‘Out Here’
Springs
September 7, 2020
Dear Editor:
Another Labor Day. Of course, this one is different because everyone who’s “out here” is going to stay out here. Where is “out here”? You hear it in conversation, “I’m so glad to be out here” or, “how long have you lived out here?” “I’m never leaving out here.”
“Out here” is all that’s needed to describe everything. It seems every communication has “out here” somewhere, whether personal or public. In fact “out here” is nowhere. No East Hampton, no Amagansett. No wonder we argued so much if Springs should be The Springs; we’re nowhere. We’re just “out here.”
But I’m sure it doesn’t matter. We few who remembered “out here” as a real place and a real home will soon be “outta here.”
BRAD LOEWEN
Jimmy Hewitt
Montauk
September 7, 2020
Dear David,
Jimmy Hewitt passed on last week. He died in the care of his son Shawn and his wife, Karen.
People have been migrating to Montauk forever. Some of us arrive and in some way are intrinsically rooted to this spit of land. We are not Montauketts but we belong to a tribe. We know who we are, and I think we all understand and share a tribal memory and trust.
My generation showed up in the late 1960s looking for surf, girls, and work in that order. We stayed on to become fishermen, carpenters, landscapers, families, et al.
The Shagwong offered us a launch pad for a wonderful life experience. Jimmy Hewitt was a ground control specialist.
I remember the historic 1973 Oil Embargo. Most of us were building the Star Island Yacht Club at the time. He created the recession special: daily lunch at the Shagwong of a cup of soup, glass of beer, and a slice of bread and butter, 25 cents.
Every time the community was in need, Jimmy Hewitt was there. A death in the family? All the catering offered at no charge. Time and time again. He was a ringleader in a circus that was tribal-worthy. Thank you, Jim.
It’s appropriate, and I’m happy, that your trip to the other side began on a Montauk shoreline and thank you, Karen and Shawn, for making it possible.
Peace and love,
GREG DONOHUE
Gail Sheehy
Sag Harbor
September 4, 2020
To the Editor:
Gail Sheehy was my tennis partner on summer Sundays for many years in Sag Harbor. Passionate and persistent about her reporting, she was also eager to talk about it on my old radio shows, “Newsweek On Air” and “For Your Ears Only.”
Here is some of what she had to say about her subjects and herself, as can be heard in full at the nonprofit Internet Archive:
On the second anniversary of 9/11, she talked about surviving tragedy and her book “Middletown, America: One Town’s Passage From Trauma to Hope.”
“Community became really the salve that pulled people together,” she reported. When one widow hung her head after admitting she’d started dating after a year, her support group cheered: “You’re having sex. You’re giving us hope.”
Gail’s book “Passages in Caregiving: Turning Chaos Into Confidence” was meant for the 50 million Americans dealing with aged, ailing, or injured loved ones, but also told of her own caring for her husband, the editor Clay Felker, after a misdiagnosis had let cancer spread.
How did she avoid anger? “Never waste energy on things you cannot change,” she said. “We had to move on . . . working as a team towards extending his life.” When she realized Felker’s “biggest, silent worry” was her fate after his death, “I had to assure him that when he was ready to let go, I would be ready to let go.”
When “The Iron Lady,” a Margaret Thatcher biopic, hit movie screens in 2012, Gail talked about “The Sexy Side of Maggie,” her profile for the Daily Beast.com, which described the first female British P.M.’s “late-blooming sexual charisma . . . showing more leg in the House of Commons, sometimes rubbing one calf with the other. She had her skirts hiked up, her necklines lowered . . . high heels, strappy heels . . . and began using that sexual side to manipulate the men around her.”
Gail herself tried a special tub Thatcher used, with “waves of electrical energy meant to recharge the nervous system,” she recalled. “I was scared to death, standing at the top thinking, ‘What do I have to do to pin down this story?’ ”
Our final radio chat was about her memoir, “Daring: My Passages,” and “the longest walk of my career,” sneaking out of The New York Herald Tribune’s “Estrogen Zone” (women’s department) to the “Testosterone Zone” (city room), “scared to death but I figured this was my big chance” to pitch a story to Felker.
She also described her online “Daring Project” to inspire younger women by sharing their stories, and the necessary realization that “you can try something and not master it, but you wouldn’t die from it.”
At her death, Gail’s website, gailsheehy.com, featured her “mission to redefine the most misunderstood generation: millennials. They are struggling with the rupture in gender roles and a crisis in mental health. But this generation of 20 and 30-somethings is also inventing radically new passages. . . . We’re seeing a 50-year reversal of American society depending on men as the country’s economic and entrepreneurial engine to advancing women as the promise of progress in the 21st century.”
Good work, Gail!
DAVID ALPERN
Forever Grateful
Amagansett
September 2, 2020
Dear Editor,
With so much negativity directed toward our police during these turbulent times, I would like to express some positive feelings. On Sunday morning, Aug. 30, I was suffering what I thought was a heart attack (it was) and called 911. While I was still on the phone with the 911 operator (who was fabulous), an East Hampton police officer arrived.
