Gold Stars and Dunce Caps

Dunce Cap -- To Southampton Town officials for their on again/off again cone and flashing light program in Hampton Bays and other areas. The so-called traffic calming measures can’t possibly calm motorists who make good time one day, only to find the blinking lights programs unceremoniously suspended the next. Early signs indicate the program does some good to ease commuter congestion, and a pilot program on County Road 39 is promising. But if the program is going to work, consistency is crucial.

Dunce Cap -- To Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman for scheduling a public hearing on the zone change and environmental study of a proposed 60-unit affordable housing complex on County Road 39 in Southampton before colleagues on the Town Board had the opportunity to discuss it and ask their questions in a dedicated work session. That means members of the public who come out to speak at the October hearing will have to sit through elected officials questioning and commenting before they get to share their opinions. The supervisor has recently added more work sessions back into the board’s schedule. That’s a good thing. Board members should be allowed ample discussion of projects before any actions are taken.

Dunce Cap -- To the pro-airport groups blasting the East Hampton Town Board for incompetence and misuse of taxpayer dollars when the reality is they are the ones whose lawsuits are dragging out the process of bringing forward the kind of regulations and changes that most residents of East Hampton Town would like to see at a locally-controlled airport. While it’s true that 80 percent of people in a recent survey said they wanted to keep the airport open, the survey also showed that 80 percent of those same people wanted it to remain open, but with significant changes in the impacts from flights.

Dunce Cap -- To all the regional and international media outlets that use a flurry of minor and anomalous shark bites as the a new plague of “shark attacks” in New York waters, at the start of this summer — frightening the public for the sake of sensationalism. Our local lifeguards were their usual careful, vigilant selves and the sharks, which have long been regular residents of our waters, never bit anyone else again.

Gold Star -- To East Hampton Town Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc and the Town Board for approving $2,500 “inflation bonuses” to help boost the salaries of most town employees. The board has pledged to hike baseline salaries for many employees again in the upcoming 2022-23 budget, like it did for more than 100 employees last year, as it faces difficulty hiring and retaining employees in light of soaring costs of living, lengthening commute times and a salary schedule in East Hampton that lags well behind other municipalities. The extra money is surely appreciated and comes at just the right time. Perhaps a dunce cap should go to past town leadership for not having the foresight to keep salaries competitive in the first place.

Gold Star -- To the East Hampton and Pierson high schools and their homecoming festival committees for organizing terrific events over the weekend for their entire communities to enjoy. Every school hosts a homecoming celebration, but these two go above and beyond with great food, lots of entertainment, sports, parades, bonfires and activities that attract children and adults of all ages. As the world emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, these moments of fun and unifying community outings are just what the doctor ordered.

Dunce Cap -- To the Southampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals for flouting the Open Meetings Law. At the ZBA’s most recent meeting, the public was kicked out of the Zoom room so the board could privately discuss rescheduling a November meeting — but there is no exception to the law for discussions of meeting schedules. The Open Meetings Law is designed to ensure that public bodies discuss the public’s business — you guessed it — publicly. Whether discussions happen out in the open or behind closed doors is not subject to the whims and desires of board members. It doesn’t matter how trivial the matter is. This petty transgression raises questions about what other conversations the ZBA members are having privately in violation of the law.

Gold Star -- To Westhampton Beach High School sophomore Marcus Haynia, a member of Hampton Bays Scouts BSA Troop 483 who recently achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. To do so, Marcus had to earn a minimum of 21 merit badges, have a proven record of leadership, and plan and complete a service project for the betterment of his community. For his Eagle Scout service project, Marcus created a butterfly garden in Good Ground Park in Hampton Bays that has already become a valuable ecological asset and an attraction for park visitors.

