Channeling the ghost of Martin Luther, East Hampton Town Supervisor Bill Wilkinson figuratively tacked 14 agenda items to the Town Hall door last week, in a grand gesture intended to draw attention to important decisions left hanging, and actions not taken, by a board that is increasingly deadlocked.

    But the list was more theater than anything. Let’s break it down.

    Several of the agenda items could fairly be called important, yes — but none is a Code Red emergency. Some, indeed, are already on the way to resolution. Others are much ado about nothing.

    Work on a number of the more complex among them is already ongoing (if slowly). Of these, the fate of the Springs-Fireplace Road sewage treatment plant and deer management are certainly priorities — but life in East Hampton won’t come grinding to a halt in the meanwhile. Others on the list are duplicative; for example, entertainment permits for bars and restaurants and outdoor gatherings, for which potential solutions can be found in the existing town code and in penal law (if only the will were there to enforce them).

    Mr. Wilkinson, himself, has drawn into the conversation the reorganization of the Natural Resources Department and other town functions. There has been no public call to rearrange these particular deck chairs. Likewise, only lukewarm interest has met his latest pet effort: to outsource the town’s Information Technology Department. It’s not clear who but him considers that one a do-or-die matter.

    Septic waste at the Three Mile Harbor trailer park has been a longstanding problem that may or may not be solved by throwing $600,000 at it as the supervisor would like to do, in lieu of a comprehensive study of what to do about waste townwide. The lighting code was never actually broken; in fact, it is a well-considered plan — that just became an annoyance for a handful of business owners who did not want to spend the money to comply after they had been given three years to do so. And the hold-up over a new audit committee could be ended in a jiffy, with the removal of a caustic Wilkinson ally from the list of potential members.

    This latest drama points to an interesting question about East Hampton Town government, which is: Does the town board meet too much?

    Though we jest — to a degree — we honestly have begun to wonder. Time and again, board meetings have devolved into acrimony among members, which has been met with mounting public disgust. A little less of this and a bit more letting the town’s competent and professional staffers just do their jobs might go a long way toward increasing efficiency.

    No doubt it is maddening sometimes for those leading it, but good government works at a deliberative pace. Puffed-up lists and put-on petulance while the cameras are rolling will not make the wheels turn faster, and they certainly won’t improve outcomes.

   Some Montauk business owners are undoubtedly pleased that when it comes to their interests East Hampton Town’s zoning rules need not apply. Such was the message two weeks ago when Town Supervisor Bill Wilkinson cut a ceremonial ribbon amid an atmosphere of bonhomie at the grand opening of the Montauk Beach House.

    The former Ronjo motel was at the center of controversy earlier this year when the town decided to sell a portion of a long-unused alley that bisected the property to its new owners. That fight died down when the Suffolk district attorney chimed in with a strong, but flawed, reading of the zoning code. This was enough, it appears, to give the Beach House cover to proceed with a number of additions to the property that should have first been run by the town planning board. In keeping with other instances of disregard for the law under the current and previous Town Hall administrations, the necessary review did not occur.

    The outlook for reasonable implementation of the town’s zoning laws is poor today; any town staffer who dared to suggest that tacking on a membership pool club, independent clothing boutique, nightclub, bar, kitchen, and an opening-night performance by a rock band for 200 guests might have to be examined by the planning board would have had good reason to fear for his or her job. All of the Beach House work, mind you, is on land not zoned for hotels or resorts, but for shops and the like.

    But this story is not about one hotel. Certain requirements of the town code are being routinely ignored on projects large and small, particularly when the properties are owned by those friendly with the supervisor and his political backers — and, most recently, when they are in Montauk. In a sweep some weeks ago, for example, code enforcers ticketed several businesses in the vicinity of Town Hall for illegally illuminated signs, but they have so far patently ignored similar ones in Montauk and elsewhere.

    Several popular nightspots in the easternmost hamlet have been allowed to spill out into huge, traffic-snarling outdoor gatherings. And on Friday, enforcers had to shut down a massive dance party on East Lake Drive for which the town board had issued a permit for 800 guests despite the promoters’ oft-repeated boast that 2,500 people had attended the same event last year. That property, Rick’s Crabby Cowboy on Lake Montauk, was at the center of an earlier dustup over dredging that drew a $75,000 fine from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for work that Supervisor Wilkinson had insisted was on the up-and-up.