The immediate response of the officer was reassuring to me and my family. Shortly thereafter, the Amagansett ambulance arrived, along with the Amagansett Fire Department. Thanks to the police officer’s quick response, the expertise of the E.M.T.s, and the excellent cardiac staff at Southampton Hospital, I am alive today.
I wish I could thank everyone individually and am forever grateful to all those who responded to my emergency.
Sincerely,
STANLEY SPERGEL
For Seniors
East Hampton
August 22, 2020
To the Editor:
I feel so very fortunate to live in the Town of East Hampton during this “new normal” period. I have attended the senior citizens program for numerous years.
The staff at the center provides so much care for senior citizens. I feel that their dedication is more of a mission than a position. Each week, a call is given to each senior. This call is a friendly chat to check on our well being and to see if we need anything.
The nutrition staff prepares well-balanced and delicious meals that are delivered to our doors by the senior citizens transportation staff. The meal program helps seniors stay indoors safely, having meals prepared for them and then delivered to us. This is very important because they mean seniors do not have to rely on fast food or takeout.
I am looking forward to returning to the senior citizens center with yoga and all the wellness classes taught by dedicated instructors. Furthermore, I am looking forward to one day when I can walk into a new senior center that has been promised to the seniors for a long time.
Gratefully submitted,
CARRIE GILBERT
On His Side
Amagansett
September 3, 2020
To the Editor:
I have held back from weighing in on the proposed relocation to Wainscott of the East Hampton Little League — and their playing fields — to make way for a new medical complex.
(Charlie Whitmore is right; it’s not called “the East Hampton Little League” for nothing.) I was afraid readers would think I was supporting Charlie because I, too, am a Whitmore, a Whitmore by marriage, but still. Nope, as much as I like, admire, and enjoy spending family time with Charlie, I am on his side not for his sake, but for the children’s.
It seems to me, as it seems to Charlie, that the board should spend as much time searching for an appropriate location for the medical complex as they claim to have done searching for an appropriate new location for the ball fields. The fact that only one board member, Mr. Bragman, seems to have the courage of his convictions to argue against the majority — Sylvia Overby, I am disappointed in you — makes me sad as well.
On another note, I just want to say how moved I was by this week’s “Guestwords” piece. Theresa Quigley’s essay “The Sailboat” is an incredibly beautiful piece of writing.
Thank you.
ALICE HENRY WHITMORE
What Are the Odds?
East Hampton
September 7, 2020
Dear Editor:
Not only has the East Hampton Town Board and its anonymous “committee” given up a perfectly good place to play baseball, on Pantigo Place, for the inferior Stephen Hand’s Path site in distant Wainscott, but it becomes even more disturbing when examined closely.
Understand that there is no exchange in kind for this scarce recreational property on Pantigo Place. No quid pro quo, no nothing, zip, nada . . . just a net loss of 4.5 acres — 20 percent — of active recreation property in East Hampton Town.
According to the last comprehensive plan done in 2002, we have an urgent need of active recreation space in East Hampton Town. The town can ill afford to lose any of its existing recreational property, and as this ongoing saga should make clear, new active recreation property is nearly impossible to come by.
Equally alarming is that it will require at least four or five more acres of precious recreation space to recreate the Pantigo Place ball fields elsewhere. Without the addition of new recreational acreage for the relocation of the ball fields this little caper could end up costing our town’s recreational community at least nine acres. Way to go, town board, this is an outstanding achievement.
The recreation committee for the last comprehensive plan, done in East Hampton Town in 2002, encouraged the town to do a townwide needs assessment study of recreation. The town commissioned the study, and a new recreation committee was formed. After that, no action was taken. That was almost 20 years ago.
Last winter, while addressing the town board, I requested a copy of the East Hampton Recreational Needs Assessment study as a reference and guide to contextualize the relocation of the East Hampton Little League Pantigo Place ball fields. In what can only be described as a “the dog ate my homework” moment, the East Hampton Town Board told me that they “couldn’t find it.” I had read the document years earlier, so I understand perfectly why it was “lost,” and why the town preferred to forget it. Oh, well, it was only $25,000 of taxpayer money.
It is easy to see a pattern here, and it’s not reassuring. The utter absence of any planning process for recreation in East Hampton is breathtaking in its completeness. For us to better understand what exactly transpired during this ball field’s relocation “process,” I have requested, from our supervisor, all documents relevant to their meetings and deliberations on the subject. What are the odds of me getting these docs?
CHARLIE WHITMORE
The True Costs
Wainscott
September 2, 2020
Dear David,
Alarm bells are sounding here in Wainscott!
The group formerly known as Save Beach Lane, now calling itself Citizens for the Preservation of Wainscott, is about to pull off the largest scam on all the hard-working taxpayers in Wainscott.
But let’s start by calling this group who they actually are: Citizens for the Protection of Beach Lane, a.k.a. Beach Lane Inc.
