The East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals announced Friday that it will allow Mollie Zweig to build a rock revetment to protect her oceanfront house on West End Road.

    Ms. Zweig’s request was the subject of a lengthy and sometimes controversial hearing, with her representatives arguing for the need and effectiveness of the proposed project and the town trustees, who own and manage the town’s common lands on behalf of the public, imploring the board to consider alternatives given a revetment’s potential detrimental impact on the adjacent shoreline.

    A stone groin already in front of the property, which runs perpendicular to the shoreline, is to be removed before the sand-covered rock revetment, which will follow Ms. Zweig’s property line, is installed. The groin was originally constructed by the Army Corps of Engineers “as part of a larger project that anticipated the construction of a string of groins joined by a continuous revetment along a much wider area,” the board’s attorney, Linda Riley, wrote in the determination. The connection was not constructed, so the groin did not function as intended, she wrote, and became partially exposed by Hurricane Irene in 2011 and Hurricane Sandy last year, resulting in an increasing gouging away of the dune and beach around it.

    “I would urge all the interested parties — and there are many — to read the full determination, which was very carefully reasoned and explained by our attorney,” Frank Newbold, the board’s chairman, said before reading a summary of it aloud. The board granted the required variances for the rock revetment on the condition that a pole-mounted surveillance camera be removed from Ms. Zweig’s property and a sand-replenishment maintenance program required under the project’s State Department of Environmental Conservation permit be implemented. Ms. Zweig had already agreed to remove the camera and pole. The D.E.C. permit had already been issued.

    The board, Ms. Riley wrote, found no reasonable alternative site for the revetment. Numerous seawalls already exist along the shoreline where the proposed revetment will be constructed, and where it is to be built will be farther landward than the existing seawalls.

    The board ruled that proposed restoration of the dune — “the ultimate goal of this project,” according to Ms. Riley — “will not have an adverse effect or impact on the physical or environmental conditions in the neighborhood.” The project will include the depositing of 4,000 cubic yards of sand as part of a dune restoration seaward of the revetment.

    Michael Russell, a former East Hampton High School basketball star, is back in jail again, this time facing four felony charges and a possible extended stay in a state prison system, although which state would incarcerate him has yet to be determined.

     His latest brush with the law was in East Hampton Village, where, according to police, he went shopping early last month with several credit cards he had taken from an acquaintance, Aisha Ali, a trainer at Stony Hill Stables in Amagansett.

     Mr. Russell, 23, known as Mikey, has been in and out of criminal courts and jails across the Northeast. He is facing multiple felony charges in Massachusetts stemming from an alleged armed home invasion robbery and has been convicted of felonies twice before.

     According to East Hampton Village Police, Mr. Russell took the cards, which belong to Stony Hill Stables, then used them on Sept. 2 to purchase a pair of Nike Air Pippen sneakers, a pair of Nike Lebron sneakers, and two pairs of Sperry shoes at Sneakerology on Main Street.

     When Mr. Russell presented the first two cards to the clerk, a student at East Hampton High School, the charges were declined. The young woman checked with her manager, according to her statement to the police, and the manager, who recognized Mr. Russell, okayed her to run another card, which went through.

     The East Hampton Village detective squad identified Mr. Russell as the alleged perpetrator after interviewing Ms. Ali and showing store workers an array of photos. Two workers positively pointed to Mr. Russell as the one who made the purchases, according to police.

     East Hampton Justice Lisa R. Rana told Mr. Russell Friday morning that by state law she was not permitted to set bail due to his two previous felony convictions. His attorney, Sheila Mullahy of the Legal Aid Society, told the court that the defendant would waive his right to be released if not indicted after 144 hours, as is required by law.

     The most serious of the new charges against Mr. Russell are two felony counts of forgery. He is also being charged with two counts of felony possession of stolen credit cards and two misdemeanor petit larceny counts.

     A grand jury heard from witnesses on Tuesday and an indictment could be imminent.

     In Massachusetts, Mr. Russell was indicted on March 22 on "four counts of home invasion, three counts of armed assault in a dwelling, two counts armed and masked robbery, armed burglary, armed assault to rob, all of which are felonies, as well as two misdemeanor counts of assault and battery," Paul Jarvey, a spokesman for the Worcester County District Attorney said Friday. He was released on $5,000 bail, on what is called in the state a "pre-trial probation," according to Mr. Jarvey.

     The current charges against Mr. Russell "could have a bearing on his bail, which may well be revoked," Mr. Jarvey said.

     Mr. Russell was a star at East Hampton High School despite his brushes with the law as a youthful offender. His court records were sealed until he turned 18. In 2008, when he was 18 and had a scholarship awaiting him at Angelina Junior College in Lufkin, Texas, Mr. Russell pled guilty to two burglaries. He had also been charged with breaking into cars and possession of stolen property.

     While serving a year's sentence in county jail, he was charged for another crime, one that allegedly occurred before he was sentenced: felony sexual assault in Keene, N.H. The disposition of that case is not known.

     Still, given his basketball talents, schools continued to seek him out. On Jan. 27 of this year, he was the leading scorer for the Becker College Hawks, scoring 19 points in a loss to Newbury College. Just hours later, in the early morning of Jan. 28, Worcester police say that Mr. Russell and two other men, all wearing masks, forced their way into an apartment where four students at Worcester Polytechnic Institute lived. One of perpetrators was carrying a gun, police said.

     They forced the four male students onto the ground as they went room to room. One of the victims struggled, and pulled Mr. Russell's mask off, police said. That victim later recognized Mr. Russell, who fled with the two still-masked men, according to police.

     Several hours later, Mr. Russell was taken into custody in his dorm room at Becker College.

    The East Hampton Conservators, the political action committee founded by Alec Baldwin to back candidates who are strong on environmental protection, was accused by Republicans this week of violating campaign finance rules by placing ads in direct support of individual candidates.

