Vote Yes On 59 To Preserve Jobs And Our Way Of Life

To the editor:  As a small business owner, it is easy to see that we must vote YES on Article 59 at Town Meeting on May 7^th. Without a yes vote, jobs will be lost, and businesses will be forced to close. More than this, a YES vote on Article 59 is needed to preserve our way of life on Nantucket.

I am originally from Brazil and have lived on Nantucket for 20 years. During this time, my love for this Island has grown each day. I am the owner of ACK Cleaning Services and a proud employer with a great team of hardworking people who also love Nantucket. My company provides year-round cleaning services, but 90 percent of all our profit comes during the summer months. Summer jobs and summer rental properties are by far the biggest part of my business.

If we did not have the work generated from vacation rental turnovers, my company would be negatively impacted in many ways. We would suffer a staggering loss that would, unfortunately, make it impossible to retain all our employees. I realize that Nantucket needs more year-round rental housing for local people, but limiting summer rentals is not the solution to the problem. Most of the homes we clean would not be the type of house your typical year-round worker would be able to rent because they are large and expensive. Eliminating short-term rentals would devastate our entire economy and result in the loss of jobs for year-round residents.

Nantucket is a unique place. Our businesses need summer visitor spending to survive. Our town needs visitor spending to generate revenues that fund vital town services. Doing away with short-term rentals would hurt everyone and have a negative impact on our way of life.

As a Nantucket homeowner, I am very concerned. I think it is my right to rent my property if I want to. After all, I’m the person paying the mortgage and taxes. The same can be said about everyone who owns property on Nantucket. Please go to Town Meeting on May 7^th and vote yes on Article 59 to save our jobs and our rights.

Charlene Nogueira