The mood was jubilant at the Southampton Republican Party's poll-watching party long before the results were all in. By the end of the night, Supervisor Vincent Cannuscio and virtually all his fellow Republicans running for town office - incumbent or challenger - had been assured of victory.

All except one.

Southampton Town Justice Paul H. Smith, who has served on the bench for nearly 32 years, put on his coat and quietly slipped out of the Southampton Inn on Hill Street well before all the districts had reported.

The 61-year-old justice had been edged out in the four-way race by a fellow Republican, Barbara Wilson, whose more aggressive campaigning earned her the highest number of votes of all four candidates. Justice Deborah Kooperstein, the Democratic incumbent, ran a close second, keeping her seat for another term.

Ms. Kooperstein turned out to be the only victorious Democrat in the election, which brought out some 41 percent of Southampton Town's 32,322 eligible voters. In 1995, 46 percent of those registered turned out.

"This election proves the Republican Party is alive and well in the Town of Southampton, and is, in fact, the party of choice in Southampton," said the Town Republican Committee chairman, John Czygier Jr., before calling the winners to the podium.

Cannuscio Breezes

Supervisor Cannuscio garnered a comfortable 61 percent of the vote in his bid for a second term. His Democratic challenger, Arthur DiPietro, hurt late in his campaign by his ex-wife's allegations of improper and possibly unlawful actions, managed to win 34 percent.

Stacy Kaufman-Riveras, the Southampton Party candidate, finished with a distant 4.4 percent.

Patrick (Skip) Heaney and Martha Rogers, the two incumbent Town Board members, glided to easy victories, beating their closest challenger, Wayne Grothe, by more than 3,000 votes each. Mr. Grothe, a bayman, was one of five contenders for the two seats.

Reject Ward System

Southampton voters will not be electing their future Town Board members through a ward system, either. The proposal, which would have split the town into four equal districts, each electing one councilperson, was soundly defeated.

Seventy-five percent of voters said no to the proposal, which was placed on the ballot through lobbying by the Southampton Democratic Party and the Southampton Party.

Also seeing little challenge were Town Highway Superintendent William Masterson Jr. and Town Clerk Marietta Seaman. Mr. Masterson finished more than 4,100 votes ahead of his Democratic challenger, Richard Barabino.

Ms. Seaman, meanwhile, proved the top vote-getter among all candidates, pulling in 8,691 of the 12,600 votes cast in her race against Harriett C. Sanchez.

All five Republican Town Trustee incumbents - Jon Semlear, Edward Warner, Peter Corwith, Scott Strough, and Eric Schultz - were re-elected, keeping the five-member board intact.

Jarrett Steil, a senior at East Hampton High School who turned 18 on Oct. 7, voted on Tuesday for the first time.

"It felt weird. I wasn't sure how to work the booth at first but it's pretty self-explanatory once you get in there," said the Montauk youth.

Jarrett and 56 other high school students turned 18 before Election Day, making them eligible (except for a few who are not citizens) to pull the levers on Election Day. The Star talked with about a dozen of them, and found Jarrett to be the only one who voted.

He said his parents, Alan and Celeste Steil, have no party affiliation. Their son said they "just look for the best candidates." He took their advice, picking some Democrats and some Republicans.

Once A Candidate

Many of the candidates were incumbents who seemed to be doing a fine enough job, he said. Jarrett was himself once a candidate, getting elected freshman class president three years ago by pledging to "do the best I could."

On the afternoon of Election Day, just as school was letting out, The Star found four of his classmates who were eligible to vote, learning that two were registered but that only one said he "might" go to the polls.

Sean Barber, a lifeguard from a fishing family, said he was most interested in the debate over the Viking gambling cruise and the proposed town laws on ferries. His government and economics class, taught by Claude Beudert, discussed local issues frequently and used news articles about the controversy.

Mr. Beudert happened by, offering to drive Sean to the polls if he needed a ride. The teacher said he tries to start each class with a discussion of some current event, hands out sample ballots, and organizes field trips around the East End.

Building Boom

A recent discussion focused on the building boom here over the last few years, and Mr. Beudert said the seniors especially observed for themselves how East Hampton was nonetheless apart from other places.

"They drive. They see the difference with Southampton Town," he said, adding, though, that making the transition from the observable to the abstract is not easy even for people old enough to vote.

"We still have trouble telling the difference between Democrats and Republicans - it's a difficult concept - but the great thing about East Hampton is most kids have a personal connection to local government. They actually know the people who run things. A neighbor, a family friend. That wouldn't be the case in a town like Huntington," he said.

Eighteen-year-olds may register at any time during the year they become of voting age. Alexandra Hiotakis, a Montauk resident whose birthday was last month, said she wasn't sure whether she had.

Town Campaign

"I'd be scared to vote because I could vote for somebody who shouldn't be in office, somebody who would ruin everything I stand for. Besides, I don't really understand what they say when they talk," she said of the politicians.

