Letters to the Editor: 06.22.17

Neighbors in Need

Springs

June 14, 2017

To the Editor:

I am very impressed with the work of the Wounded Warriors organization. Their fund-raising for returned soldiers, especially those who have serious service-related disabilities, provides critical support and motivation. The tireless efforts of the volunteer army make us all proud of how “just plain folks” can take care of neighbors in need all over the country.

Nevertheless, I remain appalled that such civilian care is called for. Why do these young men and women need the help of their neighbors? Why are the Defense Department, the War Department, Homeland Security, Veterans Affairs, or any of the numerous parts of our bloated government not involved with taking care of the corporeal and psychological needs of the people we have sent in our name to some far corner of the earth?

How can anyone defend giving one more penny to a defense industry asset vacuum when these volunteers of America come home damaged? Our battlefield medical interventions have far outpaced our home-based ability, or is it willingness, to provide the needed care? 

The volunteer army has not given up its rights to fair treatment. We are keeping our killed-in-action numbers down — but between the veteran suicides and the quiet desolation that many needy combat vets are not being treated fairly. Where will we get the money to care for these people? From the same deep pockets of those who sent them to fight. 

The Wounded Warrior organization does great work. But they shouldn’t have to.

PETER FITZGERALD

Really Quiet

East Hampton

June 16, 2017

Dear Editor,

I just wanted to report that the last five days have been the quietest I can remember in a long, long time! From June 10 through the 14, I have not been assailed by a constant barrage of leaf  blowers, yard-vacs, and other such nerve-racking equipment. They haven’t been absent, to be sure, but they have been so intermittent as to be more than tolerable, and I want to thank everyone — the yard companies, the village police, and the homeowners — who made this possible. 

I don’t know if this will continue, but if it does, it will be the first really quiet summer we’ve had in over 30 years in my area. Even if the respite ends as soon as I send this letter, I just want everyone to know how much I appreciate the result. Hopefully I’m not alone in this gratitude, but if I am, so be it. And let this letter stand as proof that I can find a positive (when there is one to be found). 

As always, thanks for reading. And again, thanks for the peace. 

MATT HARNICK

Hunting Is Necessary

Amagansett

June 19, 2017

Dear David,

I was away when the botanist Tom Rawinski visited East Hampton to assess the condition of our forests earlier this month, so he sent me an email summarizing his findings: East Hampton’s forests are in perilous condition due to overbrowsing by deer.

Tom has visited or worked in our forests since 1983, and he describes their deterioration in his letter — from a “verdant paradise” with no ticks, when Larry Penny showed him sandplain gerardia at Ditch Plain in 1983, to “about the worst” in the Northeast today.

Tom states starkly that East Hampton’s forests “will disintegrate into huckleberry scrub and weedy thickets,” with very few or no trees, unless we reduce — not eliminate — the population of deer. The landscape of scrub and weed thickets that Tom describes is a very real possibility and has occurred in other parts of the world where deer have lived without predators in recent generations. And yet he also notes that in Southold and on Shelter Island, our neighbors are beginning to reverse this decline.

The places Tom visited here (the Grace Estate, Gabrielle’s Path, Cathy Lester/Soak Hides, and Grassy Hollow) have very little forest understory left to replace existing trees as they age and die out, or are damaged by storms, disease, or pests. All the plants, animals, birds, and insects that occupy the forest understory have declined as well and eventually will disappear along with the trees. So much of our biological heritage and the beauty of East Hampton’s landscapes will be lost.

In his letter, Tom asks whether East Hampton will ever “have the stomach” for taking the steps necessary to reverse the decline of its forests and the impact on human health of the proliferation of tick-borne diseases and deer-vehicle collisions. In a community where animal rights advocates protect a single species (deer) so effectively, acceptable solutions (e.g., fencing) are limited. I believe a robust and coordinated hunting program is necessary.

In East Hampton today, bow-and-arrow hunters spend multiple hours each fall silently observing nature from tree stands. Like the founders of the modern conservation movement, who experienced nature through hunting, hunters can be an important part of the solution for restoring deer densities to ecosystem-friendly levels today. Many of the steps needed to do this were outlined in the town’s 2013 Deer Management Plan. And if more private property owners grant access to hunters during the fall hunting season, much could be accomplished.

