Letters to the Editor: 01.19.17

Wasteful in the Extreme

East Hampton

January 15, 2017

To the Editor:        

Among the encouraging developments in the wake of November’s election is that state and local governments have indicated a willingness to address issues that the new Congress and president-elect will likely not. Among these issues is climate change.

I would like the East Hampton Village Board, the Chamber of Commerce, and individual village shopowners to consider a small but significant step that they might take.

We are told to expect the likelihood of power shortages this summer. The practice of leaving shop doors open on hot summer days in an attempt to lure passers-by with the promise of an air-conditioned interior is wasteful in the extreme. Furthermore, if you have ever driven down Long Lane on a hot day and looked out across the fields you will notice a large dark plume rising from the auxiliary generator located on Cove Hollow Road. These generators kick in when demand increases. The particulate matter from these diesel-powered generators is unhealthy to breathe, and the fumes have contributed to an increase in the number of air quality alerts issued for our area in recent years.

I urge the Chamber of Commerce to encourage its members to exercise responsible restraint this summer, and I urge the village trustees to consider a combination of incentives to persuade otherwise uncooperative shopowners and managers to do their part in this important local, national, and global effort.

DAVID M. DOUGLAS

 

Without Notice

Amagansett

January 12, 2017

Dear Editor;

I often watch the East Hampton Town Trustees’ meetings on television, and in October while I was watching a meeting, James Grimes (trustee member) was reporting to Chairman Francis Bock that someone had done a bid wrong and that something should be done about it. He mentioned no names. 

Fast-forward to Monday morning Jan. 10. I received a call from Pat Mansir, a trustee and also a member of the Independence Party, that Francis Bock, clerk of the trustees, had called her that morning to tell her that she would not be reappointed to the position of trustee clerk, which she had held for a year, because of the accusations that Mr. Grimes had made in October because of the bid process. The trustee organizational meeting for 2017 was at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 10, the same day.

I understand that the trustees have a right to appoint anyone they want as the three trustee clerks, but I also thought that people have the right to face their accusers for something that they had been accused of. I also thought that someone should be given at least more than the five hours that Pat Mansir was given in that phone call. I would think that the trustee board would have met and explained to Pat what she had been accused of, instead of back-room discussions behind her back, coming to the conclusion that she should be removed. So much for the promised transparency.

Pat Mansir has apparently been accused of allegedly opening bids alone (not true, according to trustee secretary and to documents with signatures available in trustee office); alleged private meetings, etc., all of which Pat stated was not true at the meeting on Jan. 10. James Grimes (Republican) then proceeded to nominate Rick Drew (Democrat) for the position of trustee clerk to replace Pat. Instead of the Democrat-controlled trustee board verifying the accusations against Pat Mansir and defending her, they allowed James Grimes to do this. They sat in silence.

I am very disappointed that the Democrat-controlled trustee board that has only been in power for a year and still apparently learning would seem to allow gossip, innuendos, and alleged lies that could possibly ruin someone’s reputation happen without notice to the public they serve.

After watching the trustee board at home on television for a year, it has become apparent to me that perhaps Mr. Grimes only uses his aggressive behavior at the two women on the board, Pat Mansir and Diane McNally, especially after Mr. Grimes left a huge dilapidated duck blind outside Pat’s backdoor for half the summer for whatever reasons, unknown to Pat Mansir.

Unfortunately, is it possible that James Grimes is setting the stage for the November 2017 elections for East Hampton Town Trustee to get Pat Mansir out of the way? After all, she was the second highest vote-getter in the 2015 trustee election.

Sincerely yours,

ELAINE JONES

Chairwoman

East Hampton Independence Party

To Show Art Movies

Springs

January 12, 2017

Dear David,

An idea is being floated on Facebook to begin a letter-writing campaign re the East Hampton cinema using one of its theaters to show art movies. I suggest the one upstairs.

Still hoping that Sag Harbor will be able to rebuild, somehow.

SUZANNE SYLVOR

In Good Sport

Amagansett

January 9, 2017

Dear David,

Pork chops!

Yours in good sport,

Capt. Harvey L.Bennett

Free Health Insurance

East Hampton

January 12, 2017

Dear Editor,

 With a Republican Congress bent on depriving 22 million Americans of medical insurance, this is a great time to provide our own, totally free and totally effective health insurance — a plant-based diet. 

A study with 131,000 participants, in last year’s Internal Medicine magazine, found that consumption of animal protein is associated with higher risk of death. A couple dozen other massive studies in the past four decades had similar findings. None reached opposite conclusions. 

According to the National Institutes of Health, 1.4 million, or 68 percent, of identified U.S. deaths are attributed to heart disease, stroke, cancer, or diabetes, linked conclusively with the consumption of animal products. The cost of medical care was estimated by N.I.H. at $3 trillion in 2014, or $24,000 per household, and rising at 6.5 percent annually — nearly four times the rate of inflation. Incredibly, this amount rivals our national budget and represents 17.5 percent of our gross domestic product. Even so, it does not include the costs of lost productivity, disability, and premature death. 

We have little control over the national cost of medical care. But each of us has a great deal of control over our household’s $24,000 share every time we visit the grocery store.

EDWIN HORATH

Inauguration Celebration

Springs

January 16, 2017

To the Editor:

The recent election was certainly more rancorous and divisive than most. And much of the resulting anger, frustration, and vituperation is clearly still with us.

Tomorrow night, the East Hampton Republican Committee will host an inauguration celebration at the American Legion in Amagansett. Yes, we will be celebrating the victories of Donald Trump and Lee Zeldin over their Democratic opponents. 

But we will also be celebrating the fact that once again, unlike what happens in so many countries, a peaceful exchange of the instruments of national power will take place from one leader to another, from one party to another. Once again, the issue has been decided by ballots, not bullets. For that alone, we should all be thankful to those who came before us and bequeathed us this magnificent nation.

I don’t imagine there will be many people from the losing side at our event, but I urge everyone to keep these thoughts in mind tomorrow. And if you do stop by to wish us and the new government well, I may just buy you a drink to toast this wonderful country of ours.

May God continue to bless the United States of America.

REG CORNELIA

Chairman

East Hampton Town 

Republican Committee

Monumental Occasion

Springs

January 13, 2017

To the Editor:

It’s true that this town is two-to-one Democrats-everyone else, but that’s no reason for everyone else, including disaffected Democrats who went to the polls and pulled the lever for drastic change, not to celebrate the peaceful transition of power tomorrow night at the American Legion Post in Amagansett. 

I’m going. I received a lovely invitation via Facebook, and I know folks are spreading the word via social media. (See facebook.com/EHNYGOP or email [email protected].)

Just $50 for an evening to celebrate this monumental occasion? Light food, wine, beer, balloons, confetti, maybe a little dancin’, and a chance to congratulate fellow citizens who exercised their right to vote in the greatest country on earth? Count me in.

LYNNE W. SCANLON

What He Doesn’t Say

Amagansett

January 11, 2017

Dear David,

George Watson wrote that the United States “gave Israel $38 billion.” The actual number is around $3 billion for the year 2017. 

What he doesn’t say is that 75 percent of this amount must be spent in the United States. This includes joint research projects such as the Iron Dome defense system, which will protect the West Coast from North Korean rockets should they be fired at us. 

ROBERT WEISBERG