Her government class did not talk about any of the issues that framed this year's town campaign. "We have to follow the curriculum," she said.

One 18-year-old who made a point of voting was Christina Bernard, who left for college in September just before her qualifying birthday. She filled out her absentee ballot on Homecoming Weekend and asked her father, Town Councilman Len Bernard, to look it over - but only to be sure it was filled out properly.

"She's very independent-minded," said Mr. Bernard, who is a Republican, adding that Christina's picks were her own and declining to say what they were.

Timothy Rood, who teaches history, said he and his fellow teachers make sure all eligible students get a voter registration form. For that reason, Joy Lupoletti, co-president of the League of Women Voters, said her group's registration drive did not set up tables at the high school.

It did at Southampton College, adding 160 voters there to the rolls, and at Suffolk County Community College, where 72 students signed up. But the students who declined to register outnumbered those who did.

"They are so disassociated. It's sad really. They said they weren't interested, they didn't care. You just can't believe some of the comments we heard," said Mrs. Lupoletti. Last spring, the league sent letters to all the high school principals, offering to register eligible students and talk to them about voting.

Josephine Di Vincenzi, the Southampton High School principal, is an active league member and took matters into her own hands. The only other educator who responded was James Sloane, a social studies teacher at Pierson High School in Sag Harbor.

Megan Vaughan, an East Hampton senior who turned 18 in March, said she thought about registering but "never got around to it."

"When I vote, I want to do it right. I want to understand what's going on," she said.

Mr. Rood said his advanced placement classes in politics and government focus almost entirely on national issues. "Local issues come up only tangentially," he said, adding none of his students this year is old enough to vote.

Jessica Haab, who is 17 and one of his students, said the only local matters that had arisen in class so far were what the town should do with the old fishing station at Maidstone Park and the proposed regulations for ferries.

David Martin, also an East Hampton senior, said he had no interest in politics and no intention of going to the polls, though he had registered. "I don't care who wins. I'll be out of here in a few months anyway," he said.

He also said his government class did not touch on any local issue. On Election Day, he said, they watched a movie, "The American President," a romantic comedy about a President and his social life.

Surprised by the United States Department of Homeland Security's announcement last week that it may replace the Plum Island Animal Disease Center with a new facility able to research more powerful pathogens, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and U.S. Representative Tim Bishop have asked Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff to meet with them about the future of the island as soon as Congress returns to Washington this month.

A "Plum Island fact sheet" released by the department by e-mail on Aug. 22 said the 50-year-old research center, classified as a Biosafety Level 3 facility, is "nearing the end of its life cycle" and is becoming increasingly expensive to maintain.

"The laboratory and test space in the current facility is insufficient to support the increasing levels of research and development needed to meet the growing concerns about accidental or intentional introduction of foreign animal diseases into this country," the fact sheet said. "The need to replace this aging facility to meet the new challenges of the coming decades has become increasingly clear."

The president's 2006 budget includes $23 million for a Department of Homeland Security effort to assess the nation's needs, "identify a next-generation biological and agricultural defense facility," and design that facility.

"There are three options," Mr. Bishop said on Friday, "abandon the facility, upgrade it in its existing form, or upgrade the physical plant and introduce Biosafety Level 4."

In an Aug. 24 letter to Mr. Chertoff, Senator Clinton and Representative Bishop said they were distressed not only by the possibility that the Animal Disease Center could be moved off the island, but also by the fact that those plans first came to their attention in the form of a fact sheet. Mr. Chertoff's predecessor, Tom Ridge, promised the two lawmakers "full communication about the issues and developments that affect Plum Island and our common interests," they said in their letter.

"We were not part of any discussions that led to the preparation of that document. I would hope that's an anomaly," Mr. Bishop said. "They have no legal obligation to involve us . . . but we all have the same goal in mind." According to Mr. Bishop, Mr. Ridge also "assured us that the department had a long-range commitment to Plum Island and no intention of upgrading it to a Biosafety Level 4," Mr. Bishop said.

Mr. Bishop is opposed to an upgrade to Biosafety Level 4, but if that is the Homeland Security Department's eventual choice, "we absolutely need enhanced security." He believes the best of the three options would be for the existing facility to be improved within Biosafety Level 3 parameters.

In their letter, Ms. Clinton and Mr. Bishop stressed the importance of the work being done at the Animal Disease Center.

"We want to be sure that you are directly aware of how vital and critical the research conducted by the Plum Island Animal Disease Center is to keeping this nation's food supply healthy," they said. While they agree with the department that infrastructure improvements must be made or a new facility built, they question the idea of relocating the facility elsewhere.

"Plum Island was first established as a foreign animal disease center because of its isolation, with no other communities or buildings occupying the island," they wrote. "In addition the very limited livestock population on the surrounding mainland would limit the extent or possibility of an accidental outbreak of a very contagious and economically devastating disease like foot-and- mouth disease."

