge way, and anytime The Donald is unhappy is cause to smile.

Now, onto the major local races, two of which had the potential for upset victories: the race for State Senate of the Plymouth and Barnstable District, the Barnstable County Board of County Commissioners. In both cases, the incumbents were returned to office by healthy margins.

Senate President Therese M. Murray (D – Plymouth) came within five percentage points of losing to Republican challenger Thomas F. Keyes in 2010, and this time around, despite some solid campaigning by her opponent, Sen. Murray won with 58 percent of the vote to Mr. Keyes’ 41 percent.

Not surprisingly, Mr. Keyes remarked after his concession speech that the reason he lost is because he was out-spent by Sen. Murray. Funny how the winning candidate always thanks his or her supporters, but the loser always blames outside forces for his/her loss, isn’t it? But I digress…

What really cost Mr. Keyes the race is the fact that all he offered was a lot of unremarkable ideas and negativity toward the incumbent. Any given e-mail from the Keyes campaign could be summed up thusly: “Therese Murray did something. Wow, is she corrupt and uncaring! I won’t be, though, so vote for me,” and you need more than knee-jerk gainsaying to win a race.

Then we have the three-way race for two seats on the Barnstable County Board of County Commissioners between incumbents Mary L. (Pat) Flynn of Falmouth and Sheila R. Lyons of Wellfleet, and Eric L. Steinhilber of Barnstable.

The two incumbents deserved to win. They displayed a clearly superior grasp of a wide range of countywide issues, whereas Mr. Steinhilber ran a one-note race, and that note was very, very flat: he anchored his campaign in opposing a “Cape Cod wastewater authority,” a taxpayer-funded regional agency charged with administering a Cape-wide wastewater management plan, which was proposed earlier this year by the Special Commission on County Governance.

That would have been a fine tactic if it weren’t for the fact Mr. Steinhilber himself declared the wastewater authority proposal a dead issue back in August, weeks after Ms. Flynn and Ms. Lyons voiced their formal opposition to the idea. He later resurrected it as his primary campaign talking point, despite the fact no one was disagreeing with him (although he tried awfully hard to make it sound like they were).

I maintain that Mr. Steinhilber has potential as a candidate, and maybe next time around he’ll be more diligent about doing his homework on the issues and will offer a more well-rounded campaign platform (and will be better able to defend his positions when challenged on them).

Thanks for reading, folks, and I’ll see you again in 2014! In the meantime, you can keep up with my ramblings here on my blog.

By which I mean the end of the election cycle, and thank Cthulhu for that, because the onslaught of negative TV ads was honestly grating on my last nerve. Sad to say, I’m actually looking forward to the non-stop ads for Christmas shopping sales.

With Election Day tomorrow, I’m going to offer some thoughts on various races. I wouldn’t call them endorsements per se, since I think endorsements are worthless, but I will opine about who I think should win.

I’ll start at the top and say that I want Obama to get a second term. I say this as someone who voted for Obama and has often been disappointed in his performance over the past four years — but not so much as to give him the boot and put Romney in the Oval Office.

I find Romney to be as disingenuous and insincere a politician as you could get, but that’s not why I oppose him. Nor do I oppose him on his rather vague financial policies, which I believe are ultimately no better or worse than Obama’s (though I definitely do not subscribe to trickle-down/supply-side economics as a viable and sustainable economic model).

What is driving me away from Romney in a huge way: I believe he would champion a social agenda that sets back civil rights for women and homosexuals. If you’ve read the GOP’s official policy paper for the 2012 election (I have), you’ll see that it codifies repressing rights for same-sex couples and, specifically, women in the military. Our President is supposed to champion equal rights for all citizens, and anyone who would repress rights in the name of some ill-defined greater social good doesn’t deserve the nation’s top seat.

If Obama is re-elected, my hope is that the GOP ceases its efforts to stop Obama’s major economic initiatives cold in the name of political gamesmanship and works with him to craft policies that are in everyone’s best interests — not just the uber-rich, not just the very poor, everyone.

US Senate

I’m one step away from flipping a coin at the voting booth, because I really don’t care for either Scott Brown or Elizabeth Warren. Neither of them has impressed me so much that I’m falling over myself to vote for them.

Congress

Let me first say that Dan Botelho is probably the best third-party/non-party candidate this area has seen in years. He’s not a righteously indignant one-issue ideologue, which is largely what has emerged to run against the party candidates,  but a thoughtful and well-informed candidate with some good ideas.

Christopher Sheldon, while a decent candidate, never struck me as a great candidate, and definitely not a superior choice to Congressman William Keating. His critics like to say “Keating hasn’t done anything for this district!” but that is a patently false statement. His record of achievement is fairly good for a first-term Congressman, and he has treated the Cape as well as his predecessor Bill Delahunt ever did.

State Senate

I think Cape voters would be nuts to let Senate President Therese Murray (D – Plymouth) go, in good part because of that title in front of her name; as Senate President, she has the mojo to get things done for her district in a big way. She’s also spearheaded some significant reform efforts over the past two or three terms, so she’s not sitting on her hands doing nothing.

Tom Keyes has run a much better campaign than in 2010, and I fully expect another close race between him and Sen. Murray, but so much of his campaign has been based in reactionary statements that try to paint Sen. Murray as a corrupt, ineffective do-nothing. If Murray were to state, “I like cats,” Keyes would issue a press release accusing her of being in the pocket of Big Dog. He hasn’t really distinguished himself as a superior alternative to the incumbent, and if he does come out on top, I would say Murray lost the race rather than Keyes won it.

Barnstable County Commissioners

Mary Pat Flynn and Sheila Lyons should be returned to the board, because Eric Steinhilber has not proven himself worthy of ousting either of the incumbents.

