Letters to the Editor: 05.05.16

Outpouring of Support

East Hampton

May 2, 2016

To the Editor:

Kudos to all involved in the annual Shoreline Sweep and Great Montauk Clean Up, which took place last Saturday. 

The beaches from Montauk Point to Wainscott were well covered with ample volunteers, and various other locations around town were addressed as well, due to the outpouring of support for these cleanup projects. A special thanks to Dell Cullum for his perseverance in bringing the littering problem facing our town to the forefront.   

A big shout-out to all the volunteers who participate to keep East Hampton Town clean.

LORI SCHULTZ

Guns on a Public Beach

Montauk

April 30, 2016

Dear Editor,

I was walking on the beach at Fort Pond Bay on a beautiful Sunday afternoon two weeks ago when a group of men with shotguns arrived to shoot clays. The people sitting or walking on the beach all left, because who wants to sit on a beach where people are shooting guns? I heard the sound of shooting as I walked to the end of Navy Road and back. They were still at it as I passed by on my way home. Walking on the beach was not a possibility.

I inquired of the East Hampton Town Clerk whether shooting guns on the beach was legal and was told, “They can do it any time.”

Guns are dangerous, people can trip and their gun can go off accidentally, accidents happen with firearms frequently. There is no place for guns on a public beach.

I agree with The Star (“No Longer Appropriate,” editorial April 28). This is no longer an appropriate use of the town beaches, if it ever was.

JOELLE SHALLON 

Supporting Clean Power

Springs

April 28, 2016

Dear David

Would any of us question that the smartest kids in our high school physics classes went to colleges packed with smart people, and that many of the smartest people in those colleges are now working at places like Google, Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon?

Those four companies jointly filed a legal brief in support of President Obama’s Clean Energy Plan that includes this:

“This commitment [to renewable energy] reflects [our] belief that delaying action on climate change will be costly in economic and human terms, while accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy will produce multiple benefits with regard to sustainable economic growth, public health, resilience to natural disasters, and the health of the global environment. It also reflects firsthand experience that developing and using renewable electricity generation is affordable, reliable, and consistent with sound business practices.”

Those of us in business have heard politicians saying that addressing climate change would be bad for business. Is there a businessman in our country more revered than Warren Buffet? Mr. Buffet owns railroads that derive most of their profits from transporting coal. Yet, Mr. Buffet invited the NASA scientist James Hansen to address the annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway on April 30, to talk about the fee-and-dividend approach to addressing climate change as advocated by Citizens’ Climate Lobby. This proposal, over 20 years, has been projected to add to the G.N.P., add 2.8 million jobs to the economy, while reducing emissions by 50 percent versus the status quo.

There has been something of a Mongolian reversal happening that has gone unreported. The party that calls itself the party of business has lost touch with its most sophisticated constituents. The tech companies do not stand alone. Also supporting the Clean Power Plan is a group of 100 iconic American companies, including Starbucks, Nike, Biogen, DuPont, Johnson and Johnson, Kellogg’s, and Levi Strauss. Why the mainstream media does not focus on this when they cover the lawsuit that is holding up the Clean Power Plan, I do not know.

But I do know where to find the antidotes to anti-science. They can be found in our mirrors. Take five minutes, call Congressman Lee Zeldin’s office, and ask him to join the group of courageous members of his party who are responding to their constituents on climate change. Congress does not lead. Congress responds to citizen leadership. That’s why we call them representatives. 

Mr. Zeldin is our only lever on congressional action. If we don’t pull that lever, our complaint about Congress is unearned.

DON MATHESON

Dairy Industry

East Hampton

May 2, 2016

Dear Editor, 

This Mother’s Day, May 8, many of us will celebrate the powerful bond between mother and child. Tragically, the worldwide symbols of motherhood — dairy cows — never get to see or nurture their babies.

Newborn calves are torn from their mothers at birth so we can seize and drink the milk that mother cows produce for them. The powerless, distraught mothers bellow for days, hoping in vain for their babies’ return. The babies are kept alive elsewhere, to soon become veal cutlets.

Dairy cows spend their lives on a concrete floor, chained, with no outdoor access. To maintain their milk flow, they are artificially impregnated each year. Around 4 years of age, their milk production drops and they are turned into hamburgers.

This Sunday, let’s honor motherhood and our natural compassion by refusing to subsidize cruelties of the dairy industry. Let’s replace cow’s milk and its products (laden with fat and cholesterol) with delicious, healthful, cruelty-free nut or soy-based milk, cheese, yogurt, and ice cream offered in every grocery store. Mother cows and our own bodies will thank us. 

