Chock full of great quotes from opinionated town officials, the article leads with a spokeswoman for the Martha’s Vineyard chapter of the NAACP, who is "99.9 percent sure" Obama is coming though she can't reveal her sources. (It is somewhat strange how much emphasis put on the Obamas being black-- and that having signficance to the island's African-American population...)
While some think it is "great, spectacular, and super-flattering that the first family would consider vacationing here," my favorite quotes were from the Island police chiefs, who seem very annoyed they were going to have to deal with all this nonsense:
" “It’s nice to have presidents come here, but it puts a lot of pressure on us,’’ said Erik Blake, police chief of Oak Bluffs, which has 20 officers, eight of whom were brought in for the summer. “We are already under excruciating budget constraints. If we have to provide officers on an overtime basis, it’s not something we can cover.’’
He said the federal government never reimbursed the town for its expenses when President Clinton visited.
The work can be trying for law enforcement officials, who have to be available 24 hours a day to help block roads and escort the president and his family if they want to do anything from body surfing off South Beach to getting ice cream on Circuit Avenue."
I couldn't help but wonder if if the reporter selectively quoted Blake to give a feel for the downside of the President's visit. Or maybe Blake was as ungracious as he sounds! Either way his statement gives him some great leverage for getting more money for the town's police department if the President visits.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/07/07/folks_on_martha8217_s_vineyard_expect_obamas/?page=2
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