Mr. Steinhilber chose the wrong tentpole issue in the “MWRA on Cape Cod” to-do, stuck to his guns far longer than he should have once that topic’s shelf-life expired back in the summer, and has failed to show voters why his opposition to a taxpayer-funded wastewater authority is somehow better, more reliable, or just plain different than Ms. Flynn’s or Ms. Lyons’.

I directly asked Mr. Steinhilber why voters should believe him when he says “I oppose a wastewater authority” but doubt the incumbents when they say it, and he did not provide a good answer; his argument was, basically, he was dead-set against it and Flynn and Lyons were not — and he did not elaborate whether he thought they were lying or were simply easily manipulated dupes who could be bullied into changing their minds.

That, coupled with his lackluster ideas on other issues and failure to recognize OpenCape as a potential economic engine for the region, make him ill-suited for the job compared to Flynn and Lyons — and that’s a shame because I had high hopes for the guy. I maintain he would have made a better challenger for State Senator Dan Wolf (D – Harwich) in 2010 than Jim Crocker, but the man needs to be better about doing his homework and distinguishing good issues from bad (or non-) issues.

Question One

The Right to Repair question is a tricky one, but let’s be clear about one thing: voting “no” on Question One does NOT negate the Right to Repair Law passed earlier this year; a “no” vote is against the ballot question only.

What a “yes” vote would do is set the stage for a mess in the Legislature. By approving a RtR Law via the ballot, voters would be overriding the existing law, which lawmakers approved after several failed efforts in the face of staunch opposition by the auto industry. The existing law may have flaws, but it would be better to address those flaws through the legislative process than by forcing lawmakers to either entirely scrap the law they crafted — or create a compromise law, or ignore the will of the voters completely and keeping the current version.

This week Sen. Wolf issued a second endorsement for Mary L. (Pat) Flynn of Falmouth, who, like Ms. Lyons, is running for re-election to the county board.

“Commissioner Flynn has a distinguished record and she has been a driving force in moving the County forward on a number of key issues.” Sen. Wolf said in a press release.  “Mary Pat is not afraid to take on difficult issues and bring people together to solve challenges…Mary Pat has served us well.”

Kind words, but really, it’s not surprising that Sen. Wolf would support two fellow Democrats.

***

The proposed debate between Falmouth’s Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates candidates Julia C. Taylor and Andrew V. Putnam is officially on.

The two candidates will participate in a debate that will be taped at the FCTV studio, with questions provided by yours truly. Jay Zavala, president of the Falmouth Chamber of Commerce, will moderate.

I mention this is part in the hope that it inspires other assembly candidates to follow suit. Delegates often bemoan the assembly’s lack of visibility, and events like these would be a nice step toward fixing that long-standing problem.

Political news and announcements may be e-mailed to Michael Bailey, senior political reporter, at bailey@capenews.net.

In 2010, Eric R. Steinhilber tried his hand at state politics, running for the open State Senator of the Cape and Islands seat. This year he’s focusing his efforts more locally as he runs for one of two spots on the Barnstable County Board of County Commissioners.

“Bottom line is, I just want to serve the community and be involved, do what I can to help and bring about better solutions,” Mr. Steinhilber said. “I just care a lot about the Cape. I’ve got two little kids now, and I want to make sure the Cape’s just as special for them as it was for me growing up.”

He added that he opted against running again for state senate because the incumbent, State Senator Daniel A. Wolf (D – Harwich), “is a millionaire. I got to work for a living, and sometimes you’re going to have a tough time raising more money than what a millionaire can put into a race.”

Mr. Steinhilber said he would be a proactive commissioner who would “see each side of the issue and come to a solution that I feel is grounded in the principle of doing the most good in the most effective manner with the smallest amount of governor.”

“I think that type of leadership is really needed at the county level right now. I think it’s lacking,” he said.

That lack of leadership is most evident in the county’s handling of the wastewater issue, Mr. Steinhilber said, and he has made that the focus of his campaign.

Although the sitting commissioners, including his two opponents Mary L. (Pat) Flynn and Sheila R. Lyons, have voiced their opposition to a proposed “wastewater authority” with taxation powers, Mr. Steinhilber insisted he was “the only candidate in the race that can be counted 100 percent to be opposed to a taxing authority being created and imposed on the people of Cape Cod.”

“I think the proposal is alive and well. I think it’s still being pushed by a number of individuals,” he said, “and I think it is more likely to come to pass if the incumbent county commissioners remain.”

He said evidence of the sitting commissioners’ openness to the concept can be found in their February vote to charge Andrew Gottlieb and Paul J. Niedzwiecki, respectively the executive directors of the Cape Cod Water Protection Collaborative and the Cape Cod Commission, with exploring the concept, which had been pitched to the commissioners by the Special Commission on County Governance.

“I would have voted not to move the ball even further toward a taxing authority,” Mr. Steinhilber said, adding that by voting on the topic before the special commission had formally filed its final report with the commissioners was proof that “the county commissioners, I felt, couldn’t wait to get their hands on it to vote on it…they were excited to vote for it.”

He said the commissioners, despite their prior opposition, would be likely to accept a new recommendation he expects to emerge from a new task force assembled by the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce — as task force that, like the special commission, is fronted by Robert A. O’Leary.

A task force memo obtained by Mr. Steinhilber noted that the group wants to emphasize “positive messaging during the county commissioners’ election,” and the candidate believed the task force “feels they have a much better chance of getting a taxing authority in place with the two incumbents remaining.”

“I’ve been told by others in county government that this group was formed in direct response to my campaign,” Mr. Steinhilber said, but he declined to name his sources.

Better Communication Needed

Mr. Steinhilber also objected to another proposal by the special commission, to combine the county commissioners and the Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates into a single seven-member board with legislative functions. Executive functions now possessed by the county commissioners would be transferred to an appointed county executive.

“You can’t get better government with less representation,” he said, and he expressed admiration for the assembly’s performance, but acknowledged that the delegates — as well as the county commissioners — are not as visible in the community as they should be.

