Commissioners

Composition of the Commission

The Martha's Vineyard Commission is made up of 21 Commissioners elected by Vineyarders or appointed by elected officials, of whom 17 are eligible to vote on regulatory matters.

  • 9 are elected by Vineyard voters in Island-wide elections held every two years,
  • 6 are appointed on an annual basis by the Boards of Selectmen of the Towns on Martha's Vineyard,
  • 1 is appointed on an annual basis by the Dukes County Commission,
  • 5 are appointed by the Governor or member of the cabinet, four of whom do not vote on DRIs or DCPCs.

Officers are elected on an annual basis each December by the full Commission. The officers are the Chairman, Vice-Chairman, and Clerk-Treasurer.

If you are interested in becoming a Commissioner, you can either run in the Island-wide elections held every two years, or you could be appointed by a town, the county or the Governor or a member of his cabinet. For further information, please contact the Commission Administrator.

Current Commissioners

Jeffrey Agnoli

Edgartown - Elected member at large. Commissioner since 2021.

 

  

Clarence (Trip) Barnes 

Tisbury - Elected member at large. Commissioner since 2013.

Trip is owner of Barnes Moving and Storage, the first president of the Vineyard House, and is a well-known auctioneer for a variety of Island causes.
 

 

Trip Barnes

Christina Brown

Edgartown - Elected member at large. Commissioner since 1997.

Christina is retired from being the Assistant to the Edgartown Planning Board for many years. She is a former MVC Chair.

 

Christine Brown

Jay Grossman

Chilmark - Elected member at large. Commissioner since 2021.

Jay has been a seasonal Island resident for more than 20 years and year round resident of Chilmark since 2015. He is President of PuckAgency, a sports management company specializing in the representation of NHL players.

Fred J. Hancock, Current Chair of the MVC

Oak Bluffs - Elected member at large. Commissioner since 2010.

Fred is a retired Techincal Director for corporate events. In addition to working on the Commission, he is a wood turner and grows historic iris.

Fred Hancock

Michael Kim

Governor's Appointee

Joan Malkin

Chilmark - Appointed by the Chilmark Select Board. Commissioner since 2013.

Joan has been a year-round resident of Chilmark since 2010 and before that was a seasonal resident for over 30 years. A retired attorney, she is on the Chilmark Conservation Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals.

 

Joan Malkin

 

Greg Martino

Tisbury - Appointed by the Tisbury Select Board. Commissioner since 2022.

Greg is an entrepreneur who co-owns the aquiculture farm Cottage City Oysters, as well as the audio/video production company A2D Productions. Greg serves on the board of Island Grown Initiative, is acting Treasurer for the Martha's Vineyard Farm Bureau chapter, a member of the Massachusetts Aquaculture Association and an appointed member of the Tisbury Waterways Committee. He also serves as a financial analyst for non-profits on Martha's Vineyard. Greg is a USCG licensed 50-ton captain, a part-time EMT and a volunteer fireman for his hometown of Tisbury.

Katherine Newman

Aquinnah - Appointed by the Aquinnah Select Board. Commissioner since 2000.

Kathy is a retired psychologist who has been living in Aquinnah since 2000. She is on the Conservation Commission and heads the Personnel Committee in Aquinnah.

Kathy Newman

Kate Putnam

Edgartown - Appointed by the Edgartown Select Board.. Commissioner since 2022.

Kate is an angel investor, mentor and instructor for I-Corps at MIT. She works with high growth startups and businesses across southern New England. Most of her board work has been in non-profits and private companies, She has been a seasonal resident of the Vineyard since the 1950's and year-round since 2015 when she sold the off-island custom machinery manufacturing business that she ran.

Ben Robinson

Tisbury - Elected member at large. Commissioner since 2016.

Ben is a member of the Tisbury Planning Board and is a graduate of the Syracuse School of Artchitecture. Being born and raised on the Vineyard, he feels that civic participation by residents is vital to the strength of the community.

 

Doug Sederholm, Current Chair of the Land Use Planning Committee

West Tisbury - Elected member at large. Commissioner since 2003.

Doug is an attorney. He served on the Chilmark Finance Advisory Committee and is a former MVC Chair, most recently from 2019-2020.

Douglas Sederholm

Linda Sibley

West Tisbury - Elected member at large. Commissioner since 1992.

Linda was the owner of the Vineyard Electronics. She is the longest-serving member of the MVC and a former MVC Chair.

Linda Sibley

Brian Smith

Oak Bluffs - Appointed by the Oak Bluffs Select Board. Commissioner since 2022.

Brian moved to the island in 1995 and has served the island community in many capacities. He previously was the West Tisbury Select Board's appointee to the MVC from 2010-2014 and served as the Treasurer as well as Land Use Planning Chairman during that tenure. Brian also serves as a member of the Oak Bluffs Personnel Board, the West Tisbury Personnel Board and the Dukes County Personnel Board.

Ernie Thomas, Current Clerk-Treasurer of the MVC

West Tisbury - Appointed by the West Tisbury Select Board. Commissioner since 2015.

Ernie Thomas has worked in production control and planning, and is currently doing appliance repairs. He served on the Gay Head Fire Department and Dukes County Search and Rescue. 

Ernie Thomas

Carole Vandal

Aquinnah - Elected member at large. Commissioner since 2023.

 

Peter Wharton, Current Vice-Chair of the MVC

Appointed by the Dukes County Commission. MVC Commissioner since 2022.

With roots in Oak Bluffs that go back four generations and having served on both the Airport and Dukes County Commissions, Peter is proud to be the County's appointed representative to the Martha's Vineyard Commission.

 

Group photograph of Commissioners and portrait of Jeffrey Agnoli by Mark Lovewell, courtesy of the Vineyard Gazette. Portrait of Trip Barnes appear courtesy of the photographer, Ivy Ashe, and the Vineyard Gazette. Portrait of Carole Vandal by Gabrielle Mannino, MV TImes. Copyright Vineyard Gazette/MV Times, all rights reserved.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Office location:

Office location:

The Stone Building
33 New York Avenue
Oak Bluffs, MA 02557

Telephone: 508-693-3453
Fax: 508-693-7894

Mailing Address

Mailing address:

Martha's Vineyard Commission
P.O. Box 1447
Oak Bluffs, MA 02557

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