The Plum Island facility also provides 200 jobs. "The North Fork would not be well served by closing the facility," Mr. Bishop said. "That's a lot of jobs in the year-round community of eastern Long Island."

When maintenance workers employed by L.B.& B. Associates, the Maryland-based company that operates the physical plant, went on strike in 2002, "the North Fork saw the impact of those lost jobs," Mr. Bishop said. "I think the public perception of the lab moved considerably in the wake of the strike."

During the strike and subsequent lockout, however, a number of incidents raised alarm about safety and security measures on the island. When replacement workers could not operate backup generators during a three-hour blackout in December 2002 and used duct tape to seal the facility's biocontainment labs, Senator Clinton called for temporary closure of the disease center.

At the time, Plum Island was operated by the Department of Agriculture. It has since been placed under control of the Department of Homeland Security. There have been several upgrades to the physical plant and security has been increased. Now, Mr. Bishop said, "Plum Island is a facility that operates at a reasonable level of safety."

"People are concerned and people will always be concerned, but I think there is a broad recognition that this facility is important," he said.

County Executive Steve Levy has joined Mr. Bishop and Ms. Clinton in asking Department of Homeland Security to bring local, state, and federal representatives into discussions about the future of Plum Island.

Tens of thousands of juvenile menhaden - known as peanut bunker - died in the shallow water of a narrow channel at the northeast end of Three Mile Harbor on Friday night or Saturday morning. Eighty-degree weather quickly turned the scene into an olfactory nightmare.

Carol Hayes, who lives in the neighborhood, was walking around Maidstone Park as usual on Monday with her friends, Diane and Brittany Emery of Medford, N.J., and Kristin Womack, who was visiting from Mississippi. "We can't do it. We can't go all the way around. It's worse today," Ms. Hayes said, after hitting a wall of putrescence carried on a stiff, southwest wind.

"You get used to it, but then there's a gust of wind and you get a big whiff," said Elise Thorsen, an East Hampton Town lifeguard whose stand was stationed a quarter-mile away from the die-off, but directly downwind.

"It looked like silver snow," said Ken Rafferty, a light-tackle fishing guide who keeps his boat at Sunset Cove Marina, not far from where the mass of shiny-sided fish were heaped along the shore.

Bill Taylor, the town's waterways management supervisor, said it appeared that a school of bluefish had chased the peanut bunker into warm, shallow water, where they quickly used up the available oxygen.

"It's a dead end up there. On Saturday, we could see that many of them were bitten. We saw other kinds of fish swimming happily," Mr. Taylor said, meaning that the mass killing was probably a solitary event unrelated to problems with the water itself. "Between their excitement, the water temperature, and the shallow water - we've sent a sample of the water away to be tested anyway."

Also called mossbunker, pogy, or fat back, bunker swim in large schools made up of hundreds and thousands of silver-sided individuals. They feed on microscopic plants and the smallest crustaceans, which they filter from the water with comblike gill rakers. Adults grow to about a foot in length. This "industrial" species was, and continues to be, harvested for its oil and for animal feed, and was processed for many years at the Smith Meal plant at Promised Land on Napeague.

The oily fish are the favorite prey of a great number of species including whales, dolphins, sharks, pollack, cod, and swordfish. But, according to the "Fishes of the Gulf of Maine," bluefish are the bunkers' "worst enemy."

"Not only do these pirates devour millions of menhaden every summer, but they kill far more than they eat . . . Menhaden often strand in myriads in shoal water, either in their attempt to escape their enemies or for other reasons, to perish and pollute the air for weeks with the stench of their decaying carcasses," the book states.

By yesterday, tide and birds had removed most of the peanut bunker carcasses, but their spirit remained in the air. "There's less of them, but they smelled a lot worse," Mr. Taylor said.

Sagaponack village only needed a simple majority of voters to approve its incorporation on Friday. What it got was a landslide.

A turnout of more than 60 percent of 479 people registered to vote in the Sagaponack School District overwhelmingly approved the measure. Only 11 people voted against incorporation, while 285 voted for it.

Marietta Seaman, the Southampton Town clerk and one of the election inspectors, said it was "an amazing voter turnout. People saw their destination" and came out to support it, some even voting for the first time. She said the flow of people in and out of the schoolhouse, where the vote was held from noon until 9 p.m., was steady all day.

None of those who had initially opposed the incorporation came to monitor the voting for a potential challenge. Without such a challenge, Ms. Seaman will be required to prepare and deliver a report of incorporation with the New York secretary of state, comptroller, and board of real property services, as well as the Suffolk County clerk and treasurer.

The report must be sent between 10 and 15 days after the filing of the election certification, which occurred on Friday night, and must include a map of the village boundaries, the certificate of election, a declaration of population based on the petition to incorporate, and a statement that the time to file a review of the election results has expired. The village boundaries are the school district lines, roughly from Sagg Pond to Town Line Road, bordered by the railroad tracks to the north. The petition states that the official regular population is 534.