    According to the New York State Board of Elections Web site, political action committees, while “not specifically defined in the New York State Election Law,” can raise money to support candidates or political committees, but are not supposed to make “direct expenditures on behalf of candidates.”

    The Conservators are “acting as an arm of the Democratic Party,” Thomas Knobel, the vice chairman of the East Hampton Town Republican Committee, said Tuesday. “They completely disown that, but that’s what they do. They’re pretending they’re not a political committee with a partisan agenda.”

    “If some Republican candidate jumped up tomorrow and outdid the Democrats in terms of environmental protection, I have no doubt that they [the Conservators] would hand money to a Republican candidate,” Mr. Baldwin said yesterday. “They’re not anti-Republican.”

    The group’s mission, according to its Web site, is “to control development, protect the environment and pure drinking water, and preserve open space and the quality of life through vigilance, public education, and the election of people dedicated to good government.”

    “That happens to be a belief typically supported overwhelmingly by Democratic candidates,” Mr. Baldwin said.

    “The attempt by the Democratic Party to seize control of the East Hampton Town Board at all costs is being tainted by big money,” the G.O.P. said in a release issued Monday on the heels of a complaint filed with the Board of Elections by Stuart Jones of Springs, a Republican committeeman. In an Oct. 16 letter to that board Mr. Jones charged that the Conservators made “blatant and public expenditures on behalf of candidates,” not only in this election cycle but in 2011.

    He pointed to advertisements paid for by the Conservators that champion the Democratic candidates for town supervisor and town board, the most recent published two weeks ago in local papers. The ads proclaimed the Conservators’ backing of Larry Cantwell for supervisor and Kathee Burke-Gonzalez and Job Potter for the town board, and urged people to “join us in supporting the entire Democratic slate.” The Conservators paid for similar ads two years ago supporting the 2011 Democratic ticket.

    Under the apparent rules for PACs, a contribution to a candidate’s campaign committee, Friends of Larry Cantwell for instance, or to a constituted political committee, such as East Hampton Democrats Campaign 2013, would be acceptable, as would an issue-oriented ad not naming a candidate. But an ad that directly states support for particular candidates would not, unless a form is filed stating the specific candidates the PAC is backing.

    “It seems bizarre that you could give that same amount of money to the campaign committee and the campaign could run that ad,” Chris Kelley, the chairman of Campaign 2013, said Tuesday.

    “Maybe the Board of Elections will make it clearer, because it is a bit cloudy,” Mr. Jones said yesterday of the rules.

    Mr. Jones has asked the New York State Board of Elections to investigate the matter “to prevent repetition of the improper actions of this ‘PAC’ that are at best duplicitous, and, at worst, criminal.”

    “It may be,” he wrote, “that this group called the East Hampton Conservators is simply a political committee cloaking itself as a PAC. . . .”

    Asked why the distinction mattered, Mr. Knobel said a PAC “can receive almost unlimited moneys,” while the contribution limits are considerably less for a political committee and far less for a candidate’s committee. A political action committee is “more innocuous than a political committee,” Mr. Knobel said, and has “more lenient reporting requirements.”

    In each election cycle, for example, a political committee must explicitly state which candidates it is supporting. If the Conservators are indeed a political committee, Mr. Knobel said, then the group should operate as such and face the same contribution limits as, say, the East Hampton Town Republican Committee or the East Hampton Democrats. The Republicans want a level playing field, Mr. Knobel said.

    The Conservators’ Web site explains that the group engages in education and activism, advocacy, and fund-raising “to support candidates for election to public office who support protecting the environment and quality of life in East Hampton.”

    It does so thanks to some deep-pocketed contributors, including a “founders’ circle” of backers who have donated $10,000 or more. In financial disclosure reports to the Board of Elections through early July, Mr. Baldwin was the listed as the Conservators’ largest donor of the year, giving $5,000 in January. The Conservators had not filed a disclosure statement for the period ending in late September.

    David Doty, the treasurer for the Conservators, said the Republicans were making much ado about nothing, and that he has “been scrupulous” in filing financial disclosures accurately, stating all receipts and expenditures, while “one candidate for re-election to town board on the Republican line didn’t file for years, and even filed what seem like false statements.”

    He was referring to Councilman Dominick Stanzione, who in July at first filed a no-activity report for the first half of the year, but admitted his mistake and filed a detailed disclosure report after it was pointed out that he had run ads in various local papers during that period.

    “This is really a hysterical smokescreen covering the lack of willingness of a small group of political operatives to engage in constructive dialogue about the future of the town,” Mr. Doty wrote. It is “the kind of small-minded insider politicking that has led the Republicans of good will in this town to have no candidate for supervisor, even though they have the incumbent majority advantage. It’s a tempest in a teaspoon.”

    “This election is about who will reasonably control the ear-splitting airport noise that disturbs not only our town but our neighbors, who will think long and hard about the long-term smart solutions for our beaches, who will get a handle on the out-of-control nightclubs that destroy our quality of life, and who will commit to keeping our water clean,” Mr. Doty wrote.

    “I don’t consider it a big issue,” Mr. Jones said yesterday. “It’s either a mistake or an oversight, or they just disregarded the rule or the regulation. I don’t want to get into any kind of a contest with them. I agree with their position on water conservation and saving the harbors.

    The Conservators did not file a disclosure statement for the period ending in late September, presumably because they did not raise or spend money between July and the end of September. The next filing deadline for campaign disclosure statements is Friday, and Mr. Doty said he plans to file a form indicating support of specific candidates.

    “We are committed to being transparent and doing the right thing. If we need to file a form,” Mr. Doty said, “we will do that of course.”