    Montauk may be different from the rest of the Town of East Hampton, but the same laws apply. Perhaps the time has come to reconsider the hamlet’s incorporation as a village with its own set of rules and regulations and to let the ensuing battle between the forces of preservation and what some call progress begin.

   A bill sponsored by State Senator Kenneth P. LaValle and Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. just might change the world. Okay, so the measure to give local governments and school districts the ability to issue their own tax breaks for “green” buildings and retrofits cannot by itself stem global warming or slow the rate of sea level rise, but it would encourage individuals do their part.

    The legislation was approved without a single no vote by both the Assembly and Senate, and with good reason. Starting next year, it would allow the state’s municipal boards to offer property tax exemptions for work that meets the standards set by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design organization. For the first three years, the bill would keep any increased assessment from being reflected on a property owner’s tax bill. For the highest-rated, or “platinum” LEED-certified projects, assessments would not jump until year seven.

    Implementation, of course, falls to local governments, as it does with so many of Albany’s bright ideas. Town, village, and school boards must adopt the program. Then, local assessors would review the construction and somehow remember  to add the increased assessments once the exemptions timed out. It is potentially a hassle, but well worth it.

    What is revolutionary about the legislation is that it empowers school districts, whose taxes make up the greatest share of most property tax bills, to promote green building — no more waiting around for town officials to find the motivation. At the same time, the cost in terms of lost taxes is negligible, as present assessments remain in place; only the added value of the new construction or retrofit would be exempted.

    The bill awaits Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s signature. It will then be up to local governments to take advantage of it. We hope they do so as soon as possible.

   One thing seems impossible in East Hampton Town — an even-handed and calm discussion of any aspect of trucks on the beaches. We were reminded of this last week when a reasonable question came up about whether the Three Mile Harbor side of Maidstone Park was a suitable place for drivers of four-wheel-drive vehicles to set up camp during daytime hours.

    Time was, you might see one or two trucks on the sand there, just south of the stone breakwater. Nowadays, maybe a dozen line the shore on a hot weekend afternoon. These are not vehicles used by anglers; they belong to beachgoers who don’t want to carry umbrellas and chairs down the sand or just like to sit by their trucks, where access to beach toys for the kids and refreshments is easy and at hand.

    Because of the traffic, the beach has become so pounded down that four-wheel drive is now barely necessary there. Let’s face it, the line of vehicles is unpleasant to the eye, inappropriate in a natural area, and the trucks take up an unfair amount of the limited space, blocking in some cases the time-honored free passage along the strand afforded town residents in the Dongan Patent of 1686.

    A reasonable answer might be to ask that able-bodied people park on the pavement and reserve the daytime right to drive on this particular beach for those with physical handicaps. Do not expect any proposal of this kind to lead to a rational conversation about the appropriate time and place for four-wheeling, however. Instead, any voices of compromise would be quickly drowned out by cries that limits of any kind would be a slippery slope to a total ban. Hogwash.

    At its best, government is supposed to be about making difficult choices. It will be regrettable if the noise about beach driving prevents a much-needed conversation from taking place at all.

   It is hurricane season again, so public officials and the utilities are beginning to make all the usual pronouncements about how well prepared they are in case a storm strikes. This evening at 6, the supervisors of East Hampton, Southampton, and Shelter Island are to appear at the Hampton Library in Bridgehampton with State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. and Michael Hervey, the Long Island Power Authority’s chief operating officer, to hear about what the company is doing to get ready.

    Local governments on the South Fork and the power authority had a test run last August as Hurricane and Tropical Storm Irene crossed to the west. From that near-miss, many observers concluded that LIPA would have come up short in the event of a real disaster. Power outages lingered surprisingly long in some areas even though crews worked nearly around the clock to restore power to more than 500,000 customers across Long Island —- this from a weakened storm whose center did not pass over it.

    East Hampton Village Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr. spoke for many last year when he gave LIPA a grade of C minus for its response, and, he said, that was “being gracious.” Mr. Thiele and State Senator Kenneth P. LaValle were also critical.

    Public pleas for the utility to put more of its electric lines underground and out of harm’s way go unanswered year after year because of cost. LIPA has conducted regular tree-trimming to keep lines from falling in storms, but it’s a good bet it has not done quite enough. Nor, from what we can tell, has a communication deficit from East Hampton Town Hall been addressed.