As a lifetime resident and taxpayer, I would politely request they first disclose to the voting public their proposed operating budget in line-item detail for tax year 2022/23 before there is any vote to incorporate. I only want a basic municipal operating budget for an incorporated village of our size, population, and various zoning districts.
Is this group hiding important facts or are they acutely aware that if the true costs get out, incorporation will and should fail? Why would we vote to triple our own taxes? Here are some very basic numbers just to get the public started regarding costs of running a village.
Incorporated Village of East Hampton: Current annual budget $23 million
Incorporated Village of Sag Harbor: Current annual budget $12 million
Incorporated Village of Sagaponack: Current annual budget $1 million
To pave and service our roads: One mile of road paving costs between $200,000 and $1 million (highway quality, like Route 114). Wainscott has roughly 30 miles of roadways currently maintained by the town. The town does an amazing job thanks to the hard-working crews at the Highway Department. Oh yes, we’ll need a highway department, too!
One full-time police officer costs $200,000 annually including pension benefits, health care, and insurances. There are three shifts per day, so three would be necessary, but two more for rotations, sick days, and vacations, etc., so 24 hours of policing times 365 days times five officers equals roughly $1 million for just one officer covering all of the greater Wainscott territory. The town provides much more protection and service currently.
Lest we not forget the Town Hall: rent, the staffing, office equipment and technology/licenses to join information databases, police car(s), and insurances. C.P.W. is promising more and this is just the start-up cost of a functioning government!
As proposed by Citizens for the Protection of Wainscott, the incorporated village would go from Town Line Beach as far north as Sag Harbor, then in an easterly direction along Route 114 all the way to Stephen Hand’s Path, then south across Georgica Pond (really down the middle of the map for the school district), back around the Georgica Association along the ocean, and back to Town Line Road.
Our size, scope, and population are much more like the area encompassing East Hampton Village ($23 million). We are nothing like Sagaponack, other than having an ocean beach and farmland. Wainscott has a commercial district along Montauk Highway, also making us more like Sag Harbor Village ($12 million). We have hotels, restaurants, a gas station/mini market, Animal Rescue Fund campus, doctors’ offices, retail stores, an indoor tennis club and gaming clubhouse, our local television station, and, yes, we even have a gun club/shooting range. And most important, we also have the East Hampton Town Police station and the airport.
The annual budget of $250,000 to $300,000 that C.P.W. has proposed is a complete joke. Somewhere between East Hampton Village ($23 million) and Sag Harbor Village ($12 million) is the true cost of operating a functioning village with all the trappings necessary to keep the citizenry safe, happy, and well served. The true costs are more like East Hampton Village in scope, $23 million! Are Wainscott taxpayers prepared to spend that kind of money when East Hampton Town is handling our needs just fine now?
We have always enjoyed certain autonomy from the town. We thrive on the hands-off, leave-us-to-ourselves, approach because Wainscott residents pull together and help one another out during hard times. Wainscott United. Remaining a hamlet in the hands of East Hampton Town is a much more appealing fiscal decision.
This is really a back door effort to prevent a cable being buried on Beach Lane. On their website C.P.W./Beach Lane Inc. is not about incorporating to benefit Wainscott citizens at all. It is all about a buried cable. Beach Lane Inc. should just foot the bill and litigate to stop the cable and leave the rest of us out of it.
All Wainscott taxpayers should request to see a line-item operating budget before they cast a vote to triple their taxes!
Full disclosure is in order before we are asked to “trust us” with our financial future.
Best,
DOREEN A. NIGGLES
Cannot Be Connected
Springs
September 7, 2020
Dear David:
I have read, with interest, your editorial endorsements for East Hampton offices. So, too, have I read letters from candidates and their supporters that have been printed in The Star.
For the most part, the latter tend to follow the Biden playbook of emphasizing good character over specific policies. But what matters most to me, and many of my good friends, are clear front-page statements about where they stand on getting rapid agreement and approval for fixing our broken, overwhelmed cellphone transmission service. That is, getting new cellphone towers up and running within three months!
The candidates who genuinely want to serve this community need to pledge they will wade through the delays, self-interests, and bureaucratic excuses to get the job done.
Many years ago, increasing cellphone reliability and reception was somewhat of a “luxury problem.” Today, it could be a matter of life or death!
Very frequently, calls are dropped, do not connect, or have so much static that conversation is unintelligible.
More than a dozen times in the last two weeks, my calls with doctors have dropped. At least five times my attempts to reach hospital personnel have failed after waiting 12 to 18 minutes for the right person or department, and have ended abruptly. The other person can’t hear me. When this happens, they usually hang up immediately.
Does someone have to die of a heart attack or bleed to death from an accident `because a call cannot be connected or fails because of inadequate reception?
So this goes beyond chatting with friends and relatives during the pandemic. It means that parents have trouble connecting with their children if they are at play or at school. It means that if you get stuck on a back road you may not be able to summon help. It means that if you are alone and fall, you might not be able to get help.
