Letters

We live at Ground Zero: Marsden Street. We have lived here since 1995, before Sag Harbor was a Hampton, and when there was a lovely junkyard on the corner of Latham and Division.

There were different visions then of how Sag Harbor should be and whose needs it should answer. That is still true today. In fact, we believe that these different visions are what is fueling the controversy over the acres across from and adjacent our home. It is not about money, but deeply different understandings of our civil contract.

When we moved here, we were looking for a place where our children could be educated adequately and where they could play outside in green spaces and beaches that would light their imaginations. We were very fortunate to find those things here: Our children received exemplary educations and are doing well out in the big world.

But we had no expectation of suburban luxuries: In fact, over the years 1997 to 2015, the years our children attended Sag Harbor schools, we worked hard in the community and school to supplement the infrastructure of Sag Harbor education.

We worked for months on outreach for the bond issue of 1999, to support the superintendent at the time, Dr. John Barnes, and our late and dear friend Bob Schneider, Pierson principal, who both saw the need for not only improved facilities, but also the federally subsidized lunch program for families who were struggling.

A group of us worked on building up children’s services at the John Jermain Library so that kids had a place to read and learn informally after school.

With an exemplary group of parents, we worked to bring in multicultural events and improve the arts programs at the school.

And we were instrumental in designing and applying for the extremely large drug and alcohol prevention grant that still funds Sag Harbor schools today.

At the current time, we continue to work for the improvement of our beloved community, especially around food insecurity. Our vision remains the same as ever, except now we see our work as serving both families we know, and families we don’t know. All our town’s children should eat well, live in green and healthy spaces, and have lots of books to read and activities that light up their imaginations whether they are well off or live with single mothers who struggle to make the rent. These are the values we live every day, and that are shared by our children and grandchildren. Our family is here to stay, and when you take such a long view, it is the arc toward justice that shines.

Leah and John Oppenheimer

Sag Harbor