Editorials

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.