    The usual game of musical chairs — or, in the case of East Hampton, musical stores and restaurants — that takes place each year is hotter than it’s been since the downturn. Buildings and restaurants are selling, and stores are renting — at consistently higher prices.

    Perhaps the most significant turnover has been the Cavagnaro building, perched on the corner where Newtown Lane meets Railroad Avenue. Built in 1923 by Albert Cavagnaro, it was once known for its tin-ceilinged ground-floor bar, which served the coldest beer in town, according to former customers, and has eight one-bedroom, upstairs apartments.

If a patron was getting too deep in his cups, “Albie would say, ‘Eat this,’ and throw down a loaf of bread, a slab of liverwurst, and some scotch bonnet peppers marinating on top of the fridge,” recalled Laurie Trujillo-Mamay, a former neighbor.

    “It was frequented by famous people,” said Alan Schnurman of Saunders & Associates, the selling broker, who named Jackson Pollock, Billy Joel, Alan Alda, and Jackie Kennedy Onassis as patrons. For many years after that, the building was home to Bucket’s Deli, and more recently Mary’s Marvelous has occupied two of its three storefronts (the third is a nail salon).

    The village fixture was purchased two weeks ago by a group of investors from Manhattan for $5 million, reduced from its original 2007 asking price of $13.5 million. According to Mr. Schnurman, the group plans to renovate each apartment as it becomes available. Mary’s has a lease lasting eight more years. “Tell me where you can find eight apartments, three storefronts, a commercially zoned four-bay garage, and commercially zoned four-bedroom home in today’s world,” said Tony Cerio of Brown Harris Stevens, who, with his partner Mitch Natter, was the listing broker for six years. Prospects who coulda, woulda, shoulda bought it are beating themselves up for letting it slip by. “It was the best deal in town,” he said.

Neil Hausig, a broker at Sotheby’s, recently sold the former East Hampton Bowl on Montauk Highway. It will be a turned into stores, he said. And the 1.3-acre Spielberg Nursery on Montauk Highway between East Hampton and Amagansett sold for $1.65 million to Khanh Sports early in the summer, he said.

    With a strong retail season behind us, commercial rents have risen accordingly, said Hal Zwick, director of the commercial division for Town and Country Real Estate. Where there have been up to 15 stores available for rent each year in East Hampton Village, there are now only a handful. And the pop-ups — season-only leases — of yesteryear seem to be disappearing too in the current upswing.

    There’s a sense of excitement in the air, with rental negotiations that have in recent years taken place in February or March happening now, in October. “Retailers have the confidence to come back in the market,” said Mr. Zwick. He has several listings in the village. The lease at Tiffany & Co. on Main Street is up, and that company will be vacating, leaving behind a building with 4,200 square feet and an asking price for a long-term lease of $425,000 per year. The space at 46 Main Street, that has housed the Sam Edelman shoe store of late, is 1,650 square feet and asking $240,000 a year. For the space at 27 Newtown Lane, where a Catherine Malandrino store has been located, the landlord is asking $175,000 per year for its 1,000 square feet, for which Mr. Zwick currently has two offers. A tiny 525-square-foot shop in an alley off of Newtown is going for $70,000, he said.

    The former UPS Store on Newtown Lane, vacated when the company moved next door, had an asking price of $6,200 a month. This month, the Golden Eagle art supply store moved in after losing its longstanding space on Gingerbread Lane.

    “There’s a good tension between the sellers and landlords and buyers and tenants,” said Mr. Zwick, who refers to it as “post-recession negotiations.” Shops, inns, and restaurants in the village also had a “very strong post-Labor Day” period, helped along by consumer spending and mild weather.

    And restaurant sales are booming. “If we had a hundred restaurants,” said Mr. Cerio, “we could sell them all.” The space on the highway that was the Polo Club in 2012, but stood unoccupied this season, is “in the process of selling now,” with three interested parties and another set to see it this past Tuesday, Mr. Cerio said. He expects the property, which boasts ample parking and two single-family houses for staff, to fetch between $2.2 million and $3 million.

    Mr. Cerio and Mr. Natter just sold the building most recently housing Muse in Sag Harbor, to the restaurant’s owner, who had been renting the space and “saw the writing on the wall” when many interested parties came forward. “There was furious bidding on that building,” said Mr. Cerio. Meanwhile, rumor has it that another two restaurants are in contract: Sag Harbor’s Madison & Main, which was converted from the New Paradise Cafe just this past year, and the East Hampton space that was Turtle Crossing.

    Commercial real estate here lags behind the residential market. As the residential market heated up about a year ago, the commercial market is right on target, a year later.

    “The residential market dragged the commercial market down with it,” said Chris Chapin, a broker at Douglas Elliman. “It’s illogical, because the fundamentals are different.” Mr. Chapin points out that, while much of the highways in Southampton Town are commercially zoned, allowing for delis and car dealerships where field crops once thrived, “the town fathers in East Hampton” were more astute in their foresight, creating strict zoning to avoid the commercial strips farther west, which has resulted in a dearth of commercial real estate. “In East Hampton the amount of commercial real estate to land mass and number of people is limited,” making it “not gold, but platinum.”

    We hear that city real estate brokers have gone team-crazy, forming teams with sometimes eight or more members, almost companies within companies. That hasn’t happened here . . . yet. But teams, entities of more than one agent, on the South Fork are on a roll.

    There are many reasons for agents to be on a team, and for clients to work with a team. For one thing, it can even out those hot and cold spells solo agents suffer through. There is also a greater market presence, with two or more agents having a bigger media and networking profile than one. But mostly there is the ubiquitous factor. When a solo broker picks up the kids, goes to the doctor, or takes a vacation, there’s a void. Not so with teams. There’s always someone on hand to nurture sellers or coddle buyers.

