A New York State grant of $9.7 million for water mains in Wainscott is good news indeed for more than 500 households. After potentially harmful chemicals were found in drinking water in the area, town and state officials, as well as the Suffolk County Water Authority, acted quickly. About eight and a half miles of underground pipe is almost half completed. 

The grant is good news, too, for East Hampton taxpayers in general. Tax-rate increases were a distinct possibility without state money. The largess from Albany came after chemicals used in firefighting foam, carpets, furniture fabric, and clothes were identified in the southern part of Wainscott.

Where things may get expensive for some property owners is running a supply line from a new water main to their houses. Between the costs of a hook-up vault and laying new pipe, perhaps by precise but expensive horizontal drilling, many homeowners could be looking at anywhere from several thousand dollars to, in one instance we know of, more than $90,000. For someone investing in a multimillion dollar house, that might seem like pocket change. For many, perhaps most, Wainscott residents that kind of money might be a difficult drink to swallow. 

Given the state grant, East Hampton Town will save what would have been more than $10 million, including interest, on the bonds it did not have to issue. Considering this windfall, the town might want to offer low or interest-free loans for hookups for property owners in the affected area. Water should not be a luxury only the rich can afford.

Estonia’s Pakri Lighthouse showed up in a recent re-election campaign video for Representative Lee Zeldin as an inadvertent stand-in for the famous national landmark at Montauk Point. Democrats, including Mr. Zeldin’s opponent, Perry Gershon, quickly made fun of the campaign gaffe. Resistance Facebook and Twitter lit up with derisive posts.

It is not as if Mr. Zeldin doesn’t know what the Montauk Point Lighthouse looks like; he and his family were there as recently as 2016. Had he reviewed the ad, it is most likely that he would have noted the difference. The YouTube version, which the congressman narrated, was still on Mr. Zeldin’s YouTube page Monday; later in the video, the correct Montauk Lighthouse appears. Someone, and by that we mean Mr. Zeldin, had not been paying attention.

This was amusing, sure, but the case of the swapped lighthouses brings up the question of how much a candidate can be blamed for the errors of his or her staff. 

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo won the recent primary despite releasing a false claim that his challenger, Cynthia Nixon, was anti-Semitic. David Gruber lost a primary for a Democratic East Hampton Town Board nomination after his supporters spread a false story that the eventual winner, David Lys, must have voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election. How the governor escaped significant damage from the bribery conviction of a former senior aide in the “Buffalo Billion” bid-rigging scheme boggles the mind as well. Then there was his infamous termination of the Moreland anti-corruption commission, which drew an investigation from then-United States District Attorney Preet Bharara.

Neither Mr. Zeldin nor Mr. Cuomo and Mr. Gruber have fessed up or apologized, as if doing so would be an admission of guilt and not a moment to show their mettle by taking an admirable high road.

Given that his battle to remain in office now looks like a dead heat, it is understandable that Mr. Zeldin would seek to distance himself from the lighthouse snafu. But Mr. Cuomo’s resistance to making amends was an inexplicable mistake given the near certainty of his victory in the Sept. 13 primary. As for Mr. Gruber, his failure to apologize was par for the course. But the point here is not to bash any particular politician but to consider if it is fair to fault them for the errors of their staff and supporters. 

Just about the first lesson elected officials learn is to take credit when things go well and deny involvement when they do not. But that does not make it right or an admirable example for others. Great leadership does not include wriggling away by blaming subordinates. President Harry S. Truman famously kept a sign on his desk that read “The Buck Stops Here,” which expressed responsibility and his willingness to answer for decisions that might not work out. 

Inasmuch as admitting mistakes is a show of character, evasions matter. A government in which leaders stand up and take their lumps is far better than one in which they dash for cover when missteps are made. History quickly forgets the weasels.

For whatever reason — maybe just dumb luck — the East Hampton Fire Department has had a relatively quiet couple of years, that is, up to the past few weeks. Most notable was the late September blaze at Ronald Perelman’s Creeks estate on Georgica Pond. 

If ever there was an incident that demonstrated just how sharp East Hampton’s firefighters are, this was it. Trouble was spotted a little before 10 p.m. on Sept. 28. By the time the first personnel arrived, there were flames coming through the roof of the 15,000-square-foot house. With the department’s 95-foot-tall ladder truck above and firefighters inside below, the blaze was under control in about 45 minutes. Other firefighters helped move some of the estate’s massive art collection out of harm’s way. The volunteers had to run an amazing 5,000 feet of hose from Montauk Highway to keep up the attack. Assistance came from all of the departments from Southampton east to Montauk — about 125 firefighters in all.

