Editorials

   Building on the success this summer of the checkpoints aimed at motorists who may have been under the influence of drugs or alcohol, local police would do well to take on another high-risk factor on the roads — distracted drivers.

   Mitt Romney seems like a nice-enough guy, which is why the secretly recorded statement in which he insulted and belittled nearly half of American voters while speaking to a group of big-dollar donors in Florida in May is shocking. At the same time, his full-throated embrace of the worst of class and ethnicity-baiting ideas — and wrong ones, to boot — could be seen as a predictable outcome of an election cycle that favors attacks rather than matters of substance.

   Tomorrow will be the 74th anniversary of the 1938 Hurricane, the horrific standard by which Long Island and New England storms are still measured. A show of amateur photographs taken in and around East Hampton Village in the days following Sept. 21, 1938, give a sense of the devastation — but they tell only a small part of the story and cannot be considered a prediction of what this place would look like if and when a hurricane of equal strength strikes. Hundreds of people were killed as the 1938 Hurricane raged ashore on Long Island and in coastal Connecticut and Rhode Island.

   Hard numbers are difficult to come by, but our hunch is that the police checkpoints intended to curb drunken driving this summer were a success. Word filtered out that even a couple of drinks could land someone behind bars for the night and result in fines or the loss of driving privileges for months, even on a first offense. This is good news for those who prefer safer roads, and it merits a tip of the hat for the many local officers, as well those from other departments, who put in long nights here to make this happen.

   Rarely does a federal policy have as direct a potentially positive impact on the South Fork as does one put in place earlier this year by President Obama to allow some children of undocumented migrants a way to avoid deportation and work here legally. Called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, it allows immigrants 30 and younger who have lived in the United States for five or more years to apply for a Social Security number and a two-year, renewable work permit.

   “No comment” was more or less how a top official responded this week when asked why the Town of East Hampton had not lodged a single charge against a man facing 160 counts in Southampton Town, where he is alleged to have run illegal, for-profit party houses similar to those he is said to have organized here.

   At a time when the East Hampton School Board has been cutting back on services outside of the classroom, notably scaling back adult continuing education and trying to eliminate the continued free use of facilities for non-school sports associations, it is unfortunate that it would find the money to fund a part-time public relations position.

   Peering out of an office window that overlooks Main Street and the East Hampton Library late on Labor Day, idly contemplating the relentless line of traffic headed west, we noticed a car trying to get out of the library’s driveway that looked as if might be stuck there forever.

   The news about the climate is bad. Even if you are among those who have tried to disparage global warming,  the overwhelming scientific consensus about its causes and the numbers are indisputable: the Earth is getting warmer — and fast. Long Island must prepare for the worst. But it appears that most of the region’s public officials have not gotten the message.

   As the traditional end of the high season approaches, it is worth taking stock of how things went and whether the South Fork is on the right path.

    Think of Montauk with its jam-packed bars affecting nearby residences. Think of Indian Wells Beach that became so popular with 20-something beer bashers that some of its regulars no longer found it attractive. Think of the racket from the airport, the dread of a trip to the grocery store. Think of massive, illegal parties in rented houses whose hosts East Hampton Town officials failed to prosecute.

   In an important and well-researched report, the East Hampton Town Budget and Financial Advisory Committee has recommended closing the town waste-treatment plant on Springs-Fireplace Road immediately while a long-term management plan is drafted. This is sound advice, and the East Hampton Town Board should act on it without delay.

   Allegations first reported by Politico.com that Representative Tim Bishop’s campaign acted improperly in seeking a cash donation from a constituent for whom the Democratic congressman did a favor have been seized upon by his political opponents. Randy Altschuler, running with Republican and Conservative endorsements, has sought to make the affair the subject of the week, with frequent e-mails to supporters and the news media.

   As with the Havens Beach stormwater logjam described on this page, officials have long wondered what to do about pollution from the privately owned Three Mile Harbor Trailer Park near Soak Hides Road. In this case, it is the Town of East Hampton grappling with potential septic contamination of groundwater that can reach a harbor. Over the years, the town, recognizing that the trailers provide low-cost housing, has pumped out the septic tanks at taxpayer expense, although there have been unproven allegations about oddities in the way this was conducted.

   Another summer season has just about come and gone and nothing has been done to stop potentially harmful bacteria from floating through Havens Beach in Sag Harbor.

   Several people have been quick to laud the town’s top building inspector for pointing out that the Montauk Beach House needs to seek approval for its public bar and retail store. Although we are loathe to bring up zoning irregularities in Montauk once again, the praise may be premature. Regardless of the inspector’s directive that the questionable uses be shut down, the resort’s owners appear to be going full steam ahead and planning to take it all up with the town zoning board in the fall.

   Before the Town of East Hampton goes about opening any new public bathing beaches, it needs to demonstrate that it can adequately police and keep clean those it already has.

   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.

   A longtime Montauk resident showed up at an East Hampton Town Board meeting held there a few weeks ago to bemoan the number of young people roaming about the streets and shops in various states of undress — bare-chested men and bikinied women who seem to make no distinction between pavement and sand. There oughta be a law, he said, against “shirtless wandering syndrome.”

   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.

   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.

   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.

   East Hamptoners are beginning to express wishes that officials put a stop to huge, daytime booze-fueled gatherings at Indian Wells Beach in Amagansett. Doing so would be easy, as we explain at the conclusion of this editorial. The question is whether the town should bring the hammer down or let the party go on.

   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.

   With the hit-and-run death of a nun in Water Mill on Monday, the message is clear that South Fork roads are no place for pedestrians. Only two weeks ago, this community had to digest the news that a high school student was struck and killed as he and several friends made their way on foot from the Amagansett train station to his house. And, although her death did not involve a pedestrian, a Montauk resident was killed when her car apparently went into the path of an oncoming pickup truck on July 4.

   The East Hampton Town Budget and Finance Committee has subtly rebuked Supervisor Bill Wilkinson in a recommendation it made last month that no elected officials or town employees be on a proposed new town audit committee.