Dan's Papers - October 24, 2008 -

On Monday night, Oct. 20, at 7 p.m., at the American Legion Hall in Amagansett, the Pro East Hampton Committee held its second "Open Town Meeting." Lead organizer Trace Duryea greeted all at the door, asking who might be willing to speak. By the time Master of Ceremonies and moderator Ernest Shea called for the Pledge of Allegiance, roughly 150 concerned East Hampton residents were in attendance. In the crowd were Town of East Hampton Board members Pat Mansir and Julia Prince, as well as former Board members Debra Foster and Diane Weir. Both former board members addressed the crowd, as did former Town Supervisor and present Suffolk County Legislator Jay Schneiderman, and current and past Republican candidate for Town Supervisor Bill Wilkinson.

All speakers were given three minutes - although some who were on a roll were allowed to continue. The major theme throughout the night was the dissatisfaction with the present Town Supervisor Bill McGintee, the tax increases he is proposing, and the monies he is seeking to raise by increasing fees for the dump and beach usage. The first speaker, Joe Lombardi, set the tone by stating right off the bat that, "You can't blame the global crisis for what is happening in East Hampton." The next speaker, Bill Wilkinson, an announced candidate for Town Supervisor, was promising an open government, and was critical of the time (10:30 a.m.) currently set by the Town Board for the open discussion meeting on the Town Budget. Loring Bolger of Springs was unhappy about the cost of the historic buildings and how they were to be used as Town Hall Offices. She didn't think the whole plan was the best way to utilize the historic buildings.

For John Korn, the problem was Boy's Harbor - most notably the fact that, after paying $7.4 million for the property, the Town may need to spend $300,000 a year (according to Korn's math) to maintain the asset as an active park rather than a nature preserve. He called the present town situation, "A heck of a mess." Don Cirillo was concerned about all the borrowing for both the past deficit and the bridge loan needed to get the town to the point where it can get access to the state bond loan (next April). Using his numbers, it would be at a cost to the Town of $100,000. Cirillo seemed to know his numbers and couldn't understand why the Town of East Hampton - given that its full time population is only one third the number Town of Southampton's residents - had a similar size budget. Both are just under $80 million.

When Darryl Glennon spoke, it was against the Community Preservation Fund, which he labeled the "white elephant" that will be responsible for the "downfall of the town." Former Town board member Diana Weir suggested a spending freeze on all CPF projects, saying in effect that the Town was "loaned out." She said the longer we wait, the less expensive the property will become -perhaps saving millions. As far as the deficit and budget mess, Weir proclaimed, "We have not seen the bottom of this problem." She received thunderous applause.

Laura Smith questioned the wisdom of automatically giving non-union town employees raises, matching those mandated by contracts. Juan Castro of the YMCA questioned the board's way of dealing with community groups, saying the board was playing one against the other. Former Town Board member Debra Foster proclaimed she "dropped the ball" during her tenure, and that the use of CPF funds for budget shortfalls by the town was wrong. At the time, Foster admitted, she thought it was acceptable. Heckled, Foster stood in front of a hostile crowd and admitted she made errors. She said she had a plan to cut $6 million and raise another $6 million for the Town, thus netting the town $12 million, but she left the podium to a chorus of booing and heckling.

Newly hired Town consultant Nick Lynn bravely stood up at the podium and spoke of his view on what the Town needed to do in terms of taxes. He was met with unfriendly calls from a crowd who viewed Lynn as Supervisor McGintee's $130 an hour vassal. This crowd on the whole was not in the mood to hear about the tax increases Lynn said the Town will have to endure by state mandate.

The fiery Catherine Reed took no prisoners with her three minutes of fire branding McGintee, and ended her time by saying, "If you're for Obama you can kiss your ass goodbye." (This reporter gleaned that Reed perhaps is not a fan of the Democratic presidential candidate.)

Then, received like a long lost son, Jay Schneiderman rose to speak. He said East Hampton should "freeze the Town Hall building project," and explained his theories on what happened to the Town after he left the Supervisor's office. He received cheers and was shown tremendous respect. Not as lucky was the next speaker, Town Democratic Chairman Bob Schaeffer, who said he believed in the meeting but not the tenor, and wished there were more Democrats present. He said the room had a "disappointing anger" in it. These remarks (obviously well founded) did not endear him to many in the room and he was hissed away from the podium.

Perhaps the voice of the crowd was the tall, blonde Julie Strong, who spoke about how important it was for all to get involved and attend the October 28 budget meeting scheduled at 10:30 a.m. She stressed that it would be worth missing work in order to attend the meeting, sending a message to the present board that the people's concerns and opposition to high spending and tax increases must be heard. Strong was also upset with the new beach fees, saying, "The beaches belong to the people."

Mickey Miller, whose family, he says, has been in the town for over 350 years, was not a fan of the CPF and its purchase of Keyes Island (or as some call it, Gull Island) at the entrance of Three Mile Harbor. He believes the town overpaid, and was critical of how the deal was done. Tom Noble seconded the concern of the Keyes Island purchase and said it is "pitiful that the state has to monitor the town's spending."

The meeting broke at 8:50, with some criticizing the fact that the group had to pay to use the hall, rather than being able to meet in a town-owned facility at no cost.

The mood of the people in attendance was anger, specifically, anger at the present board. That point was probably not lost on Board members Julia Prince and Pat Mansir.