From my point of view, in addition to being a good steward of our beautiful environment, who will, on the record, declare that they pledge to fix our dangerously inadequate, outdated, overwhelmed cellphone system within the first few months of being elected? Who will cut through the excuses and delays? Who will act to provide residents with a fully functioning cellphone communications system that the networks can use?
The person(s) who add this to their platform and pledge to get the job done should get the votes to be easily elected.
Sincerely,
DONALD SUSSIS
Personal Choices
East Hampton
September 7, 2020
Dear David,
It is now our turn! On Tuesday, Sept. 15, from noon to 9 p.m. at the Emergency Services Building, East Hampton Village residents can cast their vote for the Village Board of Trustees leadership. Absentee ballots must be received in Village Hall by 4 p.m. or at Emergency Services by 9 p.m. on Sept. 15.
No election has been more important as East Hampton Village moves forward in determining the village’s future culture and character. Voting is our opportunity to register our personal choices for future board leadership. Do not pass it by!
LINDA JAMES
Fresh Ideas
East Hampton
September 7, 2020
To the Editor:
East Hampton Village residents, When I started my campaign for East Hampton Village mayor, I said I wanted to meet every resident so they could have an informed choice at election time, something that has not happened in 27 years. I already know many people because I have lived and worked here my entire life. However, I have met hundreds of new residents and have shared my vision for the future of the village, which most people agree with.
I am proud of my team, Sandra Melendez Esq., (candidate for village trustee), and Chris Minardi (candidate for village trustee). Together we bring youth, energy, and fresh ideas to our village. We will bring reasonable change while protecting and respecting our past. We will bring reasonable change while respecting the quality of life of our residents. We will be inclusive of everyone and not divisive.
When our election was postponed due to Covid-19, the three of us raised $113,000 for the local food pantries and the Eleanor Whitmore Early Childhood Center. Shortly after that, we raised more money and purchased 15,000 surgical masks, which we distributed for free to our residents. We accomplished all of this in just a few weeks. When our community experiences a crisis, our team will be on the front lines. This is what leadership is!
I am proud of our campaign. We stayed focused on the issues that face our village, and we gave residents our solutions. We did not attack or personally slander other candidates. This is what leaders do!
I thank all of the residents for meeting with me, coming to one of our 20 free “meet and greets,” or talking with me at your doorstep. Thank you, for all your ideas, your support, and your generous donations. I also want to thank the Group for Good Government for hosting the debate and the editors of The East Hampton Press, who actually took the time to interview all the candidates.
Election Day is Tuesday, only a few days away. Please come out and vote: Row A all the way!
JERRY LARSEN,
Candidate for mayor
Thank You to All
East Hampton
September 7, 2020
Dear Editor:
We would like to take this opportunity to remind the residents of East Hampton Village that Tuesday provides an opportunity to participate in one of the most important privileges we have as citizens: the right to vote. This is an important election for the future of the village, and we want every voice to be heard.
Voting takes place from noon to 9 p.m. at the Emergency Services Building on Cedar Street, where there is plenty of room for social distancing. If you are a resident of this village please come out to vote! On this, the 100th anniversary of our village as well as women’s obtaining the right to vote, it is more important than ever to take advantage of our ability to set the course for our future.
We would also be remiss if we did not thank The Star for their recent endorsement, and our supporters for working so hard for us these past few months. Trying to hold a campaign during the time of a pandemic has been challenging to say the least. But we have done our best to get our message out while respecting our residents’ wishes for privacy and isolation. Thank you for your warm responses!
And most important, thank you to all village voters for their diligence in protecting and supporting the beautiful village we share. Without the concern of the residents, East Hampton would look like a much different place today.
Thank you to all. And please: Get out and vote!
Sincerely,
BARBARA BORSACK
Candidate for mayor
RICK LAWLER
Candidate for trustee
RAY HARDEN
Candidate for trustee
My Promise
East Hampton
September 7, 2020
Dear David,
With just days until the most consequential village election in recent memory, I want to reiterate that Dave Driscoll and I are the strongest candidates for trustee and mayor in the race. Our management experience and problem-solving ability give us the skill sets to lead this village for the next four years, and along with current trustee Rose Brown, we will bring the village into the 2020s, continuing to build on our initiatives like Herrick Park and a wastewater treatment system. Our opponents cannot deliver the leadership that we provide, with one pledging to maintain the status quo of her last 20 years on the board, and the other candidate proposing reckless changes that will undoubtedly leave us with discontented residents and taxpayers. We are the middle ground.ˇ
The Fish Hooks Party stands for balanced progress, managing change in the village to keep our neighborhoods peaceful and our commercial core vibrant. We stand for transparency in government, and to prove this I pledge to give out my cellphone number to all village residents. Feel free to use it to get in touch with village government. If I don’t pick up, leave a message and I will get back to you. That is my promise to the village. Please vote on Tuesday, Sept. 15, for Arthur (Tiger) Graham for mayor and David Driscoll for trustee. Look for us in the middle (coincidentally, as our platform is in the middle!) of the ballot on Row B.