The secretary of state will then issue a certificate of incorporation. Once that is filed in the Southampton Town clerk's office, Ms. Seaman has five days to designate an interim village clerk, who must run a special election for a mayor and four trustees within 60 days.

Finding such a person may be difficult. Ms. Seaman said it was the town's intention to designate whomever the residents of the new village propose. "I asked them to give me one name" and not a list, she said.

So far, no one who is willing to take on the role has stepped forward. Lee Foster, who has been an unofficial spokeswoman for the village incorporation effort, said that rumors that she would take the helm are only that. An organizational meeting is being scheduled for the end of the week, when potential candidates for all positions will be discussed.

William Tillotson, who in addition to his position as co-chairman of the Sagaponack Citizens Advisory Committee is also serving as a spokesman for the incorporation effort, said that "by the end of this week there will be a slate of people to run Sagaponack as an independent, bare-bones village."

Mr. Tillotson stressed the "bare-bones" aspect of the government because, he said, a "majority of voters are not unhappy with the town." He said only a minority wanted more independence.

This is the second time the hamlet tried to incorporate. The first effort followed the town's approval of Ira Rennert's 66,375-square-foot house on Sagaponack farmland, and it was not successful. This time the village movement grew out of concerns that Dunehampton, another proposed village, would claim the hamlet's coastline as part of its territory.

Residents decided that it was important to protect the hamlet's historical boundaries and that forming a village was the best way to do so.

Mr. Tillotson said he did not believe that Sagaponack's residents wanted to become more involved in beach parking or zoning issues. "We're not looking to throw the town out," he said, adding that Sagaponack will turn "as much of the village services over to the town as possible."

Even with a bare-bones government, the new village will need a village hall in which to store records and make them accessible to the public, as well as to provide an official mailing address. To help them get started on the necessary steps, residents are using a pamphlet on incorporation that the state provided.

Mr. Tillotson said those who have been performing the tasks necessary for incorporation, including Ms. Foster, William F. McCoy Jr., Alfred Kelman, Patrick Guarino, Peter Wadsworth, Donald Louchheim, and Ana Daniel, would continue those efforts now that the vote has been cast. Someday they may be candidates for elected office in the new village.

In the shocking early hours after Hurricane Katrina tore a swath through Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, and as water poured over weakened levees into the city of New Orleans, an amateur radio operator in Montauk worked with the United States Coast Guard to engineer several rescues.

In the process, Marshall Helfand said, he got a distressing view of just how unprepared and vulnerable the city was.

Mr. Helfand is no stranger to natural disaster. He has been an amateur radio operator for over 30 years. He works within a network of operators who specialize in coordinating radio traffic during emergencies. He has been at his home-based post on Fairview Avenue in Montauk during volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and floods.

"But this one was so shocking, different from all others," he said.

It was different, Mr. Helfand said, because the staging of emergency help that usually occurs prior to a hurricane by government agencies and even, he said, by organizations like the Red Cross, was absent. Emergency hams around the country had tracked the storm, and were ready by late in the day on Aug. 27, over 24 hours before it struck, with agreed-upon radio frequencies and links to first responders, including the Coast Guard.

"As it hit, we became aware. I know because I contacted one of [New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin's] staff. I asked if there was a local amateur [radio operator] in City Hall, the emergency center, the normal procedure."

"There was. I asked what they needed. He said, 'Basically everything you can do because we're not getting any help from anybody. Nobody is returning calls.' Not to say the mayor's office wasn't negligent," Mr. Helfand said. "They could have stored water, canned food in the Superdome."

At one point, a disabled Vietnam veteran contacted the Red Cross. He was trapped on the second floor of his house in New Orleans and the water was rising. Mr. Helfand said he was unable to reach local police because the loss of electricity had knocked out their communications, but the man had a cellphone and called the Red Cross.

A radio operator at Red Cross headquarters sent the Mayday out on the amateur network with the stranded man's street address. Mr. Helfand picked it up and contacted Senior Chief Boatswain's Mate Nick Pupo at the Montauk Coast Guard station, who relayed the information to rescue operations in New Orleans.

A helicopter was able to rescue the man. Mr. Helfand said several other rescues were coordinated through the Moriches station, headquarters for the Coast Guard's operations on the south shore.

"The only people who were ready was the Coast Guard. They were magnificent. They were there first, and at the most dangerous times." As for the overall response, Mr. Helfand said, "The people should demand an investigation and it should start immediately. Nobody did it intentionally, but I would categorize it as negligent homicide."

Hiding From Looters

Charlene Quinlin and her husband, Tom, who live in the Riverbend section on the west side of New Orleans, were able to get out of the city the day before Katrina struck. Ms. Quinlin is a Bridgehampton native, and they are staying there now with her mother. Her husband is from New Orleans, and members of his family are missing.

