Score one for transparency: While it’s still a mystery as to who actually founded the organization Political Transparency — which has been running ads in The Star and on social media that are highly critical of the current East Hampton Town Board — a spokesman for the related StopEHTownBoard.com did offer some insight into the organization and its goals this week.
The town’s failed effort last year to transition the public East Hampton Airport into a privately-run but publicly-owned facility appeared to be a driver behind the formation of Political Transparency Inc., but the airport is just one issue, that the spokesman, John Collins, identified as an area of concern.
The organization, he said, “was created by East Hampton community members because residents are frustrated with the failure of leadership and lack of accountability from the town board. The board limits feedback. They don’t listen. And worst of all, they don’t follow through on their own promises.”
Besides the airport, the organization has teed off on the town for, among other things, suing East Hampton Village over a feud involving firefighting foam, lack of reliable cell service in many parts of town, the proposed redevelopment of the sand pit in Wainscott, and the lack of adequate police presence in Montauk.
Political Transparency Inc. was incorporated as a nonprofit with the State of New York last July, with the New York City law firm Stein Harris acting as the process agent for the organization.
The incorporation documents do not identify any of Political Transparency Inc.’s founding members or directors. Mr. Collins, a communications strategist based in Brooklyn, would only say it was created by “community members.”
Manny Vilar, leader of the East Hampton Town Republican Committee and the Republican nominee for county legislator, said that while he agrees “with a lot of what they’re saying, myself personally and the East Hampton Town Republican Committee have no connection or involvement with any of the groups you mentioned or any of the individuals who have advertised in The Star.”
Curiously enough, incorporation records indicate that the same day that Political Transparency was incorporated, another nonprofit called Aviation Advocates Inc., was also incorporated by the law firm. Aviation Advocates lists an office building north of Albany as its primary address — as do several other aviation businesses that were incorporated in 2022 (though not by Stein Harris), all of which also list Long Island addresses in their incorporation paperwork.
In an email, the attorney Lance Harris said his office “incorporates hundreds of entities a year — inevitably many on the same day. As far as I know, there is no affiliation between the two entities. I, and others, often act as initial managers and/or board members, at the direction of clients, for ease of filing.”