It would be easy to say “Job well done!” and be done with it, yet coming only a few days before Fire Prevention Week, this and other recent fires should serve as a reminder about safety. According to the National Fire Prevention Association, Americans have a greater chance of dying in a house fire than they did in the past even though the number of fires has remained about constant. This is particularly true for older Americans. The rate of firefighters’ injuries and deaths also has risen. This is explained in part by the prevalence of plastics and artificial, chemical-based products in everything from diapers to computers — all of which when burned produce highly dangerous smoke and gases.

David Browne, the East Hampton Town fire marshal, issued his annual Fire Prevention Week message the other day. He advised residents to check the home and office for places where fire could start, to test fire alarms, and figure out at least two ways to get out of every room. Other advice for the home includes recognizing risky heating sources and cooking safely. Tip sheets are available at nfpa.org. They are well worth a look.

At this point there is little to add to the reasons why Perry Gershon is the better choice for the East End in Congress than Lee Zeldin — but Mr. Gershon is better for the country as well. He has proven himself levelheaded and admirably determined. That he has driven almost 40,000 miles during his campaign in his own plug-in hybrid Chevrolet Volt says a lot about the kind of congressman he would be; Mr. Zeldin’s re-election campaign’s main vehicle is a gas-guzzling Suburban. 

Mr. Gershon is accessible. Mr. Zeldin holds brief public meetings in settings he finds personally comfortable. Mr. Gershon favors improving the nation’s gun laws. Mr. Zeldin wants owners of legal handguns from other states to be able to carry them concealed in New York. Mr. Gershon wants health care for all. Mr. Zeldin would take Medicaid away from millions. Mr. Gershon wants to see the Russia probe play out. Mr. Zeldin sponsored a bill to investigate the investigators. 

Mr. Zeldin has done almost nothing positive for the East End in the past three and a half years in Congress. Mr. Gershon would focus on issues important in the First District, such as Plum Island, environmental protection, and climate change. Mr. Zeldin has wasted his constituents’ time in appearances on Fox News. Mr. Gershon has spent the last two years asking for your vote. 

Mr. Zeldin, through his unconditional embrace of Donald J. Trump’s worst excesses, actively promotes the things that divide us. Mr. Gershon would work to bring us together.

Replacing Mr. Zeldin in the House of Representatives would deprive the president of one of his most eager backers. If only for that, a vote for Perry Gershon is a step toward a better future.

One of the most disheartening aspects of the 2018 election cycle has been a coordinated, deliberate effort to take the vote away from hundreds of thousands of United States citizens. 

Varied schemes have been the work of state and local Republicans bent on victory at all costs. Depending on where, officeholders have eagerly sought to suppress turnout, obfuscate deadlines, and outright disenfranchise fellow Americans along racial divides, mostly because they tend to vote Democratic. 

It is appalling that so many Republicans who believe themselves to be of good conscience are willing to countenance what could create lasting damage to democracy. If there is one issue that should unify the nation, it should be the right to participate in selecting leaders. This failure should be a source of shame.

The effort to suppress votes can be as obvious as limiting the number of polling places or curtailing their hours. The difference between majority white and majority black or Hispanic election districts can make the latter seem like another country. On the South Fork, voters might wait for a few minutes at most to fill out their ballots. However, in 2016, hours-long lines greeted would-be voters in Arizona, North Carolina, and Ohio, among other places, and are expected again this year.

Examples are numerous and horrifying. There have been registered-voter purges, in some cases simply because someone has sat out a couple of elections. Individual registrations in Georgia have been rejected for as little as a missing hyphen in a last name. In one county, officials ordered black senior citizens out of a bus that was to have taken them to an early voting site.

In Alabama, hundreds of thousands of people who remain eligible to vote despite a low felony conviction remain unregistered because of a welter of county-by-county policies and confusing laws. Kansas tried requiring citizenship documents of new registrants, which the American Civil Liberties Union said improperly blocked 35,0000 United States citizens from casting ballots. After a federal judge halted it, the state took another tack: shutting down polling places in minority areas. 