Tom concluded his email thus: “To place the well-being of fellow citizens and nature above personal wants — for the sake of the greater good — speaks highly of a culture that is socially and environmentally responsible.”

What other choices are there if we want to save East Hampton’s forests and reverse the decline Tom so poignantly observes?

Yours truly,

JULIE SAKELLARIADIS

Incomplete and Biased

East Hampton

June 13, 2017

To the Editor,

First, I wish to publicly commend East Hampton School Board member Jackie Lowey for courageously voting at the June 6 meeting against the district’s inaccurate, obviously slanted environmental quality review report. That report, bought and paid for by the district, was an incomplete and biased account, wrongfully approved by the other six members of this board. 

We realize that members of a board can be leaned on, for the sake of solidarity, to go along with questionable or unreasonable ideas, and therefore it’s refreshing to see a member of our school board take the ethical road and vote against the acceptance of an obviously flawed SEQRA report. 

At the May 2 board meeting, the attorney for the Cedar Street Committee publicly submitted to the board a report which comprehensively and scientifically spells out clear potential dangers attached to the board’s plan, documenting — among other major concerns — compromised safety of neighborhood drinking water. 

Those board members who voted in favor of the deficient plan are disregarding that vital information, clearly presented to them, about the strong possibility of an environmental accident on the proposed bus depot site on Cedar Street. Such an accident could permanently imperil the quality of water supplied to thousands of people in this community. 

At that board meeting, it was pointed out to the board that the Suffolk County Water Authority is extremely concerned about potential contamination of the local water supply by a bus depot and fueling center on Cedar Street. Since the Water Authority’s wells are only 1,350 feet from the proposed bus depot and fueling center on Cedar Street, the authority strongly suggests that water in the area be continually monitored by a new “sentry” well, to be placed halfway between the depot and fuel site and the nearby OakView Highway. 

The purpose of the sentry well would be to continually test the water in the “capture zone” in the Cedar Street area, so that the water authority could be alerted in a timely manner to increasing levels of poison in the water supply of thousands of East Hampton residents. For the board to take a chance on that strong potential for the bus depot and fueling station to leach dangerous levels of toxins and poisons — propane, diesel fuel, waste oil, motor oil, coolants, de-icing salts — into the area’s water supply would be quite a gamble. A gamble the taxpayers are unwilling to pay for.  

Mistakes happen, and all it takes is one mistake — one distracted, perhaps overtired worker to accidentally pour a toxic liquid down a drain. It happens. Can you guarantee to the community that it won’t? Despite all of the precautions, policies, and procedures put into place to try to prevent such accidents, they happen. In fact, they have already happened right here on the proposed Cedar Street site. 

The SEQRA report that the board paid for was grievously incomplete on many extremely relevant issues affecting the community, including poisoned water, noise, and traffic. The report also omitted other important, specific information about the proposed facility, such as lighting, engine block heaters, parking spaces, and a septic system, and any planned footprint. However, one thing it was forced to include is the contamination history on the site. There have already been two spills, sufficiently serious to require reporting to the D.E.C., at the Cedar Street site. The first, D.E.C. number 070589, was “closed” on Oct. 22, 2007. The second spill, closed on Dec. 28, 2009, was D.E.C. number 0208933. 

This board claims to have the public’s interest at heart, and presumably wouldn’t do anything to hurt any child or student in this school district. Yet in spite of their spill history involving the D.E.C. — and against the advice of experts including the Water Authority — it proposes to gamble with the health of East Hampton’s taxpayers by unnecessarily jeopardizing their water supply and to gamble with the well-being of each and every child served by the East Hampton School District. 

JOHN COSSENTI

No Hell Here

Bridgewater, N.J.

June 13, 2017

To the Editor, 

It is very hard to balance all the time on your foot, you could lose balance and God forbid, fall?

A “low point” in her Memorial Day weekend, I guess it is all about herm on Memorial Day and not those interred heroes who gave you the opportunity to voice your disrespectful opinion on such a patriotic day. Shame on you.