“It’s a communication problem,” Mr. Steinhilber said, and if elected he planned to hold public office hours to create a stronger connection with individual towns.

The candidate did support, conditionally, a proposal by the assembly to create a finance director to keep better control of county finances. Mr. Steinhilber said such an entity was necessary for enhanced transparency, but he thought such a position could be established using existing county personnel and resources.

“I don’t think we should create a brand new position out of whole cloth,” he said. “You can’t keep adding to county government. You need to come up with solutions inside of county government.”

Opposes New County Dispatch

Mr. Steinhilber also wanted to tackle what he regarded as a financial time bomb, the county government’s growing unfunded pension liability. “No one seems to be talking about it,” he said, quoting figures stating that the county’s liability between 2002 and 2010 jumped from $190 million to $475 million.

A report prepared by the Segal Group showed that the unfunded liability was expected to grow by another $25 million between 2010 and 2012, but actually increased by $47 million.

“That’s all on the backs of Cape taxpayers,” Mr. Steinhilber said, and he vowed to take action on that.

He identified another brewing taxpayer expense in the effort to establish a regional 911 emergency dispatch center that served all of the Cape’s police and fire departments. Mr. Steinhilber strongly endorsed the basic concept, but said there was a better way to make the concept reality than creating an all-new regional dispatch center.

“My main concern is that the county doesn’t get into a position where they build a center from the ground up” rather than take advantage of the existing emergency dispatch center run by the Barnstable County Sheriff’s Department — where, notably, Mr. Steinhilber has worked as a reserve deputy.

“We already have a top-notch center that’s run by the county sheriff,” he said, and he noted the sheriff’s department is in the middle of a hardware upgrade and is exploring options for expanding the facility in order to serve more towns.

Local law enforcement department heads have expressed concern over this approach due to the fact the sheriff’s department, and by extension its dispatch center, are state agencies, and they fear losing any local control over the center.

Other Massachusetts counties have established governance boards to keep control of regional dispatch centers at the local level, Mr. Steinhilber said, and Cape Cod could emulate such models.

Mr. Steinhilber said he wanted to address the regulations that deter new businesses from setting up shop on Cape Cod. In speaking with business owners, he said he heard a great deal of frustration due to the sometimes convoluted and multi-layered process of establishing a new business, which included dealing with multiple town boards and, in some cases, the Cape Cod Commission.

“To a lot of them it feels like a constant maze to navigate…it’s tough to get quick decisions,” he said, and he wanted to constantly review regulations to make local and regional review processes more streamlined and business-friendly.

He doubted that the launch of the OpenCape regional fiber optic broadband network would prove a potential boon to businesses. “I don’t necessarily know if OpenCape going to be a big part of that. I don’t think people are not opening a business because they don’t have access to the Internet,” he said. “Call Comcast to get the Internet.”

Mr. Steinhilber said he was undecided whether to support the county’s possible purchase of the Dennis-based Aquacultural Research Corporation (ARC), which has been pitched by its current owners as a possible county service. While supportive of the local shellfishing industry, Mr. Steinhilber said he was wary of the $4 million suggested purchase price.

He proposed forming a county subcommittee to review the finances of the business and the proposal to determine if it would be a worthy return on the county’s investment.

For more information on the candidate, visit Mr. Steinhilber’s official campaign website at www.ericforcc.com.

When Mary L. (Pat) Flynn of Falmouth first ran for the Barnstable County Board of County Commissioners in 2008, she knew she did not want to be a one-term wonder.

“It’s one thing to go the first round, but I don’t think anyone should ever into it thinking they’re only going to be there for one term,” Ms. Flynn said. “It’s pretty difficult when you’re elected to a position or an office that people have never heard of before — and that was as vague as the county seemed to be to a lot of people — so it doesn’t make any sense not to work at it.”

Ms. Flynn reflected on her first term and its ups and downs, starting with an annual budget creation process that she said has improved considerably since she first took office.

That improvement, she said, was the result of bringing delegates in while the commissioners worked on the budget, which involved meeting with County Administrator E. Mark Zielinski and various department heads. Previous budget processes had the commissioners and assembly working separately, which resulted in conflicting priorities.

“I invited [the assembly] to come to our meetings,” Ms. Flynn said, and several members of the assembly accepted the offer. “I think that really helped…transparency and working together makes a big difference.”

Ms. Flynn admitted that the county did not handle as well one of the thornier region-wide issues of the past few years, a public outcry against the Cape Light Compact and the Cape and Vineyard Electric Cooperative (CVEC). “It could have been done a lot better,” she said.

Starting in March 2011, a number of residents began attending the commissioners’ meetings on a regular basis to air concerns that the CLC and CVEC were not conducting their business in a transparent manner, particularly when it came to their finances and operational practices.

For several months the commissioners entertained public comment but did not act on the residents’ requests for a formal inquiry. Eventually the Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates took up that effort.

“It was hard to know what it was all about,” Ms. Flynn said. “We had to have it explained to us too, and that probably didn’t help. If we had been more informed in the very beginning, if we had gone out and done our homework when [the residents] first came there, it could have been handled better.”

An equally controversial but, in Ms. Flynn’s opinion, more productive debate arose from a set of recommendations submitted to the county by the Special Commission on County Governance. Formed at the behest of the commissioners but operating independently of county government, the commission was charged with examining the current county structure and operations.

Ms. Flynn did not serve on that commission but attended several meetings “because it’s so important to hear that dialog. It’s one thing to see it on a piece of paper…but to actually be there and listen to the dialog back and forth was very helpful.”

The two hottest topics to arise out of that process: a restructuring of county government to eliminate the assembly and expand the board of county commissioners from three members to seven, who would serve in more on a legislative capacity while administrative matters would be handled by a county executive; and the creation of a regional wastewater authority with taxation authority to oversee wastewater management.

