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Democratic Committee
Campaign 97 - Platform
CAMPAIGN ’97
A Proud History – A Bright Future
The East Hampton Town Democratic Trustees
We believe that the current board of Republican Trustees have been financially irresponsible in allowing a nearly quarter million dollar bundle of money to accumulate. This bounty was collected from dock owners and others. We believe that this should have been targeted toward our fragile aquatic resources and not a dollar dedicated for Trustee pay raises. We believe their actions have violated the trust placed in them, and they should be held accountable.
We believe that the current board of Republican Trustees has been hypocritical and arbitrary in nearly all their decisions. A recent example would be their application to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for a $25,000 grant for a pump-out boat. This is the same DEC that the Republican Trustees find it so convenient not to recognize. They voted overwhelmingly to apply for the grant.
We believe that the forthcoming Republican Trustee purchase of a new pump out boat is wrong and will directly compete with, and interfere with, private enterprise. While we wholeheartedly agree with the concept of a pump out boat, we believe that private enterprise is much more capable of providing a superior service in this area. The Democratic Trustees support in any way possible, efforts to keep our harbors and waterways clean, to make pump out stations easily accessible and sensible ideas that encourage free enterprise.
We believe that the current board of Republican
Trustees was wrong in imposing an additional fee for commercial claming
on our Baymen in Napeague Harbor. We believe that this fee should
be repealed and a top-to-bottom review be undertaken on all fees levied
by the fiscally irresponsible Republican Trustees.
We believe that the current board of Republican Trustees does not make every effort to protect endangered species. We pledge to coordinate and cooperate with local organizations in order to provide adequate protection to all endangered species.
We believe that the current board of Republican Trustees does not support the shellfish hatchery in Montauk and has no intention in increasing our aquaculture program. We believe that the shellfish hatchery should be fully supported with all means available, including grants, and that technology improvements in shellfish farming should be investigated for suitability in an expanded and more efficient aquaculture program.
We believe that the current board of Republican Trustees does not coordinate fully with the Town Board. We believe consultation and coordination within government is exactly what elected officials are supposed to do. Not utilizing experienced civil servants as resources is wasteful and ultimately will produce inferior legislation. We believe that coordination and consultation is paramount to effective government. An effective Trustee Liaison position is vital to this coordination. We believe that closed meetings are unacceptable and counterproductive to good government and we believe in openness and honesty.
We believe that the current board of Republican Trustees is power hungry. A recent example would be an attempt to acquire management of the Harbormaster function. We believe that the Harbormaster job is a police function and is not something the Trustees should be involved with and is contradictory to the tenets of the Dongan Patent.
We believe that the current board of Republican Trustees has ignored their boating constituents. Despite having nearly a quarter million dollars in the bank, no effort has been undertaken to refurbish or even adequately maintain our launching ramps. We believe that this has become an issue of safety and believe that all our town’s ramps should be reviewed for safe access, adequacy and utilization.
We believe that the current board of Republican Trustees has no desire to educate the community on marine issues. We believe that our greatest asset is our children. We believe that full support be given towards high school credit programs in marine biology and oceanography in order to promote and expose our young people to our maritime heritage.
We believe that the current board of Republican Trustees would approve any permit and support any legislation enabling ferry service in East Hampton Town including Fort Pond Bay and Napeague Harbor. We believe that ferry service would be harmful to our east-end way of life. We believe that our rural infrastructure would not support the many thousands of cars transiting the area. We believe that a ferry and associated property buildings would be harmful to existing Montauk businesses. We pledge – no ferry!
We believe that the current board of Republican Trustees is interested in an expanding bureaucracy. We believe that the new Trustee Environmental Resources Permit (TERP) is a Republican grab for more power which exceeds the tenets of the Dongan Patent. We do not feel that Republican Trustees should control Lake Montauk bottomland. We do not agree with the Trustee Manifesto authored by Tom Knobel, which takes review of our vital shoreline away from the Planning Board and Zoning Board and gives control to the Trustees only. We believe this is dangerous and could be fiscally disastrous. The current system of checks and balances is environmentally sound and non-political.
Democratic Trustees in ’97. You can trust
us with East Hampton’s waterways and historic roads.
Harold Bennett Martin Bennett Eric Brown
Mary Gardiner Frank Kennedy Pete Kromer
Barry Leach Richard Lester Rick Rozos