I think you are referring to the left coast. No hell here, only in your mind. Noise? Pollution? Traffic okay. Police do a great job. Fake news? The answer is yes.

I am suggesting to East Hampton elected politicians that a United States Marine Corps recruiting booth be present on the Montauk town square next Memorial Day, I am sure you would back that!

EUGENE KIRKWOOD

U.S.M.C. Captain/Inactive

Vigilant Stewards

Springs

June 13, 2017

To the Editor:

This past week it was stated in The East Hampton Star that the “consultants hired by the town to study its economic picture report that 63 percent of houses in East Hampton Town belong to second-home owners who, in 2015, paid 72 percent of the property taxes.” 

For some, that means that we should accommodate the needs and wants of the second-home owner since they help pay the bills, even when doing so damages our quality of life. One person in attendance commented that we should “get over” trying to restrict usage at the East Hampton Airport. This statement shocked me and was an insult to those who have homes on the airport’s flight path and suffer continuously with the noise from planes and helicopters.

We, the year-round residents with our primary homes in East Hampton, must act as vigilant stewards of this land, water, air, and lifestyle that attracted second-home owners to buy here and for us to remain here. We are about 130 miles from Midtown Manhattan, the financial capital of the world. East Hampton offers a bounty of beauty and pleasures that speak to people of all ages and interests, and it is just three hours away for those seeking a quick getaway. That is why second-home buyers and vacationers come here, not because we permit them to use the airport as they please.

If we allow our environment and our quality of life to decline, the second-home buyers will go elsewhere, our homes will lose value, and the lifestyle that gives us comfort will end. If we allow the quality of our environment to decline, so will economic conditions, as there is a direct relationship between the two.

What we have here is very fragile, and we must remain uncompromising in our protection of it.

FRANK RIINA

Planners’ Mentality

Wainscott

June 19, 2017

Dear David,

Your June 8 editorial concerning the hamlet studies should raise the alarm. The challenge to the “environmentally and infrastructurally” fragile area has monumentally destructive implications that affect us all. Just the water supply alone is a red flag waving. Traffic nightmares exist beyond comprehension. The planners’ agenda? Widen and add more roads. They move on to destroy another area, and we are left with the wreckage. “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead” mentality is not needed or wanted here. Get it? Elections are coming and closed eyes and ears need to be opened wide.

These planners have a sole focus on development. They are clueless to our way of life and what we cherish. Looking at the models such as the proposed housing in the Amagansett I.G.A. front parking lot on Montauk Highway is head-scratching. Wainscott is head-shaking.

More retail shops in a seasonally dependent economy of second homes (see Newsday) is confusing — and never mentioning the covered store windows in winter.

The intent is to make this wonderful place we live and treasure a photocopy of Islip, Smithtown, Patchogue, Route 58 in Riverhead, and other areas that are turned into a commercial wasteland. We already have seen Home Goods and CVS monstrosities on Montauk Highway as one travels east. This is what will happen!

You mention the end result, heaped on the once peaceful Montauk. What you expose is like a railroad spike, where a thumbtack will suffice.

Every single item you exposed and its implications are fearful. The old adage, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, with strip-like development. I don’t care how many benches and plants they install. That is the planners’ mentality: “Build, baby, build.” Short-term visions prevail and then the wasteland consumes.

It is we who determine what “we” want. The Star has returned to highlighting the community-concerned issues that confront us. If we wanted to live like the rest of Suffolk and Nassau County we would move there. The end is coming, if we allow this to prevail.

ARTHUR J. FRENCH

Town Board Candidates

Springs

June 19, 2017

Dear David,

As a Democratic Committee member, I have also served on the screening committee for many rounds of choosing the candidates that will run in an upcoming election. This year, after a long process where we examined many potential individuals, our candidates to be on the town board are Peter Van Scoyoc as supervisor, and Kathee Burke-Gonzalez and Jeff Bragman for board members.