    Town Supervisor Bill Wilkinson, who is expected to attend this evening’s session, might take a moment to speak with his Southampton counterpart, Anna Throne-Holst, who is also on the guest list. Southampton outpaced East Hampton by far last year in getting updates out to residents and visitors as Irene approached. As we noted last year, Southampton issued advisories every couple of hours and did its best to keep the public informed through a variety of media outlets. The few messages from Mr. Wilkinson’s office were confusing and trivial at best. He might want to ask Ms. Throne-Holst how she did it.

    Also important was the Town of East Hampton’s failure to close off low-lying oceanfront road-ends. One neighborhood association on Napeague took it upon itself to sandbag a critical gap in the dunes when town help didn’t arrive. Downtown Montauk and the Ditch Plain neighborhood are essentially at sea level, so it wasn’t surprising that water poured in unimpeded through man-made openings.

    Predictions about hurricanes are by nature highly speculative. Scientists can estimate how many may arise in a given year, but cannot say even as late as a day or two before exactly where one will make landfall. Judging from the inadequate preparation and responses to 2011’s Irene, eastern Long Island’s elected leaders and its monopoly power company have a lot of work to do. This evening’s meeting will be meaningless without measurable changes to back up officials’ best intentions.

   If ever one needed evidence of America’s profoundly contradictory attitude toward alcohol, one need look no further than the Town of East Hampton. By night, police conduct necessary sweeps to get drunken drivers off the roads. By day, it is a different story: Public drinking — to considerable excess — seems to be encouraged, at least tacitly.

    We were surprised and not a little disappointed to learn that the East Hampton Town Trustees, whose jurisdiction notably includes most of the town’s beaches, failed to even discuss the soggy, beer-fueled weekend gatherings at Indian Wells Beach in Amagansett at their last meeting, even though the Amagansett Citizens Advisory Committee had mulled the problem (and a report thereof had appeared on our front page).

    We have a view about the matter: Daytime alcohol use should be banned on town beaches while lifeguards are present. The trustees may have come to a different conclusion if they bothered to take up the issue, but nary a word passed the nine members’ lips. Part of their reluctance may be that in order to get a ban on the books, they would have to gain the town board’s cooperation. That is no excuse for pretending the growing problem at Indian Wells does not exist, however.

    East Hampton Village and the state parks prohibited alcohol on their beaches long ago. In the town, the public might prefer that drinking continue in some places or at some times, for example, after families have gone home.

    It is reasonable to expect that the Indian Wells gatherings will grow, and perhaps spread. With alcohol abuse there on weekend afternoons comes greater costs to residents’ enjoyment of the beach, as well as potential risks caused by drunken drivers or soused pedestrians. Town officials, both on Pantigo Road and in the trustees’ sea-view redoubt on Bluff Road, should take up the question sooner rather than later.

   Another week, another fatality on the South Fork roads. The death of Douglas Schneiderman, 51, of McLean, Va., in a head-on collision on Route 114 as he was headed to Sag Harbor on Sunday brought the total dead this summer in incidents in eastern Southampton Town and East Hampton to five. Make no mistake, five automobile-related deaths here is a significant number; in some years there have been none at all. And then there are the accidents in which people are injured, with some victims carrying physical or mental scars with them the rest of their lives. Mr. Schneiderman’s wife and daughter were seriously injured in the crash, as was the driver of the other vehicle, Brian K. Midgett, 20, of East Hampton.

    As notable as the statistics has been a common reaction among many people we have spoken to since news of Sunday’s crash began to spread. To a man and a woman, the sense has been that these deaths are not surprising, given the heightened craziness and risk on the roads this season. The South Fork seems out of control as too many people compete for too little space on the beaches, in shops and restaurants, and on the pavement.

    For many, the balance has been tipped too far in favor of the summer hordes. The result is a place that does not feel like home during what many consider the nicest part of the year. Elected officials have dismissed complaints about noisy, overcrowded nightclubs by telling neighbors in effect to grin and bear it because the disturbances would last for only a few months. Yet East Hampton Town is fast becoming something unfamiliar, something its residents did not sign up for. The feeling is widespread.

    Drawing a straight line from the summertime madness to Mr. Schneiderman’s death — and the others — is impossible. What must be understood and reflected on by those in a position to do something to stem the tide, however, is that many people strongly believe there is a connection.

