The newly created and appointed Sea Level Rise Committee held its first meeting this week. On Monday, Nov. 8 the committee held what was dubbed a “housekeeping” meeting – electing a chair and vice-chair, choosing terms, and setting a meeting schedule.
It is an often-repeated joke on Block Island that if you are absent from a meeting when officers are elected, you may inadvertently become one. In her absence, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration retiree Judy Gray was nominated as chairperson. According to Second Warden Sven Risom, who is also on the committee, Gray was in Singapore for a professional conference and had been asked in advance if she objected to being chair. She did not.
Clair Stover Comings, who has recently stepped down as director of the Block Island Conservancy, was elected as vice-chair.
The nine-member committee has a variety of citizens of all ages and experiences and also includes Tadgh O’Neill, George Davis, Kim Gaffett, Nigel Grindley, Mary Anderson, Socha Cohen, and Amira Wilson, besides Risom, Gray and Comings. Wilson, the youngest, is a senior at the Block Island School and although her status as a voting member of the committee is not yet clear, she