Sincerely, 

EDWIN HORATH 

Other People’s Children

Amagansett

April 28, 2016

Dear David, 

To be pilloried as a person of visibly diminished wit and veracity, in my advocacy of affordable housing and education, makes me doubly defensive of my remaining marbles.

I will not apologize for being an advocate for other people’s children. My tax dollar investment in our schools is my legacy and I am proud of it.

I remain, to the best of my awareness, still not cuckoo.

All good things, 

DIANA WALKER

Through the Roof

Amagansett

May 2, 2016

To the Editor:

After careful consideration, we question whether the proposed construction of a 40-unit affordable housing development at 531 Montauk Highway, Amagansett, is in the best interests of the Amagansett community. While affordable housing is important for our community, as it stands today this project creates far more problems than it solves.

An important goal of affordable housing should be to help local residents remain in the community. Unfortunately in this regard, the town’s housing project falls short of the mark. This housing project is a federal project. That means applications will be accepted from individuals and families across the United States, not just in Amagansett or the East End. Our local community members will be competing with individuals far and wide to secure a spot in this development with no guarantee of success. Why isn’t this project guaranteeing to serve our residents most in need?

Then there’s the impact on the Amagansett School District through a sharp increase in tuition payments. A little-known fact is that every school-age child living in Amagansett, even if they don’t attend the elementary school but attend the East Hampton Middle School, high school, or charter school, is paid for by the Amagansett School. These are called tuition payments and are projected to cost the Amagansett School District between $27,350 and $76,310 per student in the 2018-19 school year, depending on the exact services required.

While the district will be able to absorb small fluctuations in the primary grades, the housing project is expected to increase tuition payments by as much as 31 students, in addition to the 15 more students who are currently enrolled in the Amagansett’s system and will be moving into the secondary program. Such a large increase in tuition payments will send Amagansett School District costs through the roof and require an increase in taxes.

In order to pierce the tax cap, a supermajority vote of 60 percent or more will need to be achieved for the budget to pass each and every May. If not approved, the levy increase would be limited to zero percent with all reductions coming from the kindergarten through sixth-grade primary programs, since seventh through 12th-grade tuition costs are fixed. All of these projections do not include the number of additional pre-kindergarten students whom the district will need to absorb. Additionally, these figures do not just represent one year — this will cause budgetary disruptions for years to come.

Some supporters of the housing project have said that residents of Amagansett can easily afford a tax increase. But many working-class families and elderly residents cannot afford a tax increase of any amount, especially an increase of as much as 16.8 per cent projected to cover the increase in student enrollment.

In addition, if enrollment increases are on the high-end of projections, the district would need more instructional space through capital construction. This construction would more than likely be part of a bond project — separately approved by voters and taxed in addition to the current school taxes. The district currently has no vacant classrooms and already utilizes additional areas of the buildings for instruction.

Then there’s the impact on our environment, water quality, and traffic congestion. So far, the town has not released any environmental impact study. Yet a luxury-housing complex, which had a similar level of density on a larger piece of property in the same area, was recently rejected because of environmental concerns. 

Your own paper reported on April 28 about our current water quality crisis on Long Island, and yet so far the housing authority has refused to clearly address these environmental issues. In addition, the housing proposal does not include a traffic light, making an already congested and dangerous portion of the highway even more deadly.

We believe any benefits from this current proposal will be far outweighed by the negatives. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Affordable housing should be and can be good for our entire community. Why not demand that of our elected officials?

Yours sincerely,

RANDI BALL

ANNA BERNASEK

A Brief Visit in Time

Out of watery birth and wintery growth we burst, now free to fly, 

My friends and I.

Joyful, dipping, dancing in the air we swarm.

I am May Fly — of family ephemeradae.

As driven fans in a rave, we thrash and sway rhythmically,

And the gals join in with mosh-pit glee. (Yes, we plan a family.)

My cousin, the dragon, with luminous double wings, patrols the air,

A copter-cop, he flies magnificently! And backwards too! Effortlessly!

So begins our brief season of warmth and sun and shore.

The damsel, shoo, horse, and house‚ clear-winged like I, the May fly.

We swoop and hum and buzz so busily, so urgent in moments to be free.

My nighttime friends gather carelessly, seduced by lights and the glow in celebrity.

They too swirl and dance frenetically, before the party ends.

Albeit brief, our stay sustains the fish, the birds, and, yes, the economy.

Hark! Distant do we hear the hum and drone of more activity?

Now over land do I hear the wump-wump of Sikorsky and the whistles of Lear?

No doubt summer’s coming: we heralds are all here.

Get ready and set. But this too shall pass.

It is, of course, another May fly: a different sort of ephemeradae.

Rejoice. Enjoy! We are braced, but say:

East Hampton (HTO), I’d like to book a summer stay!