As someone who has served on both the planning and zoning boards, as well as serving two terms on the town board, there was no question that Van Scoyoc was the best and is a superlative choice. Seeking her second term, Kathee Burke-Gonzalez has proven her worth in ll the many aspects of her service over the last three and a half years. 

Many potential candidates came before our committee ready to throw their hats in the ring. We chose Jeffery Bragman, a prominent lawyer in town, who has fought the good fight in so many instances in his efforts to keep East Hampton a great place to live. As he said recently at an event, “I never got rich, I got involved.”

Our committee very carefully considered our options. We wanted people who represented true democratic values, who were able to continue with the type of cooperative give-and-take that produces the kind of tenor we have seen in the years under Larry Cantwell’s leadership, which has made incredible progress through the process of building consensus.

Don’t be fooled by any who wish glory for themselves. We see what that has done to our nation.

PHYLLIS ITALIANO

 

Receiving, Defending

Amagansett

June 14, 2017

Dear David, 

Receiving:

1. “But this is a Montauk thing, why do you care?”

2. “You’re supporting local Republican candidates for trustee? You’re a Democrat!”

3. “You people are messy and you drink too much” (I was hanging out with some beautiful children).

Defending:

1. I do live in Amagansett, but I define my community concerns as being a bit broader.

2. Some Republican candidates are, in my view, better suited for the job.

3. “Us” people are very pleased to live in a country whose First Amendment to our Constitution gives people like you the right to be a jerk!

DIANA WALKER

Bipartisan Compromise

Springs

June 19, 2017

Dear David,

The events which occurred in Washington this week are troubling.

A man who identified himself as a Democratic Party/Bernie Sanders supporter angry with President Trump and Republicans unleashed a barrage of gunfire at Republican members of Congress as they held a baseball practice for a Republican-Democrat charity game. The House majority whip, Steve Scalise, and four others, including two capitol police officers assigned to Scalise’s security detail, were injured. Congressman Scalise, at the time of my writing, is in critical condition. The gunman, James T. Hodgkinson, a 66-year-old unemployed home inspector from southern Illinois, died after the two wounded police officers were able to engage the gunman.

People are driven by many things, and unfortunately not all those things are for a good cause. During my 33 years in public service as a police supervisor helping those in society who are most vulnerable and diminished in mental capacity due to mental illness, I understand better than most how people are driven to do horrific acts. Clearly the gunman was suffering from mental illness and driven by the constant over-the-top hate speech leveled against President Trump, his family, and Republicans.

What I have always found troubling is the vitriolic level to which some politicians and political operatives of both parties, entertainment personalities including those in the media, and members of our society have turned political, religious, and other nonpolitical ideology into a cause of hate to promote violence against anyone that would have a difference of opinion.

If history has shown us anything, we have seen time and time again how oppressive governments, religions, and other ideologies lead to nothing more than hardship, misery, destruction, and death. Today one has only to look across the globe, with the exception of the North American continent, to see oppressive governments and ideologies that deny freedom of religion and freedom of the press, and the exploitation of citizens for personal gain and profit by a ruling class.

Democratic House Speaker Tip O’Neill once said all politics are local. 

We must as a community work together in a bipartisan way to reach compromise and understanding for the betterment of all in our community. It’s okay to have different opinions, and it’s okay to express those opinions in constructive dialogue — after all, that is the American way.

As the founding president of New York State’s fifth biggest police union, the Police Benevolent Association of New York State, I have worked in the State Legislature to reach bipartisan compromise and understanding on various legislative initiatives. I will bring that same experience and skill set to East Hampton for an open and transparent government that listens to and works with all in our community. There is no room for partisan politics, hate speech, or the oppression of opinions in our town.

As a candidate for East Hampton Town supervisor I am humbled not only by the tasks before us but also by the opportunity and privilege over the past 33 years to serve not only our community but also throughout Long Island, New York City in Harlem and the South Bronx, as well as in upstate New York.

MANNY VILAR

 

Democratic Trustees

Amagansett

June 18, 2017

Dear David,

The East Hampton Town Trustees were elected only 18 months ago, with the election of a Democratic majority to that board. This was a completely different majority trustee board than the town has had in the past. As an observer of their meetings, and a current Democratic candidate for the board of trustees, I have paid close attention to their functioning and their addressing difficult issues, which are complicated and numerous.