Gold Star -- To East End school districts for a successful opening of a new school year. The last two and a half years have taken a particular toll on educators, parents and students as districts contended with an unprecedented pandemic and waded through uncertain waters in balancing the needs of offering education and a safe environment for children, while also keeping in mind public health and safety. The pandemic is not over yet, but watching the celebration of school openings across the South Fork and events like the Springs School Parent Teacher Association Back to School BBQ in East Hampton gives us the feeling that at least we are on the right track.

Gold Star -- To the Sag Harbor Partnership for recognizing the needs of the Sag Harbor Fire Department and hosting the Rock the Boat party last weekend, a fundraiser to help the department buy a new fireboat. The Partnership has continuously thrown its energy behind initiatives that need support in the community — this is just another example of this nonprofit trying to do its part to help Sag Harbor.

Gold Star -- To the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the South Fork, for its “Building Bridges” initiative — a world religions class for children ages 8 to 14 that will meet this fall. In divisive times, the leadership at the UU continues to build programming aimed at bringing people together through education and understanding.

Gold Star -- To Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation and Executive Director Pat Deshong for shepherding the shelter into a partnership with Operation Warrior Shield to provide and train shelter dogs as companions for military veterans and first responders with PTSD. The program is a win for everyone involved, finding homes for the dogs and providing our heroes with the unconditional love of a new best friend.

Gold Star -- To Sag Harbor Mayor Jim Larocca for responding quickly to the controversy surrounding environmental consultant Nelson Pope Voorhis because of language in a contract in Hampton Bays, and removing the firm from the review of the upcoming proposal of Adam Potter and partners to develop a 1.44-acre parcel off Bridge and Rose streets with 79 affordable apartments and more than 30,000 square feet of commercial space. The proposal is bound to be subjected to intense and skeptical public scrutiny, and is simply too important for the objectivity of the village’s environmental consultant to be questioned. With suspicions, rightly or wrongly, already aroused in Sag Harbor about Potter’s ambitions, the village was correct in removing what the mayor referred to as a “cloud hanging over the largest application” the village has reviewed in years.

Gold Star -- To Sag Harbor Village Trustee Aidan Corish for his willingness to embrace the literally odoriferous task of planning for the long-term expansion of the village’s aging sewage treatment plant and its coverage area, which would go a long way toward reducing the amount of polluting nitrogen entering Sag Harbor Bay. Corish has worked long and hard with the plant’s operators, the village’s grant writers, and its consulting engineers to put the village into a strong position to provide a sizable benefit to the environment, which, in turn will benefit visitors and residents alike.

Dunce Cap -- To the dopes who thought it would be funny to deface the HarborFest whale by spraypainting “Trump” on it the night after HarborFest ended. This is still America, and people have a right to support whomever they like for political office, but that’s what bumper stickers and lawn signs are for. Maybe those responsible thought they were making a political statement or maybe they thought it was just good joke. Regardless, it was nothing more than a slap in the face of those who worked long and hard to pull off HarborFest for the apolitical enjoyment of thousands of people.

Gold Star -- To Westhampton War Memorial Ambulance officials for getting its all volunteer water rescue team manned and ready. September can be the most treacherous time for beachgoers, with seasonal lifeguards retired until next summer, balmy beach days, and hurricane season bringing riptides and higher waves. It’s good to know those partaking will be safe.

Gold Star -- To Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman for listening to the Hampton Bays community and looking for an alternative site for a proposed sewage treatment plant to serve the downtown.

Gold Star -- To Southampton Town officials who plan to use Community Preservation Fund money to purchase the long-desired and long deteriorating Peconic Health and Racquet Club on Flanders Road. The vacant, graffiti-covered building has been a neighborhood blight, vacant for almost 20 years. When it comes down, the view to Reeves Bay will be breathtaking.

Gold Star -- To the owners and staff of the Lobster Roll in Southampton, for creating a welcoming gathering place for the LGBTQ community and their allies. Every Thursday evening starting at 6 p.m., the bar at the eatery turns into a comfortable and safe meeting place. The happy hours started shortly after the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and quickly became not only a place to gather socially, but an opportunity to stand up, together, for social justice.