Letters

I’m running for Southampton Town Trustee because I truly care about my community.

My goal as Trustee is to proactively engage and collaborate with expert local stakeholders to ensure we are taking action to protect and restore habitats, retain public access to our waterways, and raise awareness about threats to our environment. This includes implementing holistic, science-based and ecosystem-based water quality restoration initiatives, and pesticide-free, nature-based revitalization and wetland restoration — a potential transformative opportunity for the Bel-Aire Cove Motel property.

As a business professional in global advertising and marketing; a former member, secretary and chair of the Hampton Bays Citizen Advisory Committee; and as an active participant with the Hampton Bays Civic Association, I know the importance of research, collaboration, transparent communication, and fiscal responsibility in achieving well-informed common goals.

My specific proven, and relevant, professional skills include in-depth research and analysis, strategic planning, project management, problem solving, consensus building, and budget management for complex, large-scale programs.

Because I care, I do my homework. I’ve read the Southampton Town Coastal Resources & Water Protection Plan. I’ve also read the rules and regulations for the Management and Products of the Water of the Town of Southampton. And, starting in January 2022, I spent hundreds of hours researching Grid-Scale Battery Energy Storage Systems to proactively educate myself about the two proposed grid-scale facilities in the hamlet of Hampton Bays, where I’ve lived since 1992. As a result, I provided the NYSERDA Battery Energy Storage System Guidebook for Local Governments to the Planning Board, voicing grave concerns. The board was very thankful, acknowledging they had no knowledge about this document and had very little information about this technology.

My BESS presentation to the HBCA informed my community about the purpose of this green adjacent technology and alerted them to the inappropriate residential zoning and planned site locations. I’m not a subject matter expert, but because of my research, I was more informed than members of our town and planning boards.

With the amplification of the HBCA, residents rallied, educating themselves and speaking up about legitimate public safety and environmental concerns, which impact not only Hampton Bays but the entire East End.

Local officials are being called to account to put the safety of their constituency, and our environmentally sensitive locale, first.

Great communities have at their core, strong, inclusive, civic engagement, which capitalizes on the ideas and talents of all members of the community working together to ensure the common good and make meaningful contributions.

If elected as Southampton Town Trustee, I look forward to working with my fellow board members, listening to our community and making meaningful contributions.

Margaret Friedlander

Hampton Bays