She said her neighborhood remained relatively dry, but quickly became very dangerous, according to sporadic communications with those who had stayed behind.

"One out of 10 cellphone calls go through, and we have been able to contact people via messages. The Times Picayune has a Web site. A lot of people are unaccounted for. There is lots of lawlessness."

Ms. Quinlin said her neighbors had asked that they be called only at certain times of the day to prevent the ringing of cellphones from alerting roving bands of looters. "No lighters, no candles. Don't talk loud, no radio."

"They were trying not to be seen," she said on Tuesday of her neighbors, adding that some had formed a militia to protect a supply of food and water, and were moving around in canoes. In one, a broom served as a paddle.

Ms. Quinlin said the ad hoc militia had succeeded in working out a "semi-truce" with looters. When the members of the National Guard finally arrived, they took control and seized the militia's weapons as a precaution, Ms. Quinlin said.

"We're in a state of flux, a limbo situation. We were told the Red Cross was issuing vouchers. I don't have refills for my prescriptions. My husband is trying to get back. He's a retired paramedic for the City of New Orleans Health Department," Ms. Quinlin said.

Tulane Is Silent

Samantha Edwardes of Gardiner's Lane in East Hampton is - or was - a sophomore at Tulane University in New Orleans. She is leaving to attend the University of Colorado at Boulder this week to spend at least the fall semester, "but I feel it's going to be a year. The school hasn't told us anything," Ms. Edwardes said.

About 130 Tulane students have accepted the hospitality of universities that opened their doors to those who were attending college in New Orleans. Ms. Edwardes said she had decided to move on despite the fact that Tulane had still not officially canceled classes.

"I think it will take at least nine months for the city to be pumped out and made safe," she said.

She had driven to New Orleans from New York for the start of school, arriving just two days before Hurricane Katrina blasted ashore.

"I had just moved into my new apartment. I had spent over $1,000 furnishing it. I slept on my mattress once, woke up, and heard the news. The city didn't warn us. They said to leave if we could, but that it was not necessary. I only brought a small bag with me, left on Saturday with the contra-flow - both sides of the highway were going north with police at every on-ramp."

By the time she reached Atlanta, about nine hours later, she realized that Katrina was a Category 5 storm. "I realized we should have boarded up."

According to news reports, the university was not badly damaged, but the sophomore said she had heard nothing about the surrounding area. Her apartment is about three blocks from campus. She has not been able to reach her landlord.

"Everything I own is at my apartment, including photo albums," she said. "I wish I had brought the albums."

Six former presidents of the East Hampton Library's board of managers are questioning the necessity of the proposed children's wing expansion and calling for a publicly elected library board.

In a letter to the board of managers and an advertisement in today's and last Thursday's issues of The East Hampton Star, the six said they were "distressed to see the library embroiled in public controversy" over library legislation that was vetoed last month by Gov. George E. Pataki.

Two of the former presidents, Helen Abel and Eleanor Ratsep, resigned from the board in August after a motion asking for the resignation of the president, Tom Twomey, was voted down. Mr. Twomey admitted at that meeting that he was the only board member who knew in advance about the legislation, which was vehemently opposed by East Hampton Village.

Had the legislation passed, it would have allowed the library to expand by up to 8,000 square feet without a special permit, as is now required under East Hampton Village zoning, thus removing the East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals from the review process for the children's wing.

"Is expansion even necessary?" asked the former board presidents, who have incorporated as Library Taxpayer Advocates. They said children's book circulation was unchanged for 10 years, but declined by 12 percent last year and that adult book circulation was down by 28 percent in 2004. They also noted, however, that Internet use at the library was up by 13 percent in the same period.

While book circulation may be down, overall library use was up last year by 6 percent, Tara D'Amato, the library director, said Tuesday. "Normally in public libraries circulation fluctuates. The modern public library is really an information center. It is not a warehouse of books."

The former board presidents, who also include Alice Ham, Elizabeth Magill, Dorothy Osborn, and Joan Osborne, want the board of the East Hampton Library to face public elections and noted that Southampton, Bridgehampton, and Montauk have publicly elected library boards. Three appointed board members of the John Jermain Library's board in Sag Harbor will step down and be replaced this month by three elected board members.

"The New York State Board of Regents is recommending that those libraries taking public funds have publicly elected boards," the former presidents said in their ad.

The East Hampton Library is not a public library, but a free association library, so is subject to slightly different rules and regulations than public libraries. Its bylaws allow for 25 board members, nominated and elected by the board each May. There are 18 board members at the moment. Mr. Twomey is serving his eighth one-year term as president. Ms. Ratsep, who served before him, was president for seven years, but before that, board presidents had served for only two or three years.

The Library Taxpayer Advocates would like to see term limits, and residency and attendance requirements. They also want to require board members to be registered to vote in the district.

The library's annual budget is paid for with taxpayers' dollars, but its expansions in the past have been covered not by bonds, but by private donations, generally raised through the efforts of board members.

