Objections Arise
North Haven
October 24, 2026
To the Editor:
Re: the Chris Gangemi article about small cell tower objections in this week’s Star, I have followed East Hampton Town’s initiatives to provide cellular service since its inception. I am interested in a similar project for my village. And I am well aware of the NIMBY debate and the ongoing (15 years?) delays in a solution. We have gotten past the screams of, “No big, ugly cell towers within my sightline!” Then there were screams, at a higher decibel, about, “Why can’t we have better cell service? What happens when I need to call 911?!”
Objections arise about radio transmissions [that are] bad for your health. Relax. There’s a lot more radio transmissions in your home right now: microwaves, TVs, cellphones . . . name it. That argument is a nonstarter. Then there’s the “ugly” debate; soon real estate values will be brought up.
Bottom line is cellphone companies have the right (federal and state permission) to erect whatever they want on a municipal right of way. Local officials simply have no say in the deployment of the poles; they can certainly work with the provider and make strong aesthetic suggestions, but the provider has the right to, when all is said and done, do what it wants.
It’s 2026. Cellphone service on the East End is dismal, if it exists at all. Small towers are a huge improvement over the 2,500-square-foot pen that houses the massive 125-foot-tall tower. So if you are tired of seeing “SOS” in place of that comforting WiFi symbol on your phone, stand down, quit your whingeing, and go on with the important things in life.
CHRIS FIORE
Mayor
Village of North Haven
Smooth and Successful
East Hampton
October 26, 2026
To the Editor,
On behalf of the Y.M.C.A. East Hampton RECenter, I would like to extend a heartfelt thank-you to everyone who helped make this past Saturday’s 5K such a wonderful success! With over 125 runners participating, it was a fantastic morning filled with community spirit, energy, