Letters

Mark Twain, a great American writer, said that whenever you meet a new person and they introduce themselves by telling you how honest or “patriotic” they are, the first thing you should do is place your hand securely on your wallet.

Last week, another “patriotic” introductory letter appeared, “Deserve Respect” by Ralph Fasano [Letters, February 1], a non-Southampton Town resident. Fasano is the executive director of Concern for Independent Living, advocating for public funds to develop Liberty Gardens. (I guess the “Concern” in the company name is their concern for how much money would come their way.)

Since Fasano could not think of any true and compelling responses to widespread and mounting public opposition to Liberty Gardens, he proceeded, as he has done all along, with his smear campaign. This time with an ad hominem attack on Frances Genovese, a longtime homeowner, in Southampton Village and unpaid general ombudsman for our town. Frances shows up at Town Board meetings, reads proposed legislation and applications, and often provides information to the voting public, a valuable service at no cost to the public. Frances Genovese has earned our respect, unlike Fasano and his lackies on the past Town Board.

The editors create and assign titles to the “Letters to the Editor” before posting them. In Fasano’s case, the title that was assigned, “Deserve Respect,” should have been followed by a question mark and used for letters questioning the sham, last-minute “special” Town Board meeting called by outgoing Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman to push through part of the Liberty Gardens con.

Respect is just what has been denied to the many people who have been involved in opposing this ill-advised project. They attended marathon meetings, raised the questions and defined the issues, and exposed the town.

The three Democratic Town Board members — termed-out Supervisor Schneiderman, termed-out Councilman John Bouvier and Councilman Tommy John Schiavoni, who joined Schneiderman’s demand for the last-minute meeting — were totally unprepared to answer any questions. So they sat there like Moe, Larry and Curly and let Republican Councilwoman Cyndi McNamara (who was well-prepared to give answers) to address the elephant in the room: Why this rushed “special meeting” on December 27? Why couldn’t the vote be tabled until the new board was sworn in and given time to review?

The answer was obvious: Schneiderman wanted to clear the last hurdle for Fasano while he still had three votes, and let the new supervisor and board members suffer the consequences. He also set the clock running, which gave Fasano the power to grant more time to the board should he see fit.

We, the concerned public, residents and voters, “Deserve More Respect” than this!

Stephen Ring

Hampton Bays

Ring is a former Southampton Town Democratic Committee member — Ed.