Their record of accomplishments is extraordinary and their actions proactive in helping the baymen, Georgica Pond, piping plovers, investigation of the Deepwater Wind project, and dredging of our inlets, ocean, and bays, among the many issues. I want to make the community aware of the hours this group has spent, beyond its two meetings a month, in protecting our trustee interests in this community. Even with the obstructive behavior by one trustee (watch the board meeting of June 12, 2017 on ltveh.org), they proceed to maintain and care for all areas within their jurisdiction.

When you are asked to sign a Democratic petition containing the nine Democratic trustee candidate names, think about the hard work the current Democratic trustees have been involved in. We need the Democratic majority back on the trustee board!

Sincerely,

RONA KLOPMAN

American Energy Flip

Springs

June 16, 2017

Dear David:

The Department of the Interior just revised its website to add a page entitled “American Energy.” In it, Secretary Ryan Zinke announces that the U.S. energy focus will be on the exploitation of fossil fuel resources such as oil, gas, and coal. This revised page is a complete flip from the department’s Feb. 11 iteration, then called “New Energy Frontier,” which listed clean technologies first: “solar, wind and waves, hydropower, geothermal, biofuels, oil and gas, and coal.”

Secretary Zinke has a dismissive attitude toward renewables, flippantly remarking that “there’s no such thing as clean energy” as he lifted the Obama-era moratorium on leasing federally controlled areas for oil and gas exploration. By lifting the moratorium implemented by the Obama administration, Mr. Zinke kick-started plans to allow oil and gas exploration in the Atlantic Ocean — right off our shores.

Let’s not forget that the East Hampton G.O.P. candidates promised to bring “Washington to East Hampton.” One can then only conclude that the G.O.P. candidates’ fierce opposition to the Deepwater Wind project is a ruse, designed instead to further Zinke’s plan to open the Atlantic to business for the oil and gas interests. And their professed concern for the Montauk fishermen — well, they’ll just have to find a way around the oil rigs.

Your town board is working with all involved interests, including the fishing industry, in an effort to move the federal and state renewable energy projects forward with minimal disruption. Offshore oil rigs are not in their vision.

CAROL O’ROURKE

 

Right to Health Care

Springs

June 17, 2017

To the Editor:

A universal single-payer health care plan was approved by the New York State Assembly and is presently languishing in a Senate committee, as it has been for the past several years.

While our state senators center their debate over costs and budget considerations, our current federal administration is decimating the “less than perfect” but “better than none” Affordable Care Act.

Financial considerations aside, how much is a life, or hundreds or thousands of lives, worth? Those numbers are real. How much would it be worth if we could have prevented the terrorist horror of the World Trade Center murder of over 3,000 of our neighbors and their families? When we go to war, how much is a soldier’s life worth and how much should we spend to protect our protectors? These are the times when financial considerations are a demeaning assault on the moral values that we claim to possess. We find the money when we want to and need to. When viewing our priorities, our choices depict who we really are and what is truly of value in our lives.

For many of us to not have adequate health care is a death sentence. That is a fact that is confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control, the American Medical Association, and most all professionals in the health care field. How much are your children worth? Can we debate the number in any but the most detached, indifferent, and inhumane way? If this right to health care does not get defined in moral terms rather than in financially and divisive hypothetical terms, know that we — you and I and all the legislators that are charged to represent and protect us — will be the perpetrators responsible for the deaths and suffering of more of our citizens than all acts terrorists have committed to date.

Senator LaValle, you are a good man and have done much for the East End of Long Island. Do the right thing now, not in five years, or 10 years, but now, when you can save the lives of so many. In the short and long run, this will be your real legacy. It is a moral issue that cannot be rationalized, hidden, or buried. You have the power to bring our universal health care act (Senate S4840) out of committee and vote for “morality and for life” for your constituents and all others in our state. It really is the least and the best that you can do.

I appeal to that which is the best in you.

Do the right thing, please.

LAWRENCE S. SMITH