    Chris Chapin, a broker at Douglas Elliman, claims to have been the first agent in the Hamptons to form a team. It was an idea suggested to him in 1999 by Dottie Herman, at the time head of Prudential Long Island Realty, who had witnessed successful teams in other areas. “I have not flown solo since,” he said, pointing out that the first-year failure rate of new agents is 50 percent. “Starting out as part of a group, you have training wheels, and can figure stuff out before you flunk out.”

    Mr. Chapin currently counts four on his team. Pointing out that a team is often comprised of “one veteran agent with a constantly changing roster of newer agents for support,” he recruited Ray Lord III in 2011. Mr. Lord had several things going for him. A former business major, he traveled widely and was a “connector” who knew influencers in multiple areas from the arts to business. But perhaps most important, he was a “millennial.” While Mr. Chapin supplied the expertise, Mr. Lord spoke “fluent Internet.” Within a short time it became apparent that Mr. Lord would be a real estate “superstar,” so the Lord Chapin Team was born. This past summer Erin Downey and Brian Blekicki joined them.

    If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em seems to be a motivating factor to team formation. In the new “we generation,” community trumps competition. The Atlantic Team is a powerhouse of young Turks also out of the Douglas Elliman East Hampton office. James Keogh is the oldest at 31, while his partners, Justin Agnello and Hara Kang, are each 30. They all started working at the same time eight years ago, all prospecting the same potential clients. So why not share the bounty? Anyway, they were “all young so everyone hated us.”

    Their youth paid off. “We took a hard-line Internet approach,” said Mr. Keogh. “Before the Zillows and the Trulias, we were marketing online very aggressively.” Unlike their older compatriots, “we were able to get more exposure for our listings at no expense.” While other agents were marketing “the old way, doing broker open houses,” the trio was e-blasting their listings. While Hamptons real estate agencies are known for being resistant to the nationwide Multiple Listing Service, “We were the only ones for many years posting listings on the M.L.S.,” according to Mr. Agnello. “The old-school way of selling real estate was advertising yourself as a broker. We market the property rather than ourselves.” They even listed properties in places “you wouldn’t expect” such as Craigslist. “We cover all marketing outlets.”

    The tech factor is a huge component in team forming. Many veteran brokers, such as Mr. Chapin, pair their market know-how with a younger agent’s marketing savvy. With the sister-and-brother team of Laura and Carl Nigro, co-managers of Nest Seekers in Bridgehampton, Ms. Nigro is the more experienced broker, while her brother is “very good with the computer,” according to Ms. Nigro, building databases and scanning info into the system. 

    Specialization is another factor driving the formation of teams. In the Saunders team of Vince Horcasitas and Robert Tramondo, Mr. Horcasitas is the senior partner, with years more real estate experience, but Mr. Tramondo contributes a seasoned background in publishing. With Mr. Horcasitas doing most of the selling, Mr. Tramondo spends 60 percent of his time on administration. “The team concept allows the primary partner to focus on what he does best,” said Mr. Tramondo, who brought extensive marketing skills with him. “I joined to help him with his business and it has grown exponentially. At the end of the day it’s a manpower issue. If you want to grow your business, you need help.” Now, they are looking for a third partner.

    While teams of unrelated people proliferate, it seems that most teams out east are peopled by those related by blood. The key word brought up time and again is “trust.”

    Susan Breitenbach and her son Matt are a case in point, though Ms. Breitenbach claims they are not yet a formal team. They may work side by side, but they have yet to be officially anointed the Breitenbach Team. She expects that to change within the year. Mr. Breitenbach’s entree into real estate was something of a fluke. He started off writing for a local magazine before asking his mother if he could help her out for the summer. “He had a knack,” she said, an understatement to be sure. In his first week he sold a house for $3 million and brought in a full-price offer on another property. Ms. Breitenbach points out that a lot of so-called teams are actually a broker and assistants. “Matt is not just assisting; he has his own customers and is getting a name for himself.”

    John and William Wines, father and son, are a new team out of Town and Country specializing in commercial sales. “I have a long background in construction and real estate finance,” said John. “On the other hand my son has an M.B.A. . . . and is very good with spreadsheets and crunching numbers.” Though far apart in age, “we are equal partners,” said the dad. And there’s plenty of moolah to split, as they’ve brought in in excess of $30 million in listings in their first three months, and have put nearly that same amount into contract.

    It’s no surprise that teams sometimes divorce. “I have had to kick agents gently out of the nest,” said Mr. Chapin. Then again, “Many of the dozens of new agents I have brought into Douglas Elliman have gone on to create their own teams. Several of the top agents at Sotheby’s and Corcoran began their careers as apprentices within my group.”

    The young East Hampton Town police force is about to get a young new chief at the end of this year, and, according to the outgoing chief, Edward Ecker, “We’re not going to miss a beat.”

    The East Hampton Town Board voted unanimously on Oct. 1 to promote Capt. Michael D. Sarlo, 43, to the top slot. The current and future chiefs sat down for a joint interview on Monday. “It’s going to be a smooth transition,” Chief Ecker said. “He has got a lot of ideas, fresh ideas,” he said about his right-hand man, who was promoted to captain, the second highest rank in the force, in 2009. “He is the right person for a young department to bring along.”

    The force has become much younger in recent years. “A lot of it was timing,” the chief-to-be explained. “In 1985, there were 10 officers hired together,” he said. Twenty years later, those officers reached a point at which many move on.

    “Between 2004 and 2006 we had a dozen or more officers retire. . . . At about the same time, we grew the force by two or three officers. We went from having a department with largely senior officers with 18 to 20 years on them, to a younger department with two or three years of experience on them.”

    The change to a younger force is particularly noticeable at the Police Benevolent Association’s annual Christmas children’s party. “There are now so many children under 3 years old,” Captain Sarlo said, noting the stress young officers face with a tough job, a grueling schedule, and a young family. He and his wife, Paula, an interior designer, have two children, Daniel, 10, and Melina, 7. Both attend the Springs School.

