Letters

Political promises of affordable housing. Southampton is at a crossroads. Are we going the route of other western Long Island towns and density? Read the YIMBY website: There is a post that states we should support small-scale developers. There is nothing small-scale about multi-family developments or the developers that will descend on the East End if we let them.

Is the return on investment worth the taxes for school and infrastructure? The answer depends on perspective. If you are a small-scale developer (laughable) with ties to politicians’ pockets and their promises — the answer is yes. Owner of a single-family home? No.

Multi-family housing developments pay fractional taxes. The other part is subsidies from the government (more taxes). Adding kids at 80 percent of our tax bill will cause single-family homeowners to pay the difference. If the idea was to help traffic by introducing this multi-family housing development in Quiogue, as is the case most often, our politicians are on the wrong side of the problem.

Our problem is a matter of efficiency — every worker traveling east in traffic wastes three to four hours a day in productivity. Thousands and thousands of people a day losing 30 to 40 percent of their workday in traffic. We can’t fix that issue by adding people 200 at a time. There are zoning limits and housing size limits that haven’t even been considered. Let’s reduce our footprint, not encourage more building.

The other problem I have with the idea of multi-family housing is that it will be built in our hamlets and impact our housing, not in the villages and wealthier areas — they don’t want the costs associated to them. How about we build affordable housing in Sagaponack? I wouldn’t mind living in one of the lowest-taxed areas in the country while benefiting from highest values.

It is time we do math instead of making decisions based on emotion. Our politicians and appointees are troubling. We need to clean house, and we should start with Robin Long, who has been running for office while maintaining her position on the Planning Board for seven months before resigning in July, a direct violation of ethics rules.

We should also let Tommy John Schiavoni go — he has indicated he has bigger political aspirations at the county and state levels. We don’t need anymore career politicians — their goal is to keep getting elected.

Fixing the roads seems to be a better return on investment. I know it’s difficult to do the right thing and much easier to promise simple fixes, ideas and political platitudes. It’s much easier to promise cheap goods at rock-bottom prices, even if it’s selling our future. Fix our roads.

David Celi

Hampton Bays