Because taxpayers are not asked to cover capital costs, the East Hampton Library's per capita cost to taxpayers is far less than that of other local libraries, Ms. D'Amato and Mr. Twomey said.

Many libraries raise 90 percent of their budget in taxes. East Hampton raises 70 percent of its budget this way.

"Our board had produced an enormous benefit to taxpayers because of this fiscally conservative approach to operating the library," said Mr. Twomey.

But the Library Taxpayer Advocates say the appointed board is not as accountable to the public as an elected board would be. They are calling the current arrangement "taxation without representation."

Mr. Twomey and Ms. D'Amato say that representation comes in the form of a public referendum on the library budget.

If others on the board agree, Mr. Twomey said he is willing to evaluate the idea of a publicly elected board, but he also sang the praises of the current board, which he said has raised $7 million in the last 10 years in private donations. "About half of that is through the capital campaign that I chaired. My ability and willingness to raise money is part of my value to the library."

"The library is not intending to ask the public for millions of dollars of construction money and that's the only reason I'm still president after eight years, to see if we could raise the money."

The Library Taxpayer Advocates have encouraged people who agree with them to write them or e-mail them at [email protected].

After a heated annual meeting on Aug. 21 at which hundreds of members of the Jewish Center of the Hamptons turned out to support Rabbi David Gelfand, the center's board is considering whether to extend the rabbi's contract, which expires in June, by an additional two years.

The board has until as late as February to make a decision on the matter, but with rumors swirling that it might not extend his term, supporters forced the issue to the table last month.

"The board advised the rabbi in July that a majority of the board did not want to give him a new contract when his present contract expires next year," said Leonard Gordon, a former president of the Jewish Center who still serves on the board. Mr. Gordon and others who support Mr. Gelfand formed a group they called the Committee to Save the Rabbi.

They encouraged people to attend the annual meeting and stand behind the rabbi and have also petitioned, Mr. Gordon said, for a special meeting on Sunday to give the rabbi a three-year contract.

"About 500 people showed up on the day of the [Aug. 21] meeting and they were extremely noisy," said Susan Pashman, a congregation member who also teaches at the Jewish Center. "It was a real zoo. The cantor began the meeting with a song asking for peace."

The center holds its annual meetings in August, when seasonal or weekend congregation members are most likely to be in town, but usually only a dozen or so people attend, Ms. Pashman said. Members authorize board proxies to vote on their behalf on agenda items, rather than vote themselves. Many had sent in their proxies for the Aug. 21 meeting, but decided to attend instead.

The contract was not on the agenda, but was on the minds of those at the meeting.

When Kenneth Bialkin, an honorary trustee of the Jewish Center, made a motion to authorize the board to negotiate an extension of the rabbi's contract, the majority of those in the room were in favor, Mr. Bialkin said Friday. However, many of them had already given their proxies to the board. The motion did not pass at the meeting, but Mr. Bialkin said he believes that after seeing the strong show of support for the rabbi, "the board is taking note that many people in the congregation were upset."

Attorneys for both the board and the rabbi confirmed that the two parties entered into discussions on a contract extension after the meeting. Rabbi Gelfand was out of town and could not be reached for comment. Several board members also declined to comment or did not return calls.

The rabbi's attorney, Michael Weber, said Saturday that the board had resolved some "big-picture issues," but was still "ironing out" some side issues. "I think over all, the tremendous, vast majority of the congregation is 100-percent supportive. Some board members had some concerns," he said.

After a board meeting on Sunday, Laura Hoguet, an attorney for the Jewish Center, said the board has "deferred making a decision pending some issues."

"The board's job is to think about and evaluate the performance of all staff and clergy," Ms. Hoguet said. "The board is taking the time it needs to develop the information it needs to make an informed decision."

According to Mr. Gordon, the board has had five meetings on the matter since Aug. 21. Supporters thought they had worked out a two-year extension, but the board "could not agree." His group has now changed its name to the Committee to Save the Jewish Center.

Ms. Hoguet confirmed that the Jewish Center board had filed a complaint with East Hampton Village Police alleging that a former Jewish Center employee improperly accessed files containing the e-mail addresses of congregation members. East Hampton Village Police Chief Gerard Larsen would not comment on the matter other than to say that it was still under investigation.

"What use was made of the files I don't know, but I would like to know," Ms. Hoguet said. "We are trying to find out what the facts are about that incident. We really don't know what happened."

Mr. Weber said the issue was "whether somebody who had entitlement to that list got it in an appropriate way."

Ms. Hoguet declined to comment on whether the incident is one of the issues keeping the board from making a decision on the rabbi's contract extension.

Some in the congregation are angry that the rabbi earns more than many clerics in the country, Ms. Pashman said. Mr. Weber said he had heard those complaints, as well. However, he said, "My sense is he's actually underpaid, from what he's done in the community he serves."

