Nantucket residents are blasting state Sen. Julian Cyr, D-Cape and Islands, for not staying at a Choose Board assembly that addressed Winery Wind, whereas the senator is connecting his departure to journey logistics.
Cyr traveled to Nantucket for Wednesday’s Choose Board assembly, his first look at a gathering following final month’s incident, leading to a particles mess throughout the island and area.
However the senator informed the board and residents in attendance he couldn’t keep for all the assembly as a result of he needed to catch a ferry to get again to Provincetown, the place he lives. He added he’d hearken to the remainder of the assembly remotely.
State Rep. Dylan Fernandes, who additionally represents the island, didn’t attend the assembly, that includes representatives from federal and state environmental businesses.
“It is a disgrace that Mr. Cyr has left, and we haven’t seen Mr. Fernandez,” resident Amy DiSibio mentioned. “I actually feel very sorry for this Select Board because this is way beyond the scope of what you should be doing.”
Talking with the Herald on Thursday, Cyr mentioned he confirmed up at Nantucket City Corridor round 4:45 Wednesday afternoon and spoke with a number of involved residents. His arrival got here after an hour-and-a-half drive from his residence in Provincetown to Hyannis to board the ferry, he mentioned.
The Choose Board, Cyr mentioned, supplied him and different friends to talk nearly, however he opted to go in individual as a result of he discovered the assembly “important.”
“Obviously, there’s quite a bit of travel involved with going to them due to the boat schedule,” Cyr mentioned. “I had to get a boat so I stayed at the meeting and listened, and then I listened the whole rest of the way.”
“I am actually pretty present on the island,” he added. “At the end of my remarks, I said I was going to stay as long as I could and I was going to be listening to the rest of the meeting on the ferry ride home so I was pretty transparent about that.”
Val Oliver is the founding director of ACK4Whales, a bunch of involved residents combating the Winery Wind undertaking. She voiced frustration over how Cyr and the state as an entire have responded to the blade failure.
“My main comments are going to be for our senator,” Oliver mentioned, “but I see his interest, as usual, is not in helping Nantucket, and he has left. He didn’t care enough to come when it happened.”
“Our state government is in an all-on push for this regardless of what the outcome is,” she added. “They have set these lofty goals and really don’t know what’s going to happen, and it’s evident by all of the agency speak that we get.”
A Herald evaluation final month discovered that workers who listing Avangrid, Winery Wind’s mother or father firm, as their employer had made 217 donations totaling $57,677 to dozens of state and native campaigns since March 2018, two months earlier than the Baker administration chosen a Winery Wind bid for contract negotiation.
Cyr has collected 17 contributions for $3,036 since 2021, in response to the state Workplace of Marketing campaign and Political Finance. 5 of these, totaling $1,300, got here from his former chief of employees, Patrick Johnson, who presently serves as Avangrid’s director of public affairs.
In a press release he learn to the Choose Board, Cyr recommended the city for its “leadership and calmness” within the aftermath of the debacle. He demanded higher communication from GE Vernova and Winery Wind, saying he was “deeply disturbed” that he came upon concerning the failure two days later.
“Of course, we have been strong partners in representing this island going on eight years,” Cyr informed the board of the connection he and Fernanes share with Nantucket. “ Of course, we will continue to stay in close contact. We really view our role here as going to bat for the town and the town’s needs, desires and wishes.”
Cyr’s departure didn’t make a superb impression on his challenger, Christopher Lauzon, a Republican from Barnstable vying for the Cape and Islands Senate seat.
“We are not here for political campaigning tonight, I’ll be honest with you,” Choose Board Chairwoman Brooke Mohr informed Lauzon earlier than permitting him to talk throughout public remark.
“This is a serious problem for the entire district,” Lauzon mentioned in a press release Thursday. “We need a senator who cares and doesn’t have a conflict of interest with Avangrid. As the next senator I will protect the environment and interests of the district, not corporations.”
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