Editorial: Opening Lines of Communication - 27 East

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Editorial: Opening Lines of Communication

Editorial Board on Jun 5, 2019
As the candidates running in Sag Harbor Village for mayor and the board of trustees talk about the need for better communications with the public, there are good examples all... more

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Right and Wrong

Town and village officials, and police departments, on the South Fork all deserve a round of applause and unqualified support, both for their recent principled stance on the Trump administration’s new aggressive policies toward the immigrant community, and for taking steps to reach out and make sure the men, women and children in that community get the message: Don’t be afraid of police officers. They’re there to help you. East Hampton Town and Village led the way last week, making a special effort to send a clear message. They said the town and village, and its police departments, will cooperate ... 12 Feb 2025 by Editorial Board

Let's Hear

Donald Trump has been back as president for a couple of weeks, and he has issued countless executive orders. He also has proposed making Canada our 51st state, buying Greenland, taking the Panama Canal from Panama, and the taking of Gaza (making it “the Riviera of The Middle East”) and moving the resident Palestinians elsewhere. Yet he has not issued any executive orders nor anything at all to bring down the price of groceries. While campaigning, Trump repeatedly said he would bring food prices down … and fast. Clearly, it was just empty promises. His tariffs will raise prices further. ... 10 Feb 2025 by Staff Writer

Not Bullied

Laurie Anderson’s statement that “I have never met John Leonard” [“A Bully,” Letters, February 6] was about all she got right. I lived through every moment of John Leonard’s three years on the board of the Evelyn Alexander Wildlife Rescue Center — he’s my husband — and it was ugly. Nobody pushed Virginia Frati out. She wanted to retire as of November 1, 2022. John singlehandedly found a highly qualified candidate. Frati was installed on the center’s board of directors on October 25, 2022. Her last day as executive director was October 31, 2022. Frati became livid when an audit ... by Staff Writer

Looming Disaster

During his two confirmation hearings, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Donald Trump’s uninformed nominee to become the secretary of health and human services, struggled to answer basic questions relating to the job he was nominated to fill. Forcing myself to watch his display of ignorance and shallowness across a range of important health care issues, the fear of looming disaster mounted with every Kennedy utterance. No secretary of health and human services nominee could possibly know everything there is to know about the job — but is it too much to expect a grasp beyond the rudimentary, a bar Kennedy struggled ... by Staff Writer

Take a Leap

John Leonard is one of the good ones. I have been on boards throughout the community with him, and he is courageous, honest and smart. In this turbulent time, the Southampton Town Council needs his sane and moderate voice. We need to foster inclusion and communication, which at the moment is not the way of politics, and, for that matter, our community. Let’s actually try to find consensus for our community. Let’s take a leap into a forgotten skill of collaboration and communication with the knowledge of and best interest in mind of all of our community. Join me in ... by Staff Writer

Not a Drill

I implore Congressman Nick LaLota to fulfill his own promise and stand up for Long Island by refusing to yield Congress’s power, and that of his constituents, to Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency. In light of the recent actions taken by the executive branch via Elon Musk (though without oversight or transparency it’s unclear who is really in charge with these actions) to gut the federal government and usurp the power of the purse from Congress, conferred by Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution, I want to know what he intends to do to preserve our community’s ... by Staff Writer

Condescending

I am writing this letter as a lifelong Democrat, former co-chair of the Southampton Town Democratic Committee and also former president of the J.P. Spata Democratic Club. I don’t recall ever reading as condescending a letter as the one by Andrea Klausner printed last week in your paper [“Not Productive,” Letters, February 6]. Actually, I think it went well beyond condescending and landed squarely in the ballpark of insulting. Whether out of hypocrisy or ignorance, Ms. Klausner criticizes fellow local Democrats for attacking other fellow local Democrats by doing some serious attacking herself. She accuses them of “emotional overload” as ... by Staff Writer

Graceful Solution

As a member of the 12th generation of my family to live in Southampton, I have observed with dismay the behavior of the leadership of the Southampton History Museum regarding the Conscience Point Shellfish Hatchery. Until recently, I have been both impressed with and grateful for the work of the museum. I have proudly watched my wife, Kathy, serve on the museum board, my sister Anne serve as the board’s president, and most recently our daughter Meghan served on the board. Many in the community know that Meghan was the first board member to resign, expressing her opposition to the ... by Staff Writer

The Miss List

I’ve been coming out here since 1979, when I bought my first house in North Haven. However, until COVID, I never spent more than two weeks at any one time. Then, in 2022, with our kids away, we decided to rent our home in New York City and move out full time to Bridgehampton. It would be an understatement to say I wasn’t sure about our move. I was born in Brooklyn, grew up in Queens, and went to New York City public schools, and even went to college in Brooklyn. I’ve been riding the subway since I was 11 ... by Staff Writer

He's Lost It

Reader Ed Surgan, in his Letter to the Editor two weeks ago [“Love Struck,” Letters, January 30], describes his near ecstasy at seeing the recent inauguration of Donald Trump, and says of himself, “You wouldn’t be wrong to chuckle a bit and think this guy has lost it.” Oh, how right he was. He accuses Democrats of “sowing division and acrimony.” Tell me, Mr. Surgan, was it Democrats who called their opponents “low IQ”? Was it Democrats who accused legal immigrants in Ohio of eating people’s pets? This lie led to death threats and bomb scares at local schools and ... by Staff Writer