North Carolina has made it all but necessary for hourly workers to skip work in order to take part in early voting. It also eliminated Sunday voting, which traditionally was popular with black voters. North Dakota recently changed its law to require street addresses on the IDs it requires for voting; many Indian reservations in the state do not use street addresses, and under the law post office boxes are not considered adequate. In Tennessee, applications to register have been rejected because an applicant did not check a “Miss,” “Mrs.,” or “Mr.” box. 

No national Republican figure has denounced the strategy to keep black voters in the South or Democratic-leaning college students elsewhere from participating via absentee ballots. At every level, including at the Suffolk Board of Elections, it is shocking that officials and candidates can remain loyal to a party that has so completely collapsed on the most American of American values — the right to vote. The silence of fair-minded Republicans now is the saddest note of all.

Montaukers and those who love the easternmost point in New York State are highly skeptical about an idea to allow camping and related concessions in Camp Hero. They are right to be ringing the alarm. Camping should not be permitted there.

In August, the State Department of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation asked interested parties to submit proposals for a camping concession that might include everything from tent sites to R.V. hookups. In addition, there is a possibility that food and liquor sales could some day be allowed there. For a very long time, Long Island state parks management has kept hands off Montauk. This is good and befits a wild and inspiring place. That would come to a screeching halt if a portion of Camp Hero were turned into a campground.

The response, at least locally, has been vigorously negative. Concerned Citizens of Montauk, the Montauk Citizens Advisory Committee, and the Eastern Long Island Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation have cautioned against it. 

Concerns include sewage, campers falling down the ocean bluffs, competition with local motels and rental properties, fire and emergency medical services, and a lack of state parks police to handle an additional load. There have been few problems at the state-run Hither Hills campground in Montauk, but that might not always be the case.

These are valid concerns, but there is something more important. If there is one place that should be a refuge from the rest of the Hamptons, or what might be called modern life, it is Montauk Point. Day-trippers and residents alike go to the Point and the park there to get away from it all, to soak up nature’s majesty in an undeveloped setting. Protecting the sense of peace that nature provides should be the greatest priority.

The Parks Department has said Camp Hero is “underutilized.” To us, that is exactly as it should be.

If candidates can be judged by the company they keep, David Lys will be difficult to beat. Aside from winning a lopsided victory over David Gruber in a September primary, he has been vouched for by, among others, Perry B. Duryea III, former town Republican chairman; Alex Walter, a former zoning board chairman who was Supervisor Larry Cantwell’s assistant; Zachary Cohen, a former town supervisor candidate; Tim Taylor, the head of Citizens for Access Rights, and nearly the entire town Democratic power structure and many Republicans alike.

In his close to six years in town government, Mr. Lys, who is running for a one-year term on the East Hampton Town Board, has proven himself thoughtful and hard-working. He does his homework and tries to listen to all sides. 

As have so many office-seekers before him, Mr. Lys has made a point of expressing his concern about affordable housing for the old and for young adults who would like to stay in the community but cannot afford to do so. To answer this need, he points to efforts for dispersed town properties where apartments and single-family housing could be built. Reworking the town’s unpopular accessory apartment rule could also help, he says.

Mr. Lys preaches the importance of exercise and recreation and sees them as a way to improve ties among community residents. If it would take raising taxes to create more parks and better walking trails, he would consider it.

On the environment, Mr. Lys supports the plan for a sewage treatment plant in downtown Montauk. However, he also points to stormwater runoff from roads and parking lots as a major concern. Using technology to map such sites with greater precision might make keeping them functional easier, he says. 

He supports a proposed change that would make resort and hotel owners responsible for providing extra parking when they expand. While Mr. Lys believes that the town’s registry requirement for rental properties is well intentioned, he concedes that its enforcement has been lacking. He would support raising fines for violations to help pay for more staff to make inspections and keep an eye on the Wild West world of online listings, particularly in the high season. 

On erosion control, Mr. Lys believes the owners of threatened properties may soon begin seeking alternatives to standing and fighting nature. These could come in the form of development incentives in which they agree to move a business or residence to higher ground. Summing up his philosophy, Mr. Lys says, “The worst thing a government can do is not to try.”

Facing him in Tuesday’s vote is Manny Vilar, a state parks police officer who took a crack at town supervisor in 2017. Now he is seeking a town board seat, positioning himself as a person who would ask tough questions and try to push the town board toward what he sees as middle ground.