    Captain Sarlo grew up in East Hampton. His father, Chris Sarlo, was the longtime principal of East Hampton High School, where Captain Sarlo was a student at a time when many of the officers currently on the force, like Chris Anderson, now the department’s detective lieutenant, were there.

    Being a cop was something he wanted to do from a young age. “My uncle Danny was an N.Y.P.D. detective,” he said. He recalled stories his uncle would regale him and his brothers with. Captain Sarlo’s older brother, Kevin, preceded him on the East Hampton force, rising eventually to the rank of captain. Now retired, he had encouraged his brother to take the Civil Service test, a requirement for  police work, when he was still in college.

    The chief-to-be graduated from Maryland University in 1993 with a bachelor’s degree in speech communication. He then dabbled in several possible careers and worked on Wall Street for a short time. But when a position on the force opened in 1995, he applied and was accepted. He went to the Suffolk County Police Academy in Brentwood with another future officer, Ryan Lynch, who became a close friend. When Mr. Lynch died of esophageal cancer in 2005, it was a stunning loss to the force, and to Captain Sarlo personally.

    Captain Sarlo’s rise through the ranks has been rapid. In April 2002, he was promoted to sergeant in the patrol division. In 2004, he was named East Hampton local precinct commander. An important step followed when he became the department’s accreditation manager. The job, which opened Captain Sarlo’s eyes to the administrative nuances required of a police department, involved working with the state Department of Criminal Justice Services during an intense review covering everything from how arrests are handled to paperwork. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in 2005.

    One of the biggest hurdles the new chief will have is the summer season. “Forty-five percent of our calls come between Memorial and Labor Days,” Chief Ecker said. The challenge is to have enough manpower on the streets in, say, Montauk on a Saturday night in July without burning through the budget needed to run the force the rest of the year.

    “We found it is more fiscally sound to spend some overtime than to try and get five or six more people on the police force,” Chief Ecker said.

    At the same time, the force is always looking for young officers to fill in for a year or two during the season, before they get full-time jobs.

    Captain Sarlo is excited about the future, but mindful of the challenges ahead. Looking ahead, he discussed developing what he called the well-rounded police officer. “We ask them to do special tasks. There is not much specialization in a small department, so we ask our guys to be jack of all trades. To be good investigators, to be good highway patrol officers, to be good mediators. It is a continuing learning experience throughout your career.”

    “The officers roll out on the street, and they see the worst of people every day,” he said. “Police work is terribly stressful. One of the initiatives I’d like to try to work toward is having some sort of health and wellness program, whether that is voluntary or we work through our insurance carrier. It’s been a big part of my career, maintaining physical fitness.”

    Another goal, he said, is diversity. “We’d like to focus more on broadening our demographics. We need Spanish-speaking officers. We feel it is important. We want to represent our community.”

    How to be fiscally prudent, while making necessary changes in technology and manpower, is among other challenges. A significant change on the near horizon is the addition of dashboard video cameras in patrol cars to record all stops. “It looks like we’ve got capital funding to put that project in place,” Captain Sarlo said. “We are working through the bids, and we hope to have that up and running in early 2014.”  

    Other technological advances that appear to have funding is a new crime scene van and two new speed-capturing devices. These will record not only speed but the volume of traffic in busy intersections.

    The precise schedule uniformed officers keep was a topic that neither man wanted to discuss because of the ongoing negotiations between the town and the P.B.A. The department has been working without a contract since the beginning of the year, although the chief of police is covered by a separate contract.

    Uniformed officers now rotate through a schedule that is designed to make sure there are officers available 24 hours a day. It means first working the morning shift, then the afternoon shift, and finally the overnight shift, all in a two-week period, with off-days peppered in. It is a bone of contention for many on the force.

    From the beginning, Captain Sarlo said Chief Ecker acted as a mentor, not only for him but for the entire force. The captain stressed that he would continue Chief Ecker’s open door policy for the public. If someone has something to say, the chief is there to listen, he said.

    Speaking when the older man left the room, Captain Sarlo said, “His commitment to this community is unparalleled. One of his uncles was a priest. He would say, you can be tough but don’t be mean. Chief Ecker has passed that along to all of us. You have to be a tough cop, you have to take charge of situations. But deal with people fairly, treat them with respect.”

    With Election 2013 less than a month away, the East Hampton Town Democrats continue to swamp their Republican counterparts in both the amount of money they have raised, and spent.

    Campaign 2013, the Democrats’ campaign funding committee, which backs all the party’s candidates, reported total receipts of $70,280 and expenditures of $62,930 between July 12 and Sept. 30 in its campaign disclosure statement filed with the New York State Board of Elections on Friday. The committee had a balance of $13,075 on hand at the end of the reporting period.

    That was augmented by the money collected by a separate committee, the Friends of Larry Cantwell, dedicated to the election of Mr. Cantwell as supervisor, which received $18,650 during the reporting period and spent $19,948, with $9,000 going to Campaign 2013. The committee ended the period with a healthy balance of $45,290. Mr. Cantwell is running unopposed.

    The East Hampton Town Democratic Committee reported separately that it had received $8,205 in contributions, while spending $7,286, $5,500 of which was transferred to Campaign 2013. The committee reported a closing balance of $4,710.

    By contrast, the top fund-raiser among Republicans, Councilman Dominick Stanzione, reported total contributions of $21,410 to his re-election committee, the Friends of Dominick Stanzione. Mr. Stanzione, who is seeking his second term on the board, loaned his campaign $6,032. His committee reported expenses of $26,241, leaving him with a balance of $1,927.