Rabbi Gelfand came to the Jewish Center in 1997 from Cleveland's Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple, where he was the senior rabbi for almost a decade. For his first year in East Hampton, he was the center's interim rabbi, and in May 1998, he signed a three-year contract to act as the center's spiritual leader.

In the seven and a half years since, he has accomplished much, Mr. Weber said, including expanding the congregation and bringing many internationally renowned speakers to the center. "The rabbi brought all kinds of attention to the center," Mr. Weber said.

"Under New York State law, the board doesn't have power to give any rabbi a contract or to fire any rabbi," Mr. Gordon said. That task rests with the congregation members, he said.

To hold a special meeting, 20 percent of the congregation must sign a petition, Mr. Gordon said. "We have way more than 20 percent."

Mr. Weber said that there are guidelines indicating that clergy who serve a congregation for 10 consecutive years should be given the opportunity to remain with that congregation until their retirement, "but the guidelines are not something that's cast in stone."

"There is such a thing as a life contract, but that was not what was under discussion here," Ms. Hoguet said yesterday.

Besides the devastating human toll of Hurricane Katrina - thousands feared dead, many more left homeless - the storm has paralyzed the country's leading energy hub.

Oil refineries and pipelines in Mississippi and Louisiana and production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, which account for 25 percent of domestic oil production and 10 percent of the nation's oil refineries, were severely damaged by winds and floods. As a result, the price of gasoline and heating oil has gone skyward, and that of other consumer goods, including some foods, is expected to follow suit.

Gas sellers acted swiftly to raise prices on the South Fork last week. On Sunday the gasoline prices at Marshall and Sons in Montauk were $3.90 per gallon for regular and $4.12 for "supreme." Regular was selling for $3.37 there last Thursday.

Regular gasoline cost $2.87 per gallon at the Hess station in Wainscott on Aug. 30 and $3.55 on Tuesday. It was selling for $3.17 a gallon at the Mobil station in East Hampton on Saturday and had gone up to $3.32 a gallon on Sunday.

On Tuesday morning, AAA's daily online survey said that gasoline prices for Nassau and Suffolk Counties averaged $3.33 for regular, which is 79 cents more than one month ago, and $3.64 for premium unleaded, an 87 cent increase.

Cliff Clark, the president of Shelter Island's South Ferry company, said he had no immediate plans to raise fares but that the increase in fuel prices was costing his business an extra $300 per day - a month of which would more than cover the monthly payment for a new ferry.

Mr. Clark remarked on a conversation he had early last week with an acquaintance who owns a gas station. The owner had already raised his prices, even though his first shipment of expensive fuel had yet to arrive. "I think it's despicable," Mr. Clark said. "The 'threat' of high prices is immediately being felt at the pump."

He pointed out on Friday that consumers in the United States have paid far less for gasoline than consumers in Europe and in the Caribbean, where the price per liter (about a quarter of a gallon) is over $4.00. "We as a nation are really being challenged. For so long we've stuck our head in the sand, and now we are paying the price for it."

As it becomes cost-prohibitive for some people to drive, Jennifer Friebely, marketing director of Hampton Jitney, said, she anticipates an increase in ridership. "Gas prices are ridiculously high," she said. To help with conservation, Ms. Friebely said she hoped to encourage "drivers to get on the Jitney and leave their cars at home."

She said she was not sure if the Jitney would raise fares to deflect the higher cost of fuel. "We love our passengers and don't like to do things like that . . . unless it is absolutely necessary."

"We've had to raise our fares," said Wayne Lantini, general manager of Lindy's Taxi in Montauk.

"It seems like every week, we have to raise prices and it really hurts business. People are not tipping like they used to. That extra dollar, which used to go to the driver, is now being used to cover the increased cost of fuel."

"We're dying. Nobody's going prospecting," said Sima Freierman, the general manager of Inlet Seafood in Montauk, referring to the draggers that sail from Inlet's docks.

"Nobody is going looking to find squid. You can't prospect at these prices. The stocks are moving farther offshore this time of year," she said of the commercial fishermen's prey.

"The marginal guys won't make it. Hopefully the price will go down. Suppliers are telling me they will."

On Friday, the commercial captains were paying $2.88 a gallon for diesel fuel - "the highest it's ever been." The price had been $2.58 on Aug. 30.

Ms. Freierman said the fishing fleet would not be able to add a surcharge to cover increased fuel costs as some other businesses have, although she did say that consumers may see higher prices at the cash register if delivery companies pass along a portion of their increased fuel costs.

"The way we raise food is dependent on petroleum," said Brian Halweil of Sag Harbor, a senior food researcher at the World Watch Institute in Washington, D.C. It is estimated that the average food item travels 1,500 miles from source to table, he said, and "an increase in fuel will be reflected in the price of food."

"Supporting local farmers is a lot less fuel-intensive," Mr. Halweil said.