BRUCE BLUEDORN

Think Big, Act Bold

Sag Harbor

May 2, 2016

Dear David, 

“Clean Water Is Next Great Battle” (April 28). I concur, but how do we prevail? By having the genuine wherewithal to implement meaningful watershed protection measures. Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone’s announcement to seek voter approval for an ambitious clean water campaign is reason for optimism. While I support Mr. Bellone’s initiative, it’s contingent on bringing forward a legitimate and vetted plan of action. The prescription for restoring our nitrogen-plagued waters is additional sewering and the broad application of alternative treatment technologies. Appropriate approaches, provided there’s technical validation of the proposed remedies. 

While the funding framework has been introduced, there are few details, if any, on the technical aspects. That being said, a comprehensive, transparent, and inclusive vetting process is critical if there’s any hope for voter approval and effective implementation. Suffolk County, as well as East Hampton, must think big and act bold. Half-measures or a conflicted agenda aren’t going to save our local waters. 

This is a unique opportunity to change course on sewage management on the East End. But for this to work, the agenda has to be crystal clear. A muddled plan isn’t going to get it done.

KEVIN McALLISTER

To Get What They Can

Springs

May 2, 2016

Dear David,

Family gone after their break from school and work, and I settled down, finally, to read my bible, The East Hampton Star, on Sunday morning. A slow and thorough reader, I read every line on every page. By the time I got to page A-11, I could feel my spirits sinking below the soles of my shoes. 

What is happening to the town I love in the land I love? Bellone telling us that clean water is it — our greatest jeopardy — while one woman feeling persecuted laments that people are against her plan to devour the land across from the Commons to spit greenbacks into her purse. She even has the nerve to label her project a Gateway. Better, she called it a stopgap as traffic will surely grind to a halt, when yet another store will later lie fallow as time passes. And, David, you put these articles side by side just to do me in. 

This “Gateway” was conceived under the Planned Development District forces along with “The Hills,” Canoe Place Inn, and other sweet development projects, which will only contribute to the news officials like County Executive Bellone are telling us. In the period of 1987 to 2013, nitrogen levels rose 40 percent, and in the deeper Magothy aquifer, nitrogen rose by 80 percent — and that is only nitrogen levels. There was no mention in the articles about volatile organic compounds and phosphorus, which also threaten our potable water and recreational waters. Look at the water bodies right now. Peconic River: No recreating allowed. Wikapogue Pond: Cyanobacteria present. And then there is Georgica Pond, Fort Pond, Lake Montauk, and on and on. 

Well, who cares anyway? Not the Principis, fighting with the Z.B.A. because they are still looking to establish a formula store by the name of 7-Eleven to slow down any traffic that might have, by remote chance, gained some momentum, and, by the way, increase pollution. Our Suffolk County air is also the worst compared to others in the area. People are still screaming against the at-long-last rental registry, designed to decrease the single-family home being used as a motel.

Everyone looking to get what they can out of this place, because they have yet to figure out that what makes the East End so valuable is what they are bound and determined to destroy. Tim Bishop once said it to me best: “Pristine beaches, clean waters, and vistas to look out over.”

Think next week I’ll skip to the Arts and Living section.

PHYLLIS ITALIANO

These Penta Poles

East Hampton

May 2, 2016

Dear David:

With reference to the article about the PSEG-LI proposal to the Town of East Hampton board members to replace 25 percent of the utility poles throughout the town, and subsequent letters to the editor in The Star last week, I would like to add the following. 

On April 25, I wrote to Supervisor Larry Cantwell and members of the board outlining some suggestions and recommendations that I felt were necessary, and asked them to consider before they vote on whether to accept PSEG’s offer to replace these poles with ones that are taller, wider, dug deeper, and will be coated with either penta or CCA — both toxic poisons that coat the exterior of the poles to protect the wood from deteriorating.

In PSEG’s presentation to the town board, they mentioned that some of the existing poles might be as old as 40 years, and their concern was that they might fall down during a storm. First and foremost, 25 percent seems to be a very large amount, and I think it is important for PSEG to give us a more exact count of how many poles they are actually planning to replace before any consideration is made of this proposal.

I think it is extremely important that the town board make available to the public the “circuit map” presented at the work session, so that homeowners can see how and if this will affect their homes and streets, their health, well-being, and property values. I suggested a townwide notification with detailed information, and a scheduled forum for residents to speak out before any vote is taken on this proposal, so that residents are not blindsided by the enormity of this program — where their onlynotice is a letter in the mail from PSEG a few days before these penta poles hit our streets.

I believe we should say no to penta and CCA! Our health and groundwater are vitally more important than the possibility of a downed pole in a storm. I recommended that PSEG document any and all downed poles from the last 10 years in the town, in order for our board to get a better perspective of what the probability is, because I believe PSEG is creating fear of downed poles to push their agenda.