“I’m committed to pursuing the changes,” Ms. Flynn said, although she was quick to point out that she did not support the wastewater authority concept, reiterating an opinion shared and expressed by the other commissioners and Andrew Gottlieb, executive director of the Cape Cod Water Protection Collaborative, at a July meeting.

Ms. Flynn viewed the county’s role is addressing wastewater management as an advisory one, and perhaps to help find state or federal funding for local and regional water management projects.

She further expected that the commissioners would keep their eyes on a possible lawsuit against the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In 2010, the Conservation Law Foundation and Buzzards Bay Coalition submitted a letter of intent, the first step toward filing a lawsuit, alleging the EPA had failed to meet its obligations under the federal Clean Water Act to control nitrogen loading in the Cape’s coastal embayments. The county commissioners and the commission were also named in that letter.

Since the filing of the letter of intent, the county has tucked away money in the event the lawsuit goes forward. The EPA has filed a motion in federal court to dismiss the case.

Exploring Changes

As for the changes to county government’s structure, Ms. Flynn said the commissioners need to continue their discussions with the assembly, which has so far expressed strong opposition to the notion of blending the two government bodies into one, often citing the loss of a direct representative to the county for each individual town.

“This is an exploration,” she said. “It’s really trying to work this out, and I think [the delegates] have as much of a responsibility to think about how county government works and how it can work better as we do. They can’t just say, ‘We like everything the way it is,’ and that’s the end of it. They have a good reason to become involved in the dialog.”

Specific recommendations aside, Mr. Flynn said the special commission review brought renewed attention to the county’s potential in providing services to towns, perhaps even “some things that the state does now.”

“I think that’s a little ambitious,” Ms. Flynn admitted, “but I think we’ve just scratched the surface of what regional opportunities there are, and the value that those efforts have for the towns. There’s real value to the towns in what the county can do.”

Ms. Flynn noted that her extensive experience in town government, which includes two runs as a selectman (1993 to 2002 and 2007 to present), gives her an insight into the relationship between the county and towns unique among this year’s slate of candidates.

The coming year will provide the Cape with numerous opportunities for regionalized services through OpenCape, the Barnstable County-wide broadband network that is scheduled to be fully active in January 2013.

The county is already preparing to offer “e-permitting” services through town websites, which would allow resident to obtain municipal permits, licenses, and inspection services online, and Ms. Flynn said assessing and certain public health functions could be added down the road.

The commissioners will, probably after the New Year Ms. Flynn said, start taking a hard look at a possible new regional service in the form of a takeover of the Aquacultural Research Corporation (ARC), the state’s only commercial shellfish hatchery and the business that provides 90 percent of the Cape’s 235 shellfish farms with seed according to William Clark, director of the Cape Cod Cooperative Extension.

In July, Mr. Clark made a pitch to the assembly to buy the Dennis business and contract its operations back to the current owners. The $4 million transaction would be funded through an increase to recreational and commercial shellfish licenses.

Ms. Flynn flatly denied claims that this project was a done deal, and indicated that the commissioners has to first explore several issues that could decide whether this transaction is in the best interests of the county.

“We have to have a clear understanding of what the owners want,” she said, and from there get an appraisal of the property, which is 40 acres in a residential zone right on the beach, which would require an environmental assessment; and then get an idea of the cost of refurbishing the buildings on the site in an environmentally sensitive manner; and then come up with a detailed business plan.

“Definitely, we are looking at it. We’re not just turning away from it and saying no, because we recognize the importance of that resource,” Ms. Flynn said, “but we need more information before we have a discussion.”

Is there a conspiracy afoot to push through a Cape Cod Wastewater Authority?

Eric R. Steinhilber, Republican candidate for the Barnstable County Board of County Commissioners, suggests there is, and that the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce is, through a special task force, pushing for a regional wastewater management entity with taxation powers.

He also claimed that as part of this goal, the chamber is trying to push through to re-election two incumbent commissioners who are sympathetic to such an entity.

In a press release issued to the media last week, Mr. Steinhilber claimed county commissioners Mary L. (Pat) Flynn of Falmouth and Sheila R. Lyons of Wellfleet — both of whom are running for re-election this November — voted earlier this year to “move forward with a recommendation to create an MWRA- (Metropolitan Water Resources Authority) type Authority for Cape Cod.”

Mr. Steinhilber called the authority “the preferred plan by those who stand to gain from a big pipe solution with a big government agency solution,” he said. “If allowed to enact their plan, these proponents will re-elect Mary Pat Flynn and Sheila Lyons, who will continue the pursuit of a taxing Authority for Cape Cod after their re-election.”

County officials countered that Mr. Steinhilber is trying to manufacture an issue to prop up his campaign, and that the concept of an MWRA-type agency on Cape Cod is dead.

“It’s apparent to me he doesn’t understand the job he’s applying for or the issue,” Ms. Lyons said, calling his press release “a fiction based on snippets of reality.”

“I can only speculate but it appears the issue has more resonance with him as a perceived opportunity to provide visibility for his campaign than other ones like traffic congestion, economic development, housing, planning, and public safety regional dispatch,” Commissioner William Doherty said, “all more immediate and likely to require attention in the short term.”

The Timeline

Mr. Steinhilber said the main champion of wastewater authority idea is Robert A. O’Leary, a former county commissioner and current chairman of the Wastewater Task Force, a new working group created by the chamber of commerce.

In 2002 Mr. O’Leary, then State Senator of the Cape and Islands District, filed a bill to create a regional wastewater management entity. The bill would have made participation by individual towns optional, and Mr. O’Leary identified a portion of the meals and rooms taxes already charged on the Cape, and/or a tax on short-term accommodation rentals, as potential revenue streams.

By 2004 an assessment on homeowners had been added as a funding option. That possibility emerged from work conducted by the Blue Ribbon Committee on Regional Wastewater, a county-appointed working group that included Mr. Doherty.