Best, and stay safe,
ARTHUR (TIGER) GRAHAM
Candidate for mayor
Much to Consider
East Hampton
September 7, 2020
Dear David,
Election day is now, mercifully, less than a week away. From the very start of our campaign, we have consistently spoken of our priorities and approach to government — both of which set us apart from our competition. We have introduced specific plans to put processes into place that will ensure full-throated public participation in village government. We intend to make representative government truly representative. After all, that’s what it’s supposed to be all about. We will regularly meet with com-munity groups on their home turf, where they are most comfortable, across the calendar year. This plan has received a very positive response from our local clerics and community groups.
We have also proposed the creation of a centralized, noncriminal, complaint-reporting database, where a record of citizen complaints lodged with any village entity will be detailed in a centralized system. Ultimately, a village representative will get back to a complainant with the results of their report. This simple process will ensure both accountability and responsiveness to the concerns of our community.
We also detailed two other processes, which will significantly enhance the flow of information to the public and within government. The specifics of these plans are laid out in detail, in our letter to the editor in last week’s Star. Other detailed plans to fully redress the long-term degradation of our village sidewalks and the installation of bike lanes were unveiled.
These plans are representative of just some of the simple positive initiatives we will enact, which will result in a more efficient, account-able, and representative board.
Both of the opposing parties talk in broad terms about policy objectives without advancing a single detailed plan to effectuate any of their goals. We believe this should give the voters pause for concern. It is easy to talk the talk but where is the substance?
There is much consensus on many policy issues among the parties. As usual, the devil is in the details. There is much to consider — who is best equipped to successfully plan and execute? You can be confident that we will always be thoughtful, deliberative, and measured in our approach. We will also strive to provide the necessary structure and process to ensure efficiency and transparency.
We thank the editor, the readers, and the community for giving us a fair hearing, and ask that you consider Tiger Graham for mayor and David Driscoll for trustee this upcoming Tuesday.
More good things to come if we are elected!
All the best,
DAVID DRISCOLL
Candidate for trustee
Fish Hooks Party
Trust Experience
East Hampton
September 6, 2020
Dear David,
This coming election, more than ever, raises the question, “Who can you trust to run the village?”
Richard Lawler is a fourth generation resident of East Hampton Village. Rick and his wife, Maddy, a retired teacher, have an unsurpassed love for the village’s history and beauty. You will find them frequently walking through the village, looking for opportunities for improvement and chatting with residents about their cares and concerns. Their dutiful care taking and active stewardship is evident in the pride they take in maintaining the village’s uniquely timeless character.
I have known Rick since 1972. We met in Herrick Park, where we used to play touch football. You learn a lot about a person’s character when you play with or against them in sports. In golf and tennis, you find out how honest they are. In team sports, you find out a lot about a person’s sense of sportsmanship, his or her ability to compromise, and whether he or she is a true team player. From the moment I stepped on the field with Rick to his now completing his third term as East Hampton Village trustee, he has exemplified all of these qualities and exhibited time and time again his ability to put the integrity of the village first.
The East Hampton Village Board of Trustees put its trust in Rick by unanimously appointing him to serve as interim village mayor. I urge everyone who is voting in the upcoming election to re-elect Rick as a village trustee. If you do, you can trust that you won’t regret it.
Sincerely,
RANDY GRETZ
What Is Best
East Hampton
September 5, 2020
Dear David,
I read the editorial where you endorsed David Driscoll for trustee, and I can’t help but wonder why. Yes, he has credentials that are impressive. However, he belongs to no civic organizations in East Hampton, which brings a disconnect to the village or the town. And I have to ask, what exactly has he done for the village other than run the concession at Main Beach? He has never served in any capacity in village government. He also jumped into the race at a very late date.
Rick Lawler also has impressive credentials, but he has done so much more for the community, keeping the village safe during this most difficult time. He has served this village very well, meeting with people, organizations, business owners, and returning calls to everyone who has reached out to him. In many instances, he has been proactive in contacting these very same people, asking and discussing their concerns. Rick is a man of honesty and integrity.
I encourage voters to vote for Row C, the Elms Party, Barbara Borsack, Rick Lawler, and Ray Harden. They have no outside agendas. Their only agenda is what is best for this village.
SUSAN MCKENNA
Most Qualified
East Hampton
September 7, 2020
To the Editor:
I write to reaffirm my unequivocal support for Arthur (Tiger) Graham for mayor and Dave Driscoll for village trustee. Messrs. Graham and Driscoll remain by far the most qualified candidates for these posts.
While it is encouraging that there are a number of candidates for these posts (mayor and trustee), it is unfortunate that the campaigns of some of these candidates have resorted to the dissemination of misinformation about other candidates.
In particular, I was disturbed about the allegation that Mr. Graham had never attended the mandated training for elected village officials during his tenure as trustee. This can readily be checked at Village Hall. Either those disseminating this allegation as ?truth? did not bother checking facts or deliberately lied. Either way it is very disappointing.