    “We have to rely on the message and body of work to counter the Democratic machine,” said Mr. Stanzione, who previously lent his campaign more than $14,000 and said the Republicans’ failure to find a supervisor candidate to lead the ticket had a chilling effect on early fund-raising efforts.

    Town Clerk Fred Overton who is running beside Mr. Stanzione on the Republican, Independence, and Conservative lines, reported total receipts of $9,919 and expenses of $11,525 by his committee, Friends of Fred Overton. He had a balance of $5,993 at the end of the reporting period.

    Another Republican, Joe Bloecker, who is giving up his trustee seat in a bid to defeat an incumbent Democratic assessor, Eugene DePasquale, has also been an active fund-raiser this election season. The Friends of Joe Bloecker took in $10,561 during the reporting period. The committee reported total expenses of $9,762 and a balance of $6,027 going into the final month of the campaign.

    The East Hampton Independence Party, which is backing a full slate of candidates, including Mr. Cantwell, Mr. Stanzione, and Mr. Overton for town board, did not file its report until Tuesday.

    “We tried to do it perfectly, to get every single contribution in, but we didn’t get our bank statement in time,” said the party’s co-chairwoman, Elaine Jones, in explaining the tardy filing.

    The party showed total receipts of $11,118, expenditures of $9,299, and a balance of $4,295.

    The East Hampton Town Republican Committee, Pro East Hampton, which also raises funds for G.O.P. candidates, and the East Hampton Conservators, which has typically backed Democratic candidates, did not file reports for the period.

    Others showing no activity were Steve Lynch, who is running unopposed for town highway superintendent, and Carole Brennan, who is running unopposed for town clerk. Both candidates have been cross-endorsed by the major parties.

    The campaigns of Job Potter and Kathee Burke-Gonzalez, who are the Democratic and Working Families nominees for town board, are being funded by Campaign 2013.

    Campaign 2013 had the two biggest single donors during the reporting period. The actor Alec Baldwin and David Gruber, a Democratic activist who has long advocated against noise at and expansion of the East Hampton Airport, each donated $5,000.

    Although the individual limit for donations to local candidate committees is $1,000, that limit does not apply to donations made to committees that back a full array of a party’s candidates, according to Christopher Kelley, the chairman of the Democrats’ campaign. And, the $1,000 limit on donations by an individual to a single candidate can be circumvented by a family contribution, which can be as large as $4,099, according to the Suffolk County Board of Elections.

    Other major donors to Campaign 2013 during the period ending Sept. 30 were David Kelley of Sag Harbor, who donated $2,500, and Janet Ross of New York and East Hampton, who donated $2,000. The committee also received a slew of $1,000 donations, including from its chairman, Mr. Kelley of Springs, Judith Hope of East Hampton, Councilwoman Sylvia Overby of Amagansett, Ronald Lauder of Wainscott and New York, Peter Lowenstein of Montauk, Frank Newbold of East Hampton, Katherine Rayner of East Hampton and New York, Andrew Hart of East Hampton, and Lyle Greenfield of Amagansett, who made two separate donations of $500.

    Mr. Potter, of Amagansett, donated $1,000 to the committee and Ms. Burke-Gonzalez, of Springs, contributed $500.

    The Friends of Larry Cantwell received $1,000 donations from Jeff Tarr of East Hampton and New York, William Hiltz of East Hampton and Brooklyn, Jeffrey Gates of New York, Nancy Shevell of East Hampton and New York, and Susan Gilmer of East Hampton and New York. Mr. Cantwell also donated $1,000 to his own campaign, and received a $500 donation from Mr. Baldwin.

    He also received $500 each from George Walbridge Surveyors, Hamptons Locations, and the Cablevision Political Action Committee.

    Mr. Stanzione’s coffers were bolstered by a $4,000 contribution from John Mannix of New York, who has a house on Bluff Road in Amagansett. Mr. Stanzione stressed that the donation was made on behalf of Mr. Mannix’s entire family.

    He also received $2,000 in family donations from Kiri Borg of East Hampton, Paul Scheerer Jr. of Sag Harbor, Joseph Perella of East Hampton and New York and Irving Paler of Wainscott. He received $1,000 donations from Andrew Sabin of Amagansett, Bonnie Krupinski of East Hampton, Dr. Bruce Bistrian of Massachusetts, and Barry Bistrian of East Hampton.

    On the corporate side, Mr. Stanzione received $1,000 from the Sabin Metals Corporation of East Hampton and $500 from Perry Duryea and Son of Montauk. He received $500 from Montauk Citizens Voice, Montauk East L.P., and the Cablevision PAC.

    By contrast, Mr. Overton had only two $1,000 donations, one from Glen Olsen of Springs and the other from Harold McMahon Inc. of Amagansett. He also received $500 from Charles Durkin of East Hampton and New York, Margery Courtney of Springs, and Montauk Citizens Voice.

    Mr. Bloecker’s campaign benefited from a total of $1,500 in contributions that he and his wife, Cheryl Bloecker, made, as well as $500 contributions from Supervisor Bill Wilkinson of Montauk, Bistrian Materials of East Hampton, Uihlein’s Marina and Boat Rentals of Montauk, and Montauk Citizens Voice.

    The Independence Party received $2,000 from Mr. Perrella, $1,940 from Mr. Stanzione, $1,500 from Harold McMahon Inc., $1,044 from Marilyn Behan, and $1,000 from the East Hampton attorney Thomas Twomey, who is typically associated with Democratic causes. His law partner, John Shea, also of East Hampton, donated $500.

    Campaign finances for the race for town justice are segregated from those for other campaigns.

    Carl Irace, the Republican, Conservative, and Independence candidate, reported $9,983 in contributions and $3,495 in expenditures, leaving him with a balance of $7,943 for the last month of the campaign. Steven Tekulsky, the Democratic and Working Families candidate, has reported $7,928 in contributions and expenditures of $5,527, leaving him with $7,594.