Also, the town board should demand that PSEG plant screening around the Amagansett substation now, this month, and complete it by Memorial Day weekend. Do not let it get away with any excuses as to why it is not planting as planned, regardless of whether its work is completed inside the fencing or not — even if it feels it has “missed the planting season.” If it has to rearrange the plantings or add to them when it has finished building this eyesore, then so be it. Any excuse it gives is not acceptable. Landscapers do this all the time.

As a resident of East Hampton, I vote to keep our existing poles for now, and only replace a pole that is in jeopardy with a untreated pole. Hopefully, in just a few short years from now, as we continue to get wiser and achieve our clean-energy goals, we will not need these toxic poles that last upward of 40-plus years, because we will be able to remove the existing poles by burying the lines and/or replace wood poles with composites (saving thousands of trees) as new technology pushes PSEG out of the Dark Ages.

BETSY PETROSKI

Young Donald Trump

Montauk

May 1, 2016

Dear David:

I hear that a brilliant new musical has just opened on Broadway at the Schoenfeld Theater. From what I have been told, the main character is very closely based on the young Donald Trump, as the man from Queens seeks to gain acceptance in the rarefied milieu of Manhattan society. In a lighthearted manner, the musical chronicles his yearnings and misogynistic high jinks as he makes his way in the world. Apparently the musical goes a long way to explain Mr. Trump’s love of women and his obsession with big hands and blood. 

The play is “American Psycho,” and I am really looking forward to seeing it. It should be a hoot.

Cheers,

BRIAN POPE

China With a Drawl

East Hampton

May 1, 2016

To the Editor:

Perhaps the nadir of sucking blood is when leeches are found on month-old corpses, trying to find one last drop that might have been hidden under a layer of fat. Thinking that even dead bodies have more value than turning to dust. Or, in other words, the brilliant conservative idea of right-to-work states, where states can compete with each other to pay the lowest wages with the fewest benefits and security possible. 

Under the guise of reining in union dues obligations to workers in union shops, it parallels the idea of shipping jobs to China and Mexico. But instead of shipping jobs abroad, it eviscerates the domestic job market by depressing worker compensation, striving to reach the lowest level possible through competition, or free-market ideology.

No one denies the impact of certain trade agreements on domestic industries. But the real problem is not the trade agreements but the inaction on the part of the governments and their supporters to offer mitigating options to ease the burdens and transition into other areas of work. There are no unintended consequences, only unintended palliatives. The scheme of outsourcing production to allow for cheaper products and greater profits not only debilitates domestic industries, but serves as a source of lower-cost goods and services, to allow for workers whose wages and benefits have been cut away or substantially reduced.

Lowering the level of people’s aspirations by limiting their ability to purchase goods and services without debt. Forcibly lowering standards of living and then providing crap to replace products that had become too expensive. Redefining the American dream and giving it a downward trajectory.

Yet, using trade agreements was insufficient to transfer wealth from the middle class to the top. Competition between states, under the pretense of right to work, finished off U.S. workers. How low can you go, was the motto. Come to Texas, where you could pay $7.25 an hour with no health care, no retirement, no paid vacation, no arbitration. The dream turned nightmare. Wiped out 35 years of gains and benefits. Texas was almost China with a drawl.

How does one talk about the $7.25 minimum wage without insulting, disparaging, and vilifying U.S. businesses and politicians? The wealthiest country in the world (cost of living and benefits considered) has a minimum wage that equates somewhere between Uzbekistan’s and Kenya’s. If one looks at the M.I.T. cost-of-living calculator (M.I.T. is the most prestigious econometric center in the world), $7.25 is three to four times lower than the minimum wage necessary for the most minimal existence. It translates to the U.S. as being a country of psychotic cheapskates.

Accepting our true nature as blood-sucking psychotics is a huge leap for a country that prides itself as the greatest in the world. We need to understand that we began our experiment with indentured servants and slave labor, and have resisted changing that dynamic. Were the 35 years after World War II an aberration, or have we simply gone off course? Unfortunately, only Bernie even poses the question.

NEIL HAUSIG

 

Thirty Hours a Week

East Hampton

May 1, 2016

Dear Editor,

This was on “60 Minutes” last week: Our Congress members must make phone calls for money. They must use 30 hours a week to do this. The Republicans and Democrats have buildings across from the Capitol, where they make these calls. If they need to put in 30 hours a week, when do they work for their constituents? They are only in Washington three days a week, with time off for travel and weekends at home.

Now I know why nothing is done about the needs of our government. It may be time for term limits, not phone calls.

JULIA KAYSER