For the past four years the nation has endured lying and an absence of fact checking at the national level. It is sad that such activity has found its way into village politics.
I remain pleased to answer any questions The Star?s readers have about Tiger. I can be reached at 917-971-9281.
Sincerely,
WALKER WAINWRIGHT
Need to Evolve
East Hampton
September 3, 2020
To the Editor,
We are fortunate to have three dedicated individuals running for East Hampton Village mayor. I believe them all to be well intentioned, however one must choose. I am a 37-year resident of the town and three-year resident of the village. I have had no prior interaction with any candidate and have no commercial interests in the village.
We must protect the beauty and history of the village, but we do need to evolve. I live next door to one of the historic inns. It is wrong that they cannot have weddings by permit as before. Barbara and Tiger voted for that restriction, among others. I also do not understand why they cannot have a piano player in the bar, or a combo in the dining room, if the noise does not escape the building.
We do not need an ossified villlage. Our inns and other businesses need room to blossom. This can be done in a responsible manner.
Some friends support Barbara. I am sure that she is a wonderful person. However, her policies are dated. Her flier talks about the party of ?yes,? but it clearly is the party of ?no.? The 19th century probably had its moments, but I do not wish to live in it. Thankfully, we shall never be a Montauk or Sag Harbor, but we need change and a respectful but vibrant community. I encourage residents to vote for Jerry Larsen and the NewTown Party.
Yours sincerely,
FRANK MORGAN
Vote For Change
East Hampton
September 7, 2020
To The Star:
The reason I write is to remind (or inform some for the first time) of an issue many of us are very concerned about.
Ugly, home value-depressing, high-tension lines to service Amagansett and Montauk were installed through our village community, and we want them buried —removed from harming our village streets and lanes. The ?solution? our village trustees came up with was a horrific, property value-destroying, monster pole to be placed on one of our most lovely lanes. Real estate professionals deemed it worse than the original offense and it would result in at least a 20-percent property value loss in our neighborhood!
Although the village candidates Barbara Borsack and Arthur (Tiger) Graham claim they are now against the pole, please keep in mind this is our third year fighting this pole legally. They promised during the first year they would find an alternative site. It immediately became clear their promise was made only to kill our first lawsuit, as they came back to the very same location the following year, disregarding their promise entirely. The Village Board, including Barbara Borsack, Arthur (Tiger) Graham, and Rick Lawler lied. They were disingenuous and seemed to have no intention of working on a solution.
And please keep in mind, both Barbara Borsack and Rick Lawler where on the board when PSEG proposed those lines, which significantly harmed the value of our beautiful, once tree-lined, lanes. Many of those lovely trees were hacked away and destroyed by PSEG. Barbara and Rick were either complacent or asleep at the wheel. Pick one: They either knowingly damaged our neighborhood or were incompetent.
I have a lawsuit against this project. It is not about money! The lawsuit is only on behalf of our community, only to force everyone to follow established legal guidelines before doing such work. Guidelines both the village and PSEG completely ignored!
Recently, after public outcry, our trustees initiated a committee to seek an alternative location. They denied me a spot on the committee despite many letters from people directly impacted urging them to include me as our representative. Their reason was the lawsuit. My lawyer and I immediately offered to drop the lawsuit if they made a commitment to truly find an alternative location for the pole. They refused!
Let me say that again. They refused! If their true goal is to really to find an alternative spot, why did they refuse this simple request to commit to what they already verbally claim? Odd, don?t you think?
If anyone believes that monster pole will not be installed on Cooper Lane if Barbara Borsack or Arthur Graham becomes mayor, they are probably dreaming. The agreement between them and PSEG for that location is still in place, and they have not modified it.
For that reason, my wife and I are continuing the lawsuit in an effort to . . .
1) Provide relief to the good people of McGuirk (and Cooper and King), who suffer with these horrible high-tension lines.
2) Stop PSEG and the village trustees from placing the monster pole in the designated location on Cooper Lane and significantly harming our entire neighborhood.
It has been our firm and sincere belief that PSEG can be legally motivated and convinced to move that horrific monster pole to a site that will not harm the property values of any East Hampton residents!
I want to thank Jerry Larsen, candidate for village mayor for his support. He is like-minded to us all. He desperately wants, as we do, a solution to this blight on our community. King Street, McGuirk Street, and Cooper Lane all need to be relieved of this burden.
We all suffer together.
Please make sure your vote helps us all. If you value and want to preserve the look and feeling of our neighborhoods, if you are against politicians doing this kind of damage to any East Hampton Village neighborhoods without consulting anyone, please vote for change. Please vote for Jerry Larsen for mayor. It?s the only way we can guarantee a solution that satisfies all of the parties involved and doesn?t harm any of us.
We can all work together to make this happen!
Kindest regards,
DAN and YVONNE UJVARI
The Correct Choice
East Hampton
September 7, 2020
Dear David,
In this current political environment, we need honesty, integrity, and openness from our elected officials. Thus I was dismayed at Barbara Borsack’s “vote Barbara” campaign brochure received on Wednesday, Sept. 2, that contained what appears to be somewhat negligent misstatements about Tiger Graham.
