Editorials

No matter what the project is, there are always going to be people opposed to it. It is just human nature to watch out for one’s own interests, to suggest that new infrastructure and essential services are fine as long as they are put somewhere else.

Something had to be done. The North Main Street bridge had only 10 feet of clearance beneath it, and the one at Accabonac about three inches less than that.

As evidenced by the police-blotter stories in the South Fork newspapers, spray-painted swastikas have turned up with some regularity over the years here — at the Old Whalers Church in Sag Harbor, written in shaving cream on Newtown Lane in East Hampton on Halloween, and on a soccer team photograph at East Hampton High School, among other places.

A new sewage treatment system may be installed at a public restroom at the edge of Herrick Park in East Hampton Village using money from the community preservation fund, which should give both environmentalists and good government observers pause.

Why the United States has remained in a state of war in Afghanistan for 18 years is not clear. It is not clear to the American people. Nor is the purpose clear to U.S. military and Foreign Service leadership, much less Congress. We were lied to.

East Hampton Town's citizens advisory committees seem to have forgotten that their roles are as advisers, not decision makers.

An early snow remained yesterday morning, thinly painting the Mulford Farmhouse roof and Village Green in white. Highway Department workers have been wiring the temporary firs on Main Street and Newtown Lane. The guy with the holiday light show in the back of his pickup truck has been out once again, new and improved with blinking LEDs making patterns as he rolls through town at dusk. Just like that, a Christmas feeling comes to East Hampton. How quickly the year turns.

As the House Judiciary Committee takes over the process of impeachment looming over the Trump presidency, one central figure with strong East End ties will almost surely not appear at any hearing, though his actions are close to the core of the allegations. This is a person whom many on the South Fork social scene have sat next to at a benefit or lifted a glass with at an informal dinner. Unlike Paul Manafort, who has family here and had owned a Water Mill house that helped him launder millions in illegal foreign payments, Rudolph Giuliani, a part-time Bridgehampton resident, could be considered a regular on the circuit. How he went from an apparently mild-mannered former New York City mayor and Hamptons summer hobnobber to someone making a mockery of both the legal profession and democracy itself is a matter of speculation.

Sympathy for a Cooper Lane couple whose house may soon be over-loomed by an extra-tall utility pole should lead to action by PSEG-Long Island to find another location.

An extraordinary lineup of women running things gathered earlier this month to share the message with high school girls that they, too, can make a difference.

Food grown on the East End of Long Island will fill many tables here this week. Traditional Thanksgiving dinners include many of the staples long grown here, and increasingly, a dazzling variety of meat, vegetables, and beer and wine from these parts will be served as well. Though it may be less than a passing thought as we tuck into the first courses, there is a remarkable struggle behind each of the local foodstuffs.

In the House of Representatives impeachment hearings so far, a valuable lesson has stood out: the dignity of the members of the United States Foreign Service who have appeared as witnesses. Starting with George Kent, the senior State Department member in charge of Ukrainian relations, and William Taylor, the acting ambassador to Ukraine, American television viewers, as well as those listening on radio or live stream, were reminded of the professionalism and dedication that is the hallmark of public service at its best.

Now that Election Day has passed, perhaps East Hampton Town can return to the question of a new, centralized shellfish hatchery on a site off Gann Road at Three Mile Harbor in a less politicized atmosphere.

Members of the East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals had had enough. Late last month, they vetoed a request from the owner of a Georgica Pond-front house to legalize a number of changes that had taken place without the board’s okay.

For the most part, the now-mandated low-nitrogen septic systems being installed on eastern Long Island work as promised. The big if is whether they will deliver on the environmental improvements.

In March, the swallows come back to the cliffs of Capistrano, and in November the scallops come back to the dredges in the Peconic Bays and the suppers of the salivating. Until they don’t.

Far be it for a newspaper to encourage its readers often to turn on the television, but this is an extraordinary time in the history of the United States.

What town government really may need are views from the left — a more liberal, more pro-environment and anti-growth point of view.

Affordable housing, a recurrent campaign theme in East Hampton elections, is a bitter paradox. As the total number of vacation houses climbs upward, there are fewer and fewer places for year-round residents and the seasonal work force to live.

David Gruber makes a good case for himself — for some public role, but not the role of town supervisor. Foremost among our concerns is his temperament: We have never known Mr. Gruber to admit he has been wrong, and he can be relentless in his attacks on those who differ with him. These are not helpful qualities in an elected official, much less the de facto leader and chief spokesperson for the town. A supervisor must be not just a combatant, but a skillful peacemaker, too.

East Hampton Town Justice Lisa R. Rana has two hurdles to overcome in Tuesday’s election: her failed Democratic primary challenge in June and her entanglement with David Gruber’s rather malicious campaign for supervisor.

The opposition is correct that the Democratic Party’s hold on the East Hampton Town Board can lead to a shortfall in critical thinking. The question is whether the challengers are up to the job of mixing things up.

East Hamptoners and a number of town trustee candidates agree that the panel’s terms of office should be staggered so that voters are not asked to decide among 18 or more hopefuls for nine seats. If that were to happen, it would be too late for this year, of course, so we have our picks. Here they are in the order their names appear on the ballot: Francis Bock, Bill Taylor, David Talmage, Susan McGraw Keber, Tim Garneau, John Aldred, Stephen Lester, Mike Martinsen, and Jim Grimes.

For waterfront property owners and upland town residents alike, participation in this and upcoming sessions should be a priority.

One of the surest ways to instantly tell if someone was born and bred out here is to note how he or she refers to the neck of land between Accabonac Creek and Three Mile Harbor.

New York likes to think it is first in almost everything, but in adopting an early voting procedure, it ranks 38th among the states. Better late than never, as the cliché goes; however, early voting will be allowed this year for the first time.

Between unsolicited cellphone calls and hard-to-get-rid-of computer popups, it’s a wonder that any of us come out whole at the end of a day.

Here we go again. Representative Lee Zeldin is out front in his support of President Trump, dismissing as phony a serious impeachment inquiry based on credible allegations.

With less than a month to go before Election Day, East Hampton voters have some difficult choices to make. The toughest among them, however, might be on the town trustees portion of the ballot. We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: It’s high time the venerable elected body with nine members adopted staggered terms.

It is movie time again in East Hampton. Next Thursday at Guild Hall, the Hamptons International Film Festival officially opens with the screening of “Just Mercy.” From then until the afternoon of Oct. 14, it will be a cinephile’s delight, with dozens of features and short films, as well as talks and parties, from all over the world and homegrown directors, writers, and producers, famous and not so famous. With this much to choose from in a short few days, just choosing what to see can seem daunting. Tickets have gone on sale, and while some of the biggest titles might be sold out, there are always plenty of other choices.