"Because we are closer to the market, shipping less miles, our costs are lower and that should help us," said John Wesnofske of Remi Wesnofske Farms in Water Mill.

As of last week, Mr. Wesnofske said, his farm was packing three tractor-trailers a day, and he had seen an increase in the delivery price the drivers were charging. "The truckers pass it on," he said.

"It's a shame what is happening right now," said Chris Schenck of Schenck Fuels in East Hampton, which supplies home-heating. "We're cutting back on inventory so we don't get stuck with overpriced fuel." Mr. Schenck said he hoped that prices might come down in the next month or so.

"It's not people at this level that are raising prices. It's happening two levels above," he said on Friday. "We are doing what we have to do to survive - our margins are in the gutter."

"Two days ago, we couldn't get gas out. When it finally got here, it was 20 cents more per gallon."

As of Tuesday, according to Mr. Schenck, heating oil cost $2.97 per gallon, up from $2.85 last week and $2.50 two weeks ago. "Last year this time prices were approximately $1.85 per gallon," he said.

Mr. Schenck said customers were trying to get a jump on deliveries and that "we're having a hard time keeping up." The company has instituted an "EZ pay" program, similar to the Long Island Power Authority's "balanced budget" program to help consumers cope with rising heating prices. Last year customers who paid in advance received a 20-cent per-gallon discount, a discount that as of last Thursday had been reduced to 7 cents per gallon.

"We're not like gas[oline] companies," said Meg Zulaski at Pulver Gas in Bridgehampton, which sells propane. "We are paying more to get the same product. We are customers of the refineries."

Ms. Zulaski advised consumers to take certain measures now, such as making sure that their houses are well insulated and budgeting for fuel.

"It's a little early to predict how much prices will be affected by Katrina," she said. "We receive some of our product from there, but it is not the only place."

With Reporting by Russell Drumm

Having heard rumors that the board of the Jewish Center of the Hamptons would not renew Rabbi David Gelfand's contract when it expires in June, over 200 members of the Jewish Center of the Hamptons gathered on the center's lawn on Sunday morning to affirm their support for the rabbi.

At the meeting, in what they believed to be a binding vote, members voted unanimously to give the rabbi a three-year extension of his contract, voting both in person and by proxy. The unofficial tally, according to Leonard Gordon, a board member and one of the meeting's organizers, was 802 in favor of a contract extension.

"It was a very strong statement by the members that they want the rabbi to have a three-year contract," Mr. Gordon said Tuesday. More than 30 of those attending spoke before the vote was taken. "Many people spoke of what the rabbi had done for their marriage or during their illness or time of trouble; of how he made them understand and be proud of Judaism, of how much they learned from the rabbi," Mr. Gordon wrote in a letter to the board's president, Donald Zucker.

Laura Hoguet, the board's attorney, said yesterday that Sunday's meeting was not "called pursuant to the constitution of the Jewish Center" and that the board has no legal obligation to recognize its outcome.

"Under the state law, the board must recommend or approve and the congregation must approve by a majority the termination of the employment of a rabbi or the hiring of a new rabbi," Ms. Hoguet said. "We're not talking about the termination of the rabbi, we're talking about whether to renew his contract. Under the constitution of the Jewish Center and the law of the state, renewal of an existing contract of the rabbi is a matter for the board to decide."

Mr. Gordon interpreted the law differently. "Our position is that the rabbi has now got a three-year legal and binding contract," he said.

Because there was no qualified representative from the board to count them, the ballots are being stored along with the petitions asking for a meeting and the proxies "in a safe place to await a count with a representative or representatives authorized to do so for the board," Mr. Gordon wrote.

In his letter to Mr. Zucker, Mr. Gordon described the events of the meeting and informed the board that members have signed a petition demanding another meeting on Oct. 9 to ratify and confirm the results of Sunday's meeting, direct the board to execute the contract extension, and take other actions "to reestablish a relationship of respect and good will between the rabbi and the board of trustees."

The Oct. 9 meeting would fall between Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new year, and Yom Kippur, the day of atonement.

"We understand that many people went to this meeting looking for information," Barnet Liberman, the chairman of the board's personnel committee, said in a statement issued by Ms. Hoguet. "The board does not want to engage in this controversy before the high holidays, but after the holidays are over the board looks forward to sharing its evaluation [of the rabbi] with the congregation."

"The congregation can't force the board to make a decision on the contract," Ms. Hoguet said. "The people on the board have to act in accordance with their beliefs and their perceptions and their judgment. . . . The board cares about what the congregation thinks. The board cares a great deal about what the congregation thinks, but Mr. Gordon's group of supporters is not representative of the congregation."

The congregation includes about 750 families, Ms. Hoguet said, and generally a family has two votes.

According to Mr. Gordon, the only dispute at Sunday's meeting was whether to get rid of the board or to "convert" its members to "people who would give the rabbi the respect he is entitled to."

"I'm weighted down with the number of olive branches I have extended to the board," he said Tuesday.