I have known Tiger Graham for over 40 years. So I know he has been to Main Beach many times! He goes to the Polar Bear Plunge (to watch) every year. He parks in my yard, so I know. When we were younger, our families went to Main Beach and Georgica Beach, depending on the surf.
If Barbara meant to say Tiger doesn’t “sit” at Main Beach, that would be accurate because Tiger doesn’t sit. He is constantly on the move, driving or walking the village, talking to people and checking on things such as illegal street parking at beaches and in residential neighbor-hoods near beaches.
With respect to training, I must rely on his word that he has attended the recommended courses he has talked about, since there is not time with the holiday to verify the facts at Village Hall before the Star deadline for letters to the editor. In fact, since his first career was in municipal finance and fixed income, he would seem to have had a greater variety and more training than Barbara in order to receive the required securities licenses.
While I am dismayed at the lack of attention and verification of information readily available from the Village Hall office, which Barbara and the trustees oversee, it is common for longevity in office to breed complacency. Do we really want Barbara Borsack as mayor when her campaign brochure demonstrates a lack of oversight on her part and attention to facts?
Campaign candidates are expected to be responsible and accountable for the accuracy of information sent out on their behalf. Barbara’s own brochure clearly shows the need for a leader who has the capacity to manage both the big picture while ensuring the accuracy of the details. This is especially important as the village must address the supervision and financing of infrastructure projects that all the candidates have identified (sewer treatment facility, Herrick Park restoration, sidewalk deferred maintenance, to name just three projects in need of attention). We need a mayor who is both responsible and accountable for the supervision, budget management, and financing of these complex projects.
Tiger Graham listens and gets things done with the flexibility and creativity to balance the concerns of residents and businesses. I was on the fence before, as I thought Barbara should have the position after being mayor in waiting for the last two decades. However, after this brochure, I have now concluded that Tiger Graham is the correct choice for mayor, as he will bring business leadership and professional discipline to the position.
Best regards,
ANNE (COCO) SHEAN
Will Work Hard
East Hampton
September 6, 2020
Dear Editor:
East Hampton is the place I have called home for 50 years. I have raised three children here and after college, two of them have returned and also call this their home. My husband and I owned a business on Main Street in East Hampton Village for 18 years, and my husband, my sons, and now my granddaughters all served this village as ocean lifeguards. The future of East Hampton Village is of utmost importance to me and my family. It is for this reason that I am writing a letter giving my support to Arthur Graham and David Driscoll for mayor and village trustee.
Tiger and David’s combined experience in personnel and systems management, financial management, and service to East Hampton Village and Town, and to our country, make them exceptional candidates. They have thoroughly studied the needs of the village, and have received input from business owners and East Hampton residents, and I am certain that they will attain the vision for East Hampton Village that many of us have been asking for.
I have known David for almost 50 years, and his integrity is incomparable. I have gotten to know Tiger over the last year, and it is more than apparent that he serves this village with honesty, dedication, and integrity. Neither of these candidates owes political favors, and both of them will work hard to listen and partner with residents and business owners to achieve a better East Hampton Village.
Please support Tiger Graham and David Driscoll in the upcoming mayoral and trustee election.
Sincerely,
PAT WILSON
Your Right to Vote
Amagansett
September 6, 2020
Dear David:
The right to vote is the cornerstone of a democratic government and gives every citizen of voting age the chance to play a part in the future of our great nation. There is no distinction between rich, poor, race, or ethnic origin. All of us are given this opportunity to participate, and I’m urging everyone in East Hampton to do so, independent of your party affiliation. I’m particularly reaching out to young voters, who historically have not voted, but have demonstrated that they have strong feelings about the direction of our country. Please be a part of the election on Nov. 3 and let your voices be heard.
As described in The Star last week, all of us have three options for voting: absentee ballot, in person during early voting from Oct. 24 to Nov. 1, and at your polling place on Nov. 3.
Information about receiving an absentee ballot can be found at the Suffolk County Board of Elections website at [email protected] or by calling at 631-852-4500. Early voting for East Hampton will take place at Windmill Village at 219 Accabonac Road. Early voting will be available on the weekends from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Oct. 26, from noon to 8 p.m. on Oct. 27 and 30, and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Oct. 28 and 29.
Please take advantage of your right to vote and let your voice be heard on Nov. 3!
DAVID HILLMAN
Four Pinocchios
Springs
September 6, 2020
Dear David,
Four Pinocchios for Joe Biden from, of all people, The Washington Post. A true hater of President Trump actually gave Biden four Pinocchios for an ad: His campaign put out that Donald Trump is going to delete Social Security by 2023. There is no such plan. Make sure you all get on the bandwagon and remark about the no such plan.