Mr. Steinhilber quoted a passage in a blue ribbon committee memo regarding how the concept should be sold to residents, stating the outreach campaign should be “run like a political campaign” that identified those in the media friendly to the concept and “neutralized” any hostile media outlets.

That same memo stressed the need to present to the public “a strong defensible financial model to provide adequate funding” and emphasize the proposed entity’s independence “that allows for accountable action, but it is here that we must be careful not to suggest or imply that it can or will become an MWRA, quasi-independent from direct accountability for the management and control of their costs to the voters that established them.”

Amidst considerable public pushback, the committee abandoned the authority model and instead filed a proposal that led to the creation of the Cape Cod Water Protection Collaborative.

Mr. Steinhilber said wastewater authorities then decided to bide their time and wait “for an opportunity to bring their failed proposal back again, and in the meantime, [allow] the wastewater problem to get worse.”

In an interview with the Enterprise, he accused “many of the primary public faces here” of being “more interested in creating a taxing authority than in solving the problems. If they were not, they would not have sat on the sidelines for years doing little to solve the wastewater problem.”

Mr. Steinhilber cited a report from the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) indicating there was “effectively no improvement” in water quality between 2009 and 2010, and said prior to that the county made “minimal efforts to address many of these issues…my conclusion is that they were more interested in the Authority than in solving the water issue.”

He claimed the new impetus to revive the wastewater authority concept was the threat of a lawsuit by the CLF and the Coalition for Buzzards Bay. In late 2010 the two organizations filed a “letter of intent,” the first step toward filing a lawsuit, claiming the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Cape Cod failed to meet their obligations under the federal Clean Water Act to control nitrogen loading in coastal embayments.

The county commissioners and the Cape Cod Commission were also named in that letter.

In 2011 the county commissioners formed the Special Commission on County Governance, a body charged with examining the structure of county government. Mr. O’Leary was a co-chairman on that commission.

One of the commissions’ recommendations was the creation of a taxpayer-funded regional wastewater authority — although the commission later chose to avoid the word “authority” specifically to avoid any comparisons to the MWRA and instead refer to it as a wastewater “district.”

Conspiracy Or Political Ploy?

The special commission finalized its report in February and submitted it to the county commissioners in March. The commissioners formally accepted the report that same month. A review of the video from the March meeting showed that none of the commissioners explicitly endorsed any of the commission’s recommendations — including the wastewater authority proposal.

Mr. Steinhilber’s said the commissioners voted in February to “move forward with a recommendation to create an MWRA-type Authority for Cape Cod.”

“The impetus of the entire vote is advancing a special commission recommendation” to create an MWRA-style body, even though materials in his own press kit indicate the commissioners in fact did not vote to support the proposal.

What the commissioners did was charge Paul J. Niedzwiecki, executive director of the Cape Cod Commission, and Andrew Gottlieb, executive director of the Cape Cod Water Protection Collaborative, with exploring the ramifications of creating a regional wastewater management plan.

“Having a regional plan is very important, and I think all of us, the three [county commissioners] recognize that we must move forward on that,” Ms. Flynn said at that meeting, adding, “to make a decision to move forward, without any public discussion or without any public input on voting to recommend a regional plan that includes a taxing authority, at this time, would not be very wise and I don’t think would show good leadership on our part.”

Mr. Gottlieb met with the commissioners again in July after meeting with town officials across the Cape, and his opinion was that that option was not desirable.

The commissioners concurred that a regional approach of some kind was desirable, but an authority was not. “It would be ridiculous to have an MWRA here,” Ms. Lyons said. “I do think there was a misunderstanding. People latched onto [the word ‘authority’] and never let it go and never allowed themselves to have a clear understanding of it.”

Ms. Flynn reiterated that position on September 5 during a meeting with Sandwich town officials, telling them the county wanted to be responsive to town needs and supportive of current town-level projects. She said the county’s contribution to the efforts is “certainly not a taxing authority, and certainly not taking over the planning and implementation of wastewater planning on Cape Cod. That’s not our intent and it’s not our job.”

Mr. Steinhilber himself joined the chorus and declared the wastewater authority dead — and in fact claimed direct credit for defeating it. On August 9 he issued a press release with the header: “Steinhilber: 1, MWRA on Cape Cod: 0 — The MWRA solution is ‘off the table.’ Steinhilber declares victory.”

“After months of consideration, it took until July 18th for the Commissioners to officially kill it,” Mr. Steinhilber said in the release, referring to the commissioners’ meeting that day. “The County Commissioners have heard the calls and have abandoned any plans to support an MWRA-type taxing authority.”

However, in the weeks leading up to the September primary election, Mr. Steinhilber revived the issue on his campaign signs, which stated “Eric Says No MWRA For Cape Cod.” He now claims the proposal is alive and well and being publicly championed by the chamber of commerce.

Enter The Chamber

“The chamber of commerce picked it up, quietly and behind the scenes,” Mr. Steinhilber said. “It became abundantly clear that the intent of these folks was to go underground during the county commissioners race, since it had become too charged politically.”

Mt. Steinhilber said his declaration of victory was premature as the chamber acted after he issued the statement. “I would have phrased it differently, but the message is still the same,” he said, “the sitting commissioners and Andy Gottlieb are on record opposing it, which means that proposal is dead for now. There is clearly a comeback being mounted, if you believe that these important and influential people continue to pursue it.”

“Wondering why the Cape Cod Chamber is doing this?” Mr. Steinhilber said in his press release. “Remember that the other party to the lawsuit on this issue is the Buzzards Bay Coalition and their President is on the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.”

Mark Rasmussen, president and CEO of the Coalition for Buzzards Bay since 1998, is not on the chamber of commerce’s board of directors according to the chamber’s official roster. Mr. Steinhilber later said he should have been listed as a member of the task force, not the chamber’s board.

