Letters

Ten days ago, the trustees and I received a letter from Save Sag Harbor telling us they were bringing a lawsuit to kill the village’s affordable housing initiative [“Sag Harbor Taken to Court Over Potter Affordable Housing Proposal,” 27east.com, October 14].

To say this came as a shock and a disappointment is the understatement of the year. After all the work we put into this effort, the news made us both sad and angry.

Save Sag Harbor is a tax-exempt organization that claims its mission is to protect the quality of life in our village. They have been joined in this suit by a half dozen village residents.

Who are these self-appointed saviors of Sag Harbor? They are folks who already have their own homes, but not necessarily in Sag Harbor Village. They are not a diverse group, and they do not represent the diverse Sag Harbor community they claim to speak for. There are no firefighters, no volunteer ambulance drivers, no EMTs, no cops, no teachers, no nurses, no people of color — I could go on.

The lawsuit says the village trustees did not do a proper job when we passed a package of local laws last June. It also makes clear that the group hates the Conifer-Potter Bridge/Rose Street project, the only project that has so far come into Village Hall for review.

I am struck by the utter hypocrisy of people who claim to support affordable housing while acting to kill it. Really, folks? Your actions and attitude remind me of something legendary Speaker of the House of Representatives Sam Rayburn once said: “Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a good carpenter to build one.”

Consider this: On the same day we learned about the lawsuit, we received a heartbreaking letter from a young woman with deep Sag Harbor roots who is preparing to leave because she can’t afford to live here any longer. All of her friends but one have already left. She has a good job in the village that pays well, but it is not enough in this runaway economy.

Perhaps Save Sag Harbor will consider what she has written: “This has always felt like a magical place to me. I believe there is still some magic in it. I don’t want to leave.” But leave she will, if we don’t get some accessible affordable housing in place.

My plea to Save Sag Harbor is this: Put this young woman’s needs at the center of your agenda and rethink your ill-considered and expensive legal gambit. Instead, join the formal process now getting underway in Village Hall to consider the Conifer-Potter project. It is a place where you are welcome and can come together with the community you aspire to serve.

Jim Larocca

Mayor

Village of Sag Harbor