Dan's Papers - June 6, 2008 - Local Blogger Busts A Local Politico

Have you ever seen that "Simpsons" episode about Homer creating a Springfield blog that exposes the personal matters of people in the town? Well, in the Hamptons that fictional plot has become a reality.

Thanks to "On The Beach Blog," a personal blog about Westhampton Beach, that town's Deputy Mayor, Jim Kametler, is finding himself in the middle of a scandal.

Blogger Dean Speir, a former member of the Westhampton Beach Zoning Board of Appeals and former chairman, is doing what he can to keep people honest - and taking some heat along the way. It's obvious from his blog's personal bio that he is a little bitter about local government. The following is an excerpt:

"In 1986 at Mayor 'Ham' Andon's urging, Dean established the Mayor's Office of Film and Video Services, serving without compensation in that position until he was without notice removed following the 2007 Municipal Election. In 1999, Dean created the Village's first ever website, maintained, filled with content, and redesigned it, until terminated...wait for it, as Radar O'Reilly used to say...following the 2007 Municipal Election in which he had the temerity to run against appointed Trustee Joan Levan, and lose to her by only six votes."

Speir is on a mission, and one of his blog postings has caused quite a scandal for Kametler, who is up for reelection in June. Speir's blog exposed several websites advertising the Kametler's home as a bed-and-breakfast, and stated that, according to all reports, he never got a permit to legally operate the bed-and-breakfast.

Like wildfire, the blog became perfect political fodder for opponents and a news story for local papers, and suddenly Speir had a voice. He quotes on his blog, "One thing the Deputy Mayor and two-term Trustee hasn't gotten clear on yet, is that if one is operating a bed & breakfast in Westhampton Beach, as he and his current wife have been for a number of years, a permit is required from the Village."

After a brief scan of the Internet, it was apparent that the accusation in the blog was valid - posted links bring you to other websites advertising the home as a bed-and-breakfast. One such website is the very large and successful tripadvisor.com, which has a review of the place. A quick investigation revealed that no permits or approvals for the bed-and-breakfast were acquired.

Oh, the scandal of it all!

Just so you are aware, in order to get a proper permit for the bed-and-breakfast, a $100 application fee is required each year, and Village Code approval must be obtained. You also need to register with the Suffolk County Treasurer's Office to get a certificate of registration. Not a whole lot of work, but needless to say, the Deputy Mayor didn't get that paperwork, and a man with a computer wasn't about to let him get away with it.

Among other rants on Speir's blog is his anger towards Goldberg's Deli for putting up a sign in their window that spells Westhampton, "West Hampton" - a big no-no according to Speir, who took offense to the sign.

After a post on his blog, the sign in Goldberg's came down.

Whether or not the exposed "scandal" will have an effect on the upcoming election remains to be seen.