Here’s something else to figure out. Before a statement was mentioned in reference to President Trump’s disparagement of our American troops, Biden was already talking about it. How did this happen, how come the news was already in his camp? Just some more Russia, Russia, Russia. When is Schiff going to show the proof he saw and read concerning Russia and Trump. He’s still in Congress.
How many more soft questions that the press is handed to ask will Biden get? Give him some real questions please.
In God and Country,
BEA DERRICO
Pause and Pray
Montauk
September 2, 2020
To The Star:
It is clearly visible to all people that there are those who do not like the direction our president is taking us in. One of the beautiful things of our once great republic is that we the people have the ability to change the direction any president is taking us in by the power of the vote.
This gift of self-government was passed down to us by our founding fathers at a great sacrifice on their part. Just think for at least one minute about the risks they took to pass this gift on to us. They were willing to lose everything in order to achieve their goal of independence and self-government. Their homes, businesses, their fortunes, their loved ones, and ultimately their lives were all on the line. It would be well for all to pause and pray for the intercession of Mary the Mother of Jesus and St. Joseph, her spouse, and all the angels and saints in heaven to the Lord our God for a peaceful process and outcome to our presidential election. God bless America.
VINCENT BIONDO
Danger to All
East Hampton
September 7, 2020
To the Editor:
Donald Trump is a political cockroach, lurking in the dark corners of conspiracy theories and blatant lies; shine the light of truth and he scurries away. We must keep calling him out, reminding people of the incredible damage he has inflicted on this country. From ignoring credible reports of Russian bounties on American soldiers to hawking quack “miracle” cures for Covid-19, to falsely casting Joe Biden as a radical Democrat who is controlled by “people in the dark shadows‚“ (seriously, that’s a quote), the man is a danger to all. And those who have not only enabled him, but in fact amplified his delusional ravings, including Lee Zeldin, should be held responsible as well.
In November, we have a chance to restore sanity. Let’s not blow it.
Sincerely,
CAROL DEISTLER
Bought the Store
East Hampton
September 3, 2020
Dear Editor,
Trump went to Kenosha to observe and showcase the damaged stores and to talk with the store owners whose property had been destroyed in the protest. Tom Graham owned one of those businesses, Rode’s camera shop. He bought the store eight years ago from Mr. Rode. Prior to Trump’s arrival, Tom received a call from the White House asking if he would join Trump on a tour of his leveled business. Tom declined; he felt that whatever Trump does, “it turns into a circus.”
To Tom’s surprise, watching television at home, he sees Trump turn up in front of his store introducing Mr. Rode as the owner of the store. “I just appreciate Trump coming today,” said Mr. Rode.
NIGEL NOBLE
The Easy Way Out
East Hampton
September 6, 2020
To The Star:
In the ahistorical universe in which we live there are patterns of socio-political behavior that repeat themselves in a continuous pattern with little or no resolution. The issues of social and economic justice and systemic racism have been with us since our beginnings. What is remarkable, in our free wealthy democracy, is how little progress we have made, and how we repeat, ad nauseam, the same process.
What seems to be different this time around is that the Black Lives Matter movement was embraced and supported by a majority of the population and the opposition was openly supported and encouraged by the government leadership.
Otherwise, the story, with minor variations, repeats itself. Black people are violently abused and battered physically, economically, and socially. There is a violent action, or many, usually precipitated by the police, which sets off a reaction in the Black community. The Black community reaction elicits an even stronger public reaction and turns violent. Rioting. Looting. Killing, followed by condemnation of the Black community. In a few months, the intensity disappears, and we return back to where we were before the violence.
This time, however, millions of people supporting Black Lives Matter protested everywhere in the U.S. and all over the world. The protests were peaceful and focused — until they weren’t. Enflamed by the constant killings and anti-Black Lives Matter rhetoric by our government, small groups of people began rioting and looting. The descent into violence terminated the special nature of the protests and turned the focus on the violence.
Our government’s response to Black Lives Matter was criticism and derision, instead of opening a forum to discuss the issue, which more than half the country supported. It called the protesters criminals and Marxists, and refused to address the racism problem. Instead, it focused on the violence, which meant that the basis for the Black Lives Matter protests had no basis in U.S. politics.
What we seem not to, or are unable to, grasp is that the violence inherent in racism is what precipitates the violence in our cities. We always deal with the violence in our cities, which guarantees that the root causes of the violence are not being addressed. It’s the easy way out.
The looting and rioting prove only that stupidity and egomania are widely shared commodities, and that the leadership of Black Lives Matter has to get its act together. Small groups of out-of-control people nullify the peaceful protests of millions. We live in America. We know how the system works. We can’t afford to take the focus off Black Lives Matter because we have limited attention spans, and there are people out there who will take advantage of every misstep.
Trump: Instead of beginning a national dialogue to resolve the problem does his utmost to create chaos and enflame passions. The conversation about racism devolves into conversations about rioting and looting, creating fear.
Historically, the momentum changes; the moment passes. We revert back to our normal ways. Racism loses its special place. Fear takes over. We dig our heads a little deeper into the sand.
NEIL HAUSIG