   Voters go the polls Tuesday in their respective school districts for the first time since a state law mandating a 2-percent cap on year-to-year tax levy increases has been in effect. As a result of tough cuts by school budget committees, this is a very different year as far as spending is concerned from those in recent memory.

    The lessons of the Albany-ordered parsimony are many, but chief among them may be that double-digit annual budget increases are a thing of the past. It was not all that long ago that administrators and the board of education in one South Fork school district were patting themselves on the back for keeping a budget hike to 9 percent. Now all but one local district — Amagansett — will put budgets to the voters Tuesday while keeping under the cap. This shows that fiscal restraint can be achieved — apparently and unfortunately only when discipline is imposed from above.

    One year does not a success make, however. Looking ahead a few more years, the 2-percent cap, which is not expected to keep pace with inflation or cope with increases in enrollment, may prove onerous. Voters, like those in Amagansett, would have to approve a budget by a two-thirds supermajority to go above the limit. That kind of support would be difficult for almost any district.

    More leadership will be needed from Albany as schools begin to suffer from permanently diminished funding. Administrative consolidation, as well as shared purchasing consortiums, appears necessary. But there will have to be more in wage concessions, pension reform, and even program changes.

    As important as education is to the future of this country, taxpayers can no longer afford any often unchecked bureaucracies. The fact that most of the state’s districts kept within the 2-percent cap demonstrates that bare-knuckled reform is possible. The real test, however, will be doing so over the long term without academic implosion, which would put New York’s public school students at a substantial disadvantage.  

   Seventy years ago Wednesday, four German saboteurs — armed and trained for a mission of destruction — slipped ashore in Amagansett. Though a minor footnote in the annals of World War II, it was one of the very few known incidents in which enemy operatives set foot on United States soil. Moreover, in recent times, the military tribunals in which the would-be attackers were tried and sentenced have been cited as the legal antecedents of how  cases are handled of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

    On that long-ago night, the Germans had with them some $80,000 in cash, crates of explosives, and a few odd items of spycraft. Within moments of their arrival in a hamlet far removed from the battles in Europe and the Pacific, however, a coast guardsman on patrol from the Atlantic Avenue Life-Saving Station discovered them. The Germans said they were fishermen whose boat had run aground. They then contradicted orders by giving him a bribe instead of shooting him and telling him to get lost. John Cullen, a seaman second class, played along, but he quickly returned to the station and sent out the alert. Four days later, a second team of saboteurs landed near Jacksonville, Fla., on a similar mission.

    The manhunt that might have been expected did not exactly follow the discovery of the Germans and their dangerous cache. It was not until one of them managed to convince a skeptical Federal Bureau of Investigation agent that he was really part of a plot against the United States. Still, it was wartime, and J. Edgar Hoover was happy to spread the fiction that the F.B.I. had been on to the Germans from the beginning.

    Today the station from which the unarmed Seaman Cullen walked that night stands in a precarious state. Through the generosity of several private citizens, the Town of East Hampton took over its ownership in 2006 and moved it back to the dunes near its original site. There it is has stood since, more or less buttoned up from the elements.

    A dramatic re-enactment of sorts is planned for Wednesday evening, in which those who are working to restore the station and open it as a museum and perhaps an alternative meeting place will recall the events of summer 1942. It is hoped that the event will draw attention to the station’s important place in our history.

    Money is needed to finish stabilizing and restoring the building. It is a worthy undertaking, one that deserves both official and community support.

   Round about this time of year, if you look among the tide lines on the beaches here, you begin to notice the balloons. Mylar or latex, they wash up with such regularity that in early summer they, and the colored ribbons with which they once were held down, are the dominant non-natural trash.

    School graduations bring with them outdoor parties from which these helium-filled trifles escape. They rise until they burst in the atmosphere, then drift back to earth, many landing in the bay or ocean. There, they are sometimes eaten by sea creatures such as marine turtles, causing death in some circumstances. Equally significant but less well known, the Guardian newspaper reported earlier this year, some research facilities may soon have to reduce operations or close entirely because we are frittering away the world’s limited supplies of helium on party balloons.

    Suffolk bans the intentional release of large quantities of helium balloons. A similar bill has been, ahem, floating around Albany. While it is pending, readers may want to think twice before buying helium balloons for their celebrations or, at the very least, make sure these balloons remain indoors to minimize the chance of their getting away.