Newly elected Cape Cod officials ready to get to work

By Ethan Genter 

Published Jan 4, 2021 

The Cape’s latest class of freshman elected officials are being sworn in this week, and the focus across the board is on getting the COVID-19 crisis under control. 

“That’s the only thing on my mind,” said Osterville Democrat Kip Diggs, who will be sworn in on Beacon Hill as state representative for the 2nd Barnstable District after beating incumbent William Crocker in the November general election. 

Fellow freshman Steven Xiarhos, a West Barnstable Republican who beat out James Dever for the 5th Barnstable District state representative seat that was vacated by Randy Hunt, also said his top priority was the pandemic. 

“We will hit the ground running and obviously one of our biggest concerns is the whole COVID issue,” he said. “It’s worse now than ever.” 

XIARHOS is an ANTI-MASKER who attended the GOLD STAR FAMILY event in Washington with NO FACE MASK. 

The two are the Cape’s true freshman legislators and will be sworn in at the Statehouse on Wednesday, though the usual pomp and circumstance will be toned down. Friends and family can’t come to watch this year because of COVID-19 protocols, and there will be a small, distanced in-person ceremony for the new class of legislators, according to Xiarhos.

Even still, he said Monday he was feeling “humbled, grateful and very excited,” to serve his district.

At the county level, Mark Forest, the newest member of the Barnstable County Board of Regional Commissioners, was sworn in Monday. He and Sheila Lyons, who has previously served as a commissioner, replaced Ronald Beaty and Mary Pat Flynn on the county board.

Forest said his first steps will be to work on making sure the towns and residents have the aid they need. 

“It’s about getting help to residents, families, small businesses and even our municipalities that are struggling with this challenge,” he said. 

Longer term, he hopes to boost the Cape's blue economy, revitalize the county's Human Rights Advisory Commission and work on transportation infrastructure.

Diggs, who will be the first African American to represent the Cape in the Statehouse, and Xiarhos both said that after the pandemic the Cape's economy is the second biggest priority. They hope to work to get the Cape to a point where it can have as normal of a summer tourist season as possible. 

“It’s not about me, it’s ‘we,’” Diggs said, echoing one of his campaign slogans. “That’s still all I care about, working for my district."

Xiarhos, a former deputy police chief in Yarmouth, also said he wants to crack down on career criminals, sex offenders, batterers and people who assault first responders. He also wants to broach the idea of a regional Cape police training facility. 

Several other Cape legislators will also return to their seats, including state Sen. Susan Moran, D-Falmouth, who will be taking on her first full term. Moran had previously served an abbreviated term in the state senate after Plymouth Republican Viriato “Vinny” deMacedo left for a job at Bridgewater State University last year.