Mr. Vilar has pinned his long-shot campaign on his endorsement by the town’s Republican Committee, unlike Mr. Lys, who is a registered Republican but is backed by the Democratic and Working Families Parties. Mr. Vilar says a monolithic town board is reason for concern, and he may have a point, but he could easily play the role of gadfly from the guest podium at town board meetings — something he has almost never done.

Mr. Vilar is extraordinarily affable and seems to know everyone from Montauk to Albany. These qualities alone do not make an effective town leader. In close observation, his out of balance ratio between noise and answers would not bode well for Town Hall. He seems to find almost everything in town government a big question mark rather than a challenge he might roll up his sleeves to solve. “I don’t know enough to make an informed decision” could be his mantra. Well, we do, and we think East Hampton voters do, too. 

Energetic and with sterling community ties, Mr. Lys is the right person for the job.

Fresh, line-caught tuna, a late-summer delight, has been coming across the Montauk docks lately. Looking through the photos on our Instagram feed lately, we have been thrilled by images from the fish markets of fat yellowfin and bigeyes lined up on ice or cut into sushi-grade slabs on stainless-steel tables. Tuna labeled “local” might be suspiciously ubiquitous on South Fork restaurant menus, but right now we can be assured of the real deal, not something flown in from a probably unsustainable fishery in the distant Pacific.

According to seafood ratings from Oceana and other environmental organizations, bigeye and yellowfin tuna from the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico are a responsible choice from an environmental perspective. These species landed elsewhere and by less-discriminating methods, such as drift longlining in the western and central Pacific, are considered poor choices. Sadly, the delicious and once abundant bluefin is a no-go on most organizations’ seafood charts.

Most seafood markets now announce the country of origin along with the price per pound, and with good reason. In most cases, local is always better. And at this time of year, for the grill or eaten raw, you can’t get more local than a Montauk tuna.

A week after news broke publically about a confrontation that left East Hampton Village’s female lifeguards feeling harassed and subject to a hostile workplace, the village board remains mostly silent. 

An apology would be a good place to start.

The conflict arose in June, amid a few complaints that the women lifeguards’ bathing suits were too revealing. The lifeguards believed the beach managers, to whom they reported directly, were to blame for a series of blunders, including one or more photographs taken of a lifeguard modeling the new suit.

Feeling unfairly blamed for carrying out orders from higher up, three of the four beach managers quit the day after The Star reported on a letter of complaint from several of the female lifeguards and a rebuttal from the village administrator that did not identify who was responsible for the missteps and all but entirely dismissed the lifeguards’ complaints.

Many questions remain, but the lesson for village officials is that the instant women employees say that they feel harassed and threatened, they must be taken seriously, full stop. 

It is unfortunate that the village board has not stood up to make amends, but instead ducked for cover behind bland and carefully worded statements. A simple “We’re sorry,” even now, would go a long way.

Even in a one-sided dirty campaign this was a new low.

David Gruber, who is seeking the Democratic Party ballot line for East Hampton Town Board in Thursday’s primary, made an extraordinary blunder this week. In a mass email, as well as in Facebook messaging, he and his surrogates claimed that Mr. Gruber’s opponent, David Lys, did not tell the truth when he said that he had written in his father’s name for president in the 2016 election. 

In their divisive zeal to play a game of gotcha! Mr. Gruber’s supporters failed to check the facts before making an 11th-hour false claim. In doing so, they threw undeserved mud on an honest and hard-working rival. 

Mr. Gruber knew about the claim before it was made public, and has said the Reform Democrats did their homework. From all evidence, they did not. This is, at a minimum, reckless and does not belong in a town that prides itself on a community nature, or from a primary challenger who wants to be taken seriously.

Had he or his supporters looked into the facts surrounding Mr. Lys’s claim, they would have found that only the names of write-in candidates who let the board of elections know about their aspirations appear on official results. Mr. Lys’s father had not told the board of elections that he was a candidate so it had no reason to report his name. This makes sense; as a board of elections official told The Star, “Like ‘Mickey Mouse,’ we don’t note that down.”

Mr. Gruber owes Mr. Lys an apology. Out of arrogance perhaps, he failed to walk back the negative message once it was understood to be false, in effect, still claiming that Mr. Lys was a liar. That Mr. Gruber did not insist that the claim be vetted in advance and then failed to take responsibility once it was shown to be wrong leads us to conclude that he would not be a trustworthy member of the town board.