Letters

I dismissed the calls for the resignation of Janice Scherer, the current Southampton Town planning and development administrator, after the BESS zoning fiasco [“Boisterous Crowd Condemns BESS Proposal, Demands Moratorium,” 27east, August 9]. I suspected that it was going to fall on deaf ears. Besides, fish rots from the head, and the fiasco clearly falls on the shoulders of the Town Board.

However, I was flabbergasted to read the article at Riverhead Local this weekend [“Court Dismisses Lawsuit Brought by Suspended Riverhead Department Head To Enforce Subpoena for Documents”]. The article stated that Janice Scherer has a consulting contract with the Town of Riverhead, being paid $160 an hour, while she is an employee of the Town of Southampton. The total compensation for her position at the Town of Southampton is reported to be $190,000 per year. She apparently also has been co-chairing the Town of Riverhead’s Downtown Revitalization Committee.

So, now, let’s go back to the battery energy storage system fiasco and the frustration of the attendees at the Town Board meeting who called for Janice Scherer’s resignation.

Many Hampton Bays property owners who dutifully pay their taxes spent their entire summer researching issues related to BESS to provide accurate and complete information to the Town Board — basically doing what the Land Management Department should have done — while the head of land management, being paid by their taxes, apparently has the time and energy to work for the Town of Riverhead.

Does this make sense to anyone? Apparently it does to the Town Board members, who repeatedly defend their land use process and their employees.

I guess it is easier for the Town Board to try to “neutralize” their constituents than to deal with a broken process.

Gayle Lombardi

Hampton Bays