    Mr. Tekulsky reported a pair of $1,000 donations from Richard and Susan Friedman of New York City.

    The East Hampton Town Trustees had reason to smile on Tuesday evening. David Eagan, an attorney representing them in a suit against the town’s Zoning Board of Appeals, was bearing news that could have far-reaching import for the authority granted his clients by the Dongan Patent of 1686.

    The trustees had challenged a November 2012 zoning board determination granting variances and a natural resources permit to allow the construction of a 147-foot stone revetment at the end of Mulford Lane near Lazy Point in Amagansett. On Oct. 2, Mr. Eagan told them, Justice William Rebolini of Suffolk County Supreme Court denied the zoning board’s motion to dismiss their lawsuit.

    Because the proposed revetment would extend below the mean high water mark and onto land under their jurisdiction, the trustees argued, the application required their approval before the zoning board could consider it.

    It was the second application the property owners, Joshua Young and Christine Lemieux, had brought to the board: a determination in April 2012 denied the revetment but allowed the demolition of their existing house and construction of a new, 1,719-square-foot residence on pilings in a more landward location.

    The Dongan Patent gave the trustees jurisdiction over the bottomlands, beaches, and intertidal zones between the town’s western border and the eastern edge of Napeague, as well as the commonlands between the high water line and low water line along Gardiner’s Bay. The coastline adjacent to the Young-Lemieux property is eroding, but town code prohibits stone revetments in that part of Napeague, and Justice Rebolini ruled that as an adjacent property owner, the trustees had “standing” to enjoin a violation of the code.

    With the court’s decision, Mr. Eagan said, the trustees’ role in town government has been reinforced. “Standing is a fundamental concept for challenging in land-use, but is never used against boards with government authority,” he told the trustees, adding that the town and the zoning board had “adopted the view that you should be treated like any other landowner, which I think is a departure.” He called that view “clearly dismissive.”

    The judge, Mr. Eagan suggested, had gone out of his way to affirm the trustees’ standing. “This court rejected this notion that you’re just like any other landowner. . . . You have a judicial endorsement of the fact that your regulatory powers give you standing to participate in these decisions. When things go off-track, which this one did, you should be encouraged to challenge it.”

    A primary objection to revetments is their potential to damage adjacent shorelines. As reported here in November, Brian Frank, the town Planning Department’s chief environmental analyst, in reviewing the application in question wrote that “bulkheads and revetments frequently have unanticipated environmental impacts. These impacts frequently extend beyond the footprint of the structure, causing erosion and diminishing the quality of the natural resources on adjacent properties as well.”

    While the proposed revetment’s location and the question of jurisdiction had been at the heart of the dispute with the zoning board, Mr. Eagan told the trustees that the court ruling went beyond that. “You have standing, you’re right to bring these suits, because of the severe effect of these revetments on the common lands you own and regulate. That’s a strong message from a court, in my experience.”

    How does the decision reflect on the zoning board asked Lynn Mendelman, a trustee. “I think it reflects poorly on the Z.B.A.,” the lawyer replied. “I think it’s their responsibility to cooperate with you, their obligation to recognize your authority. I don’t think it’s a lot to ask, which you did, that they subject their approval to yours.”

    “They denied the revetment and made these findings about its adverse affect,” he said, but seven months later “adopted the opposite [determination] with no supporting conclusions. I think they were shocked that the trustees called them on it. . . . All the Z.B.A. had to do was condition authority on trustee approval. But they didn’t. I think the trustees should let it be known that the town, consciously or not, took a run at their authority.”

    Susanna Roxbury, the zoning board’s attorney, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

    Diane McNally, the trustee clerk, said yesterday that she hoped the decision would mean that the town, the trustees, and the town’s and village’s zoning boards will function in a more cooperative manner. “We feel like we’re always the fish swimming upstream,” she said, adding that she also hopes the decision will give the East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals pause as it considers allowing a rock revetment in front of a house on West End Road, about which it has held multiple hearings. That board may issue a determination at its meeting tomorrow.

    Justice Rebolini will next consider the trustees’ request to overturn the zoning board’s approval of the Mulford Lane revetment.

     Michael Russell, 23, a former East Hampton High School basketball star, is back in jail again, this time facing four felony charges and a possible extended stay in a state prison system, although which state would incarcerate him is yet to be determined.

     Mr. Russell, known as Mikey, has been in and out of criminal courts and jails across the Northeast. He is facing multiple felony charges in Massachusetts stemming from an alleged armed home invasion robbery, and has been convicted of felonies twice before.

     According to East Hampton Village police, Mr. Russell stole two credit cards from an acquaintance early last month, then went shopping with those cards. “He made a purchase on Sept. 2 at Sneakerology, of three pairs of sneakers,” Detective Lt. Anthony Long said Friday, forging the cardholder’s signature.

     The East Hampton Village detective squad identified Mr. Russell as the alleged perpetrator after interviewing the victim and showing an array of photos to the store workers.

     East Hampton Justice Lisa R. Rana told Mr. Russell Friday morning that by state law she was not permitted to set bail due to his two previous felony convictions.

     “He was indicted on March 22,” Paul Jarvey, a spokesman for Worcester County District Attorney Joseph D. Early, Jr., said Friday of the charges Mr. Russell is facing in Massachusetts. “He was indicted for four counts of home invasion, three counts of armed assault in a dwelling, two counts armed and masked robbery, armed burglary, armed assault to rob, all of which are felonies, as well as two misdemeanor counts of assault and battery.”

     In Massachusetts he was released on $5,000 bail, on what is called in the state pre-trial probation, Mr. Jarvey said.

     When Mr. Jarvey was told the current charges Mr. Russell is facing, he said, “it could have a bearing on his bail, which may well be revoked,” he said.

