A small group of boat owners spoke out at the March 21 meeting of the Parks and Recreation Commission, questioning the fairness of the board’s recent announcement of a change in the boat lottery process to obtain seasonal spots at the town beach. After a lengthy discussion, Chairwoman Wyona Lynch-McWhite proposed a clarification in wording of the first statement of the new policy, saying the intent remains the same. The board decided to redefine the on-the-water lotteries, combining dock slips and outer cove moorings into one, and discussed the logistics of the drawing to be held Monday, April 4.
In the past, any resident who registered was put into the boat lottery. The first statement of the new policy recently posted on the Parks and Rec website stated that “a resident will not be entered in the initial lottery if they had a spot in 2015. They will be added to the waiting list and added to the second lottery if spaces are available.”
Lynch-McWhite said the change was made in an attempt to answer numerous complaints from residents who say the same people win every year, and the people who haven’t won before deserve a turn. It also addresses what Harbormaster Bob O’Shea called “abuse of the system,” households where several people register the same boat, owners enter a boat in more than one lottery, and residents claim a winning spot without having registered their boat.
Fairness of new policy debated
Dan Magrath of Fairbank Street complained that the change in policy came “out of the blue,” to which Lynch-McWhite replied that the board had discussed it at more than one of its meetings. She said the commission had received numerous emails about the unfairness of the old policy, but Magrath countered that the old policy was fair. “We’re all equal taxpayers,” he argued, “and we should all have the same chance of winning a boat lottery every year.”
Lynch-McWhite explained again that, as a group of volunteers, they were doing the best they could to make things as fair as possible, and they wanted to try this as a way to let more people out on the water. Magrath suggested that the board was trying to “manipulate fairness.” Bob Armstrong of Slough Road objected that “this solution favors people who complained.”
Lynch-McWhite suggested that the wording of statement #1 of the new policy might not clearly capture the intent of the board. She reiterated that a resident is ineligible for only the same lottery that he or she won last year. After all “new” winners have been drawn, last year’s winners are immediately eligible for a second drawing in that category if there are spots remaining.
April 4 drawing set
This year, drawings will be held at the combined Parks and Recreation Commission meeting and Harbormaster’s Night on Monday, April 4, at 7:30 in the Bromfield cafeteria. The revised wording of the policy and complete details of the way the lottery will work are posted on the Parks and Rec website (Go to http://bit.ly/21HvPdQ )