However, Mr. Steinhilber noted that the Coalition for Buzzards Bay’s co-plaintiff in the lawsuit, the Conservation Law Foundation, opposes “big pipe” (region-wide sewering) solutions because “large sewer systems make new construction viable in environmentally sensitive areas.”

“Water and wastewater issues are among the largest restrictors of construction right now,” he continued, explaining that without those restrictions, land that could not at present be developed could become buildable, benefiting owners of such property, real estate developers, and building material suppliers.

Mr. Steinhilber maintained that the chamber task force “is already pre-disposed to the big pipe solution and most (members) are on record supporting the Taxing Authority, too. They will shock no one when they, like the Special Commission, conclude that an MWRA-type taxing Authority is the best answer,” that based on the fact Mr. O’Leary was appointed to lead the task force.

Mr. O’Leary, who was traveling in China, did not offer any comment on Mr. Steinhilber’s claims except, “I don’t hold public office, so why is the candidate running against me?”

A task force memo dated July 13 — provided to the Enterprise by Mr. Steinhilber — discussing its “communications campaign” for “how to proceed with supportive action toward solving our waste water [sic] issues” does not explicitly advocate for the creation of a wastewater authority, a regional management plan, or big-pipe solutions.

“The overarching goal is to present a message that is supportive of a process for developing localized solutions, tailored to specific communities and watersheds, which will minimize financial impact on our residents and business owners,” the memo read. “The coalition would not be specifically supporting big pipe vs. small pipe vs. alternative solutions, but a PROCESS of solution development.”

Another memo cites the need for “positive messaging during the county commissioners’ election,” which Mr. Steinhilber interpreted as evidence that authority proponents are working against his campaign.

“There can be no other conclusion than they believe Eric Steinhilber will oppose them and Flynn and Lyons will support them,” Mr. Steinhilber said in his press kit.

“If you believe that the proponents of a taxing authority continue to want that outcome,” he said, “and they are continuing to work towards that outcome…you must conclude that they believe the current board to be more favorable to reach that goal than a board with me on it.”

Wendy K. Northcross, CEO of the chamber, refuted that claim and said the task force documents “state the obvious — that is, the desire of many to keep the facts straight — especially in light of a political campaign that is using our wastewater infrastructure needs as a plank in its platform.”

“The [chamber] is keenly interested in finding a solution that is effective both in its science and its cost,” she said, and that the county commissioners’ race “is only important in that the dialogue on wastewater (as a campaign plank) be as truthful as possible and not laden with scare tactics and misinformation about the Cape’s need to address wastewater planning and infrastructure.”

“The Chamber’s interest is in communicating to the businesses and residents of Cape Cod the need for action on wastewater,” Ms. Northcross said, “and the desire for the planning process to be driven by local information, transparently transmitted, and fiscally responsible.”

“If it wasn’t so sad, in a way it would be funny,” Ms. Lyons said. “It shows me he has nothing else to offer. It’s disappointing. I’ve spoken to Eric and he’s a nice guy, but I expected something better of him.”

“The truth is that I am anchoring my campaign on the issue most call the single most important issue facing Cape Cod,” Mr. Steinhilber said. “The suggestion that anyone would think the others are anything but secondary is silly.”

“Focusing on sedate issues sounds the way incumbents talk,” he concluded. “The truth is, too many people have punted on important issues like this. I assure you, this issue has cost me fundraising, party support, establishment support and garnered me more grief than just the mocking tones of media, but it is the right thing to do by the people of Cape Cod. They have a right to know what is going on, especially when it will have such a negative impact on their wallets.”

State Representative Randy Hunt (R – Sandwich) has a few campaign events coming up. On Saturday, June 9 is a hoedown (no kidding, a hoedown!) at 305 Pine Street, West Barnstable, featuring Tex-Mex food (okay, now I’m interested), country music, and a horsemanship demo. This runs from 4 to 8 PM. To RSVP for this, shoot an e-mail to philip_n_wallace@hotmail.com.

On Tuesday, June 12 Tomatoes in Sandwich is hosting a Flag Day flag collection and reception from 5 to 7 PM. Contact Lisa Perry at flaldp@aol.com or 508-888-3094 to RSVP for this event.

Rep. Hunt goes country again on Saturday, August 25 with a Texas BBQ and trap shoot event at the Monument Beach Sportsman’s Club in Bourne from 4 to 8 PM. The details on that are still being firmed up, so visit the candidate’s events page at www.electrandyhunt.com/events for the latest details.

***

Barnstable County Commissioner Sheila R. Lyons has officially kicked off her re-election campaign.

Ms. Lyons held a campaign launch event last week at Tugboats in Hyannis, which saw such special guests as Congressman William R. Keating (D), State Senator Daniel A. Wolf (D – Harwich), State Representatives Demetrius J. Atsalis (D – Barnstable) and Cleon H. Turner (D – Dennis), and fellow incumbent County Commissioner Mary L. (Pat) Flynn.

This week’s trivia: Ms. Lyons and Sen. Wolf ran against each other in 2010, vying for the Democratic nomination for state senate.

Political news and announcements may be e-mailed to Michael Bailey, senior political reporter, at bailey@capenews.net.

Not surprisingly, voters are looking at a possible repeat of the 2010 election, when brothers Oliver P. and Charles O. Cipollini, of Marstons Mills and Fall River respectively, ran against each other – by which I mean, they were both candidates and they campaigned, but Charles kept telling voters to support Oliver.

Charles won the election and, like last year, has no primary opponent. Oliver, however, will face off in September against fellow Democrats Walter Moniz of New Bedford and Nicholas D. Bernier of Swansea.

My theory, Cynical Version, is that the general election will come down to Charles and Mr. Bernier, because voters don’t know squat about any of the candidates and will simply vote for whoever appears at the top of the ballot, and “Bernier” comes before “Cipollini.”

My other theory, the Non-Cynical Version, is that Charles will probably square off against Mr. Moniz, who ran in 2010 and got his 2012 campaign ramped up nice and early.

Either way, both those scenarios would better serve the voters than another non-campaign featuring the Not Even Remotely Fighting Cipollini Brothers.

***

The campaign events calendar is looking pretty thin all around, except for Sandwich Republican Thomas F. Keyes, who has a slew of events scheduled for this month and next.

Among the upcoming local events for the state senate candidate: house parties at the homes of Beverly Comeau in Sandwich (May 18), Frank and Andi Keohane in Falmouth (May 30), Ted and Sylvia Wahl in Sandwich (June 3); a reception with Mary Z. Connaughton, former Republican candidate for state auditor, at the Nimrod in Falmouth (June 18); a garage sale (seriously, that’s what it says) at the Sagamore home of Alice Zinkevich (June 23); and a meet-and-greet at Ms. Zinkevich’s home (June 26).

Keep up with Mr. Keyes’ campaign events at www.votekeyes.com/events.

***

Sheila R. Lyons, incumbent Barnstable County Commissioner, is preparing to launch her new campaign website. There’s just a placeholder page there now, but I’ll let you know when the full site is up and running.

One of her opponents, Eric R. Steinhilber, has also launched his campaign website, which already has some content on it.

The third candidate, incumbent Mary L. (Pat) Flynn, does not have a county commissioner-specific website up yet.

Political news and announcements may be e-mailed to Michael Bailey, senior political reporter, at bailey@capenews.net.

Tuesday marked the deadline for candidates for district and county offices (not including the Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates, more on that below) to file their nomination papers with their local registrars of voters, and the final tally is pretty sad: only five of the Cape’s 12 incumbents seeking re-election — two State Senators, six State Representatives, two Barnstable County Commissioners, and two county officers — have challengers in the coming election.

Senate President Therese M. Murray (D – Plymouth) is poised to first face a new (and so far invisible) primary challenger, Democrat Stephen M. Palmer of Plymouth, and the winner of that contest will face Sandwich Republican Thomas F. Keyes. State Representative Demetrius J. Atsalis (D – Barnstable) will take on Centerville Democrat Brian R. Mannal, and whoever prevails will go on to the November general election unopposed.

The other contested local races are State Representative Randy Hunt (R – Sandwich) and Sandwich Democrat R. Patrick Ellis for the Fifth Barnstable District; and Commissioners Mary L. (Pat) Flynn of Falmouth and Sheila R. Lyons of Wellfleet against Eric R. Steinhilber of Barnstable (see below for the latest wrinkle in this race).

There’s a chance this number could dwindle further if, during the nomination paper certification process, any candidate should become disqualified for failing to collect enough valid signatures, but this happens infrequently.

I’m truly surprised by the slim pickings considering this is a presidential election cycle, which is generally more active than mid-term elections, but I also feel sorry for voters. Solid contests are good all around: they make the incumbents work for their jobs, open up opportunities for new blood and new ideas and government, and lead to more educated voters. A greater number of contested races would have been beneficial all around.

***

On the plus side, the race for US Representative of the Ninth Congressional District is looking ever more robust. Republican Adam Chaprales of Sandwich is throwing his hat in the ring, setting the stage for a GOP primary race; Christopher Sheldon of Plymouth is already running.

Mr. Chaprales is a former one-term Sandwich selectmen whose main claim to fame is that at age 21, he was the town’s youngest-ever selectman. Now 28, he works for New York Life Insurance Co. He launched his campaign this past weekend. His official campaign website is www.adamforcongress.com.

(One bit of web design advice for the candidate: that floating “sign up for updates” bar is wicked annoying. Lose it.)

Incumbent Rep. William R. Keating (D), Democrat C. Samuel Sutter, the Bristol County District Attorney, and non-party candidates Daniel Botelho of Fall River and Peter A. White of Mashpee are also running.

The deadline for Congressional candidates with party affiliations to file their paperwork is this coming Tuesday. Non-party candidates have until mid-summer.

***

Nomination papers for the Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates were distributed this week to town clerks and Janice O’Connell, clerk of the assembly, and we already have two confirmed candidates for the county’s legislative body.

One of them is Falmouth’s Andrew V. Putnam, and the other is Ronald R. Beaty Jr. – the same Ron Beaty who was running for county commissioner…and I say “was” because none of the town clerks I spoke received his nomination papers by the Tuesday deadline.

This effectively ends Mr. Beaty’s plan to run dual races for county commissioner and the assembly. Earlier this year Mr. Beaty sought an opinion from the office of the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth – Elections Division and was informed that he could legally could hold both seats, as long as he exercised due diligence to avoid voting on issues as a member of one board that directly impacted the other (e.g., he could not as a county commissioner vote to raise the stipend delegates receive).

Now, however, it looks like he’ll be running only for the assembly. “After carefully reevaluating the political ramifications of my non-party candidacy for Barnstable County Commissioner, I have finally decided to formally withdraw myself as an Independent Candidate,” he wrote in an e-mail, “and to throw my complete support to Eric Steinhilber and his candidacy.”

He is dedicating himself to his assembly run, and said his “various positions on the respective issues currently related to county government will now be vigorously pursued via that potent avenue!”

Political news and announcements may be e-mailed to Michael Bailey, senior political reporter, at bailey@capenews.net.

Various parties have emerged to roundly curse this proposal, and two candidates for the Barnstable County Board of County Commissioners — Ronald R. Beaty Jr. and Eric R. Steinhilber, both of Barnstable — have voiced their staunch opposition to the concept.

In a speech delivered at his recent campaign kick-off, Mr. Steinhilber said this:

“Is it the proper role of the County to create a massive new government authority, an MWRA for the Cape, to take over all aspects of our water and sewer systems when other environmentally sound, cost-effective solutions exist? Is it the proper role of the County or its newly created authority to have taxation powers to potentially impose billions in new taxes and fees on the already overtaxed, over worked people of Cape Cod?”

