Letters

Finally, Kara Bak, Southampton Town’s director of community housing, reached out to me this week regarding the purchase of 26 U.S. Coast Guard homes. Not that she offered much information, other than the Coast Guard reached out to the town to buy the houses, the town is only in the beginning stages of exploring the possibility of purchasing the houses, and our community would have the opportunity to express our concerns at a public hearing. We all know that when a governmental plan gets to the public hearing step, there is very little room for change.

I asked her if the town gets the opportunity to purchase the homes, what does she plan on doing with them? She said she didn’t know. (I personally don’t believe that for a second.) She also told me that if the town doesn’t buy them, they will have no control over what happens to them. Whoever said that we want the town to control anything in our community? They have done more harm than good to our neighborhood.

However, the conversation was somewhat civil, our Freedom of Information Law request revealed much more than she led on.

In August 2017, the town supervisor sent Congressman Lee Zeldin a letter stating that the town would be interested in purchasing the Coast Guard units to add to their affordable housing inventory. This underhanded move thwarts all the hard work our community has been doing for years.

Furthermore, on September 29, 2021, the Town Board voted unanimously to authorize the supervisor to sign a letter of intent that expresses an interest in purchasing the housing units in Westhampton.

So it seems, the community housing director is a mere puppet for the town supervisor and board. It’s interesting that none of them live in our neighborhood, and it’s difficult to believe this stunt would be pulled in their backyards.

Unfortunately, we live in a town where our elected officials hurt us rather than protect us.

The lack of communication is appalling.

Sharon Frost

Hampton West Estates

Westhampton