     The most serious of the new charges against Mr. Russell are two felony counts of forgery, and he is also being charged with two counts of felony possession of stolen credit cards and two misdemeanor petit larceny counts.

     Mr. Russell was a star at East Hampton High School despite his brushes with the law as a youthful offender. His court records were sealed until he turned 18. In 2008, when he was 18 and had a scholarship awaiting him at Angelina Junior College in Lufkin, Texas, Mr. Russell pled guilty to committing two burglaries. He had also been charged with breaking into cars and possession of stolen property.

     While serving a year’s sentence in county jail, he was charged for another crime, one that allegedly occurred before he was sentenced: felony sexual assault in Keene, N.H. The disposition of that case is not known.

     Still, given his basketball talents, schools continued to seek him out. On Jan. 27 of this year, he was the leading scorer for the Becker College Hawks, scoring 19 points in a loss to Newbury College. Just hours later, in the early morning of Jan. 28, Worcester police say that Mr. Russell and two other men, all wearing masks, forced their way into an apartment where four students at Worcester Polytechnic Institute lived. One of them was carrying a gun, police said.

     They forced the four male students onto the ground as they went room to room. One of the victims struggled, and pulled Mr. Russell’s mask off, police said. That victim later recognized Mr. Russell, who fled with the two-still masked men, according to police.

     Several hours later, Mr. Russell was taken into custody in his dorm room at Becker College.

    Many classes at East Hampton Middle School have swelled in size since school began last month and are nearing 30 students, a number generally regarded by educators as the upper limit. Two classes have more than 30, with 32 eighth graders now squeezed into one section of earth science.

    Last spring the East Hampton School Board cut nearly $1 million from the current budget, and some see the larger classes as a direct consequence. Though no teaching positions were eliminated, four teachers district-wide were moved to part-time, according to Patricia Hope, the school board president.

    “The first year was fat, and the second year it’s muscle, and next year it’s going to be bone,” said Christina DeSanti, a board member, during a final discussion of the budget in April. Several others on the board echoed the sentiment.

     But for some at the middle school, the slicing into bone is already evident. In the eighth-grade science class, 13- and 14-year-olds are packed in like sardines. Lab space is at a premium.

     “The conditions are not optimum for teaching at a higher level. Some class sizes are simply not what parents are accustomed to,” said Claude Beudert, who has been co-president with Arthur Goldman of the East Hampton Teachers Association since June. “The state is emphasizing science and technology, and we’re simultaneously being asked to do more with less.”

     Mr. Beudert has taught in East Hampton for 38 years, the last 15 at the middle school, where he teaches special education. Until now, he said, class size typically hovered between 16 and 22 students. The expansion is “new as of this fall.”

    Classes at or near the magic number include eighth-grade Spanish 1, which started the year with 31 students but was down to 28 as of Tuesday. Eighth-grade English has one class of 32 students and another of 29, and seventh-grade math has two sections approaching 30 students.

    “The goal is to have classes at 30 and below,” said Charles Soriano, the middle school principal, during a conversation in his office on Tuesday morning. If a teacher instructs more than 128 students over the course of the school day, their contract stipulates additional compensation.

    “Classes overall are loading higher. It’s a consequence of a reduction in sections, but also of gaining more kids in the class,” said Dr. Soriano.

    Middle school numbers change every year. This year, the eighth grade has about 30 more students than it did last year. Next year’s sixth grade is predicted to be around 100.

    “The teachers are capable of handling the numbers,” said Dr. Soriano. Citing recent research, he said that while the general belief is that smaller classes are better, no optimum class size, in terms of student achievement, has yet been determined. “The question is what does the community want? We haven’t reached a crisis point, but if we keep cutting, we will increase the numbers.”

    Deme Minskoff, the middle school’s PTA president, does not recall class size being an issue in previous years. Since last month, she estimated that half a dozen parents have contacted her to express concern. Her own son is an eighth grader who has two classes with more than 30 students.

     “I urge parents to speak with the administration and voice their complaints, and if they aren’t satisfied, they need to speak with [Superintendent] Rich Burns and/or the board and go to board meetings,” said Ms. Minskoff. A call to Mr. Burns yesterday was not immediately returned.

     Wendy Ricci, whose daughter is also in the eighth grade, expressed frustration that while the one section of earth science has 32 students, another has only 19.

     “Couldn’t the schedule have been looked at in a more creative way?” she asked. “As a former teacher, I know that class size makes a difference. Isn’t there a way they could have looked at the schedule and worked on it? I continue to question why it happened, and, more importantly, how it could have been avoided.”

    Lisa Benincasa, the science coordinator at the high school, said 20 students was an ideal number for a lab class, though her two sections of AP biology each has 26. “When you have a lab, you try and limit the number of kids,” said Ms. Benincasa. “The state encourages hands-on wet labs, and you need space and equipment to do that.”

    Like many others, she blames the state-imposed 2-percent property tax cap.

    “I don’t know how you can cut money without cutting programs at some point,” she said. “It absolutely impacts the students.”

    Ms. Hope, the school board president, begs to differ.

    “As a science teacher, anything over what the room will support in terms of hands-on activity is the cutoff point,” she said. Ms. Hope taught science in East Hampton for 33 years before retiring, and chaired the high school’s science department for eight years.

     “With regard to teacher comfort level, the only limiting factor is space for kids to put their hands on things — and that’s up to the teachers,” she said. “It’s crowded, but as long as there are materials and supplies, it’s all good.”

    What she does see is a schedule rife with complication, and a situation that might have been avoided had the numbers of students in the two eighth-grade science classes been assigned personally by an administrator, rather than by computer.

    Ms. Hope does not see the larger classes as an ominous sign of budgetary things to come. “We’re not looking to increase class sizes at all,” she said. “This was a scheduling glitch.”