And Mr. Beaty has made several unfavorable public comments about the authority, most recently in an op-ed piece entitled “A Cape Cod regional sewer authority…or an idea that stinks of a power grab?”:

When considering the creation of an independent, taxpayer funded, unaccountable & bureaucratic Cape Cod Regional Wastewater Authority, along with its hugely expensive large scale centralized wastewater processing facilities, Cape Codders need to be honestly informed that these are not the only choices available to them and their respective municipalities.

So, just how badly is the Cape Cod Wastewater Authority going to screw taxpayers? How much of a bureaucratic nightmare is it going to be?

That’s a tough question to answer considering that the authority, despite Mr. Steinhilber’s claim, does not exist — and might never exist.

The “Cape Cod Wastewater Authority” entered the region’s consciousness during a series of meetings held between October 2011 and February 2012 by the Special Commission on County Governance, a 26-member group formed through a directive by the county commissioners. The group’s charge was to examine the current state of county government, in all aspects, and submit recommendations for how to improve county functions.

The final report, released last week and available online, lists wastewater as its second topic, and the formal recommendation is, in full:

Recommendation: We strongly and unanimously recommend that the Barnstable County Commissioners, working with the Cape Cod legislative delegation through an open and public process, seek special legislation establishing the Cape Cod Wastewater District. The Commissioners should charge the Executive Director of the Cape Cod Commission and the Executive Director of the Cape Cod Water Protection Collaborative with developing recommendations on the structure, powers, and funding mechanisms of the District.

The recommendation also comes with five additional points of recommended consideration. Among them: whether the district (not “authority”) should be separate, independent entity and not part of county government proper; and the development of “fair, broad-based funding mechanisms that take into account funds already invested by towns on infrastructure that could assist regional solutions.”

The county commissioners, at their February 29, well in advance of the official submission of the final report, heeded one part of the recommendation and charged Andrew Gottlieb and Paul J. Niedzwiecki, executive directors of, respectively, the Cape Cod Water Protection Collaborative and the Cape Cod Commission, with conducting a formal exploration of the concept.

To repeat: the commissioners approved exploring the concept; they did not approve the creation of a regional wastewater authority, and by extension, did not approve a formal administrative structure, a funding mechanism, or a plan to address wastewater needs on a regional basis — nor did they express support for any of these things.

Mary L. (Pat) Flynn, chairman of the county commissioners, very clearly said that any new entity would not be created with the snap of the commissioners’ collective fingers, stating:

“To make a decision to move forward, without any public discussion or without any public input on voting to recommend a regional plan that includes a taxing authority, at this time would not be very wise and I don’t think would show good leadership on our part.”

Mr. Gottlieb and Mr. Niedzwiecki told the commissioners that they would conduct a lengthy public process that would, maybe, yield a final recommendation from them by the end of 2012 — about the same time the two agencies expect to wrap up their work on a regional wastewater plan the two bodies have been working on “for a couple years now,” according to Mr. Niedzwiecki.

Many of the more controversial talking points being thrown about by opponents stem from elements of the debate within the special commission. At the special commission’s February 8 meeting, according to official meeting minutes, Mr. Gottlieb opined that:

A separate regional entity is needed to address wastewater issues, as individual town solutions would be less efficient, since estuaries are shared, and artificial town boundaries interfere and increase costs of addressing nitrogen‐loading. While inter‐municipal agreements could be possible, Mr. Gottlieb said they are seldom initiated, and the 15 towns have difference issues and funding resources that are not all equivalent. Elsewhere, he noted, wastewater facilities are regional, and the County role is needed here beyond the existing County structure.

Mr. Niedzwiecki chimed in on the funding issue, saying a “broad‐based funding source that would be fair to all” would be necessary to fund the operation of a regional entity, and that “in reviewing funding options, Mr. Niedzwiecki called betterments an inequitable and irresponsible approach, preferring the general tax levy as a better approach.”

In other words, instead of placing the burden on property owners through betterments, the cost would be spread across the region’s tax base so, in effect, all taxpayers would chip in.

At no point in the conversation was a recommendation made to have the entire region’s wastewater infrastructure tied into, as Mr. Beaty put it, “hugely expensive large scale centralized wastewater processing facilities.”

CONCLUSIONS

One fact is irrefutable: the Cape Cod Wastewater Authority/District does not exist. It has not been created, and based on the comments and plans outlined by various county officials, it will not exist at any point in 2012.

What form it will take in the end is at present a mystery. While it has been suggested — officially and on the record — that the authority be an independent entity run by an appointed board and funded by taxpayer money, all these are are suggestions — suggestions that are already being thoroughly scrutinized by skeptics, and will continue to be scrutinized as the county proceeds with its exploration of the concept. Nothing is a done deal.

Even if the “nightmare scenario” as presented by Mr. Beaty and Mr. Steinhilber of an autonomous, tax-funded entity that rules the Cape’s wastewater systems with an iron fist  is presented to residents, it will likely need legislation to become reality, possibly even a binding referendum question on the ballot, providing the public with additional opportunities to oppose the project if the final product is not to their liking.

Mr. Beaty and Mr. Steinhilber are turning the wastewater authority concept into their personal campaign boogeyman to scare voters, plying fears of costly taxpayer-funded government takeovers with no accountability in order to rally support. This may serve their respective immediate personal needs, but does Cape Codders no favors in the long run if they befuddle any attempts at honest debate.

Water quality management is perhaps one of the Cape’s most pressing issues, one that impacts individual towns and the region as a whole, and tackling this particular 800-pound gorilla requires thorough exploration, a healthy sense of skepticism from all parties, perhaps a few hard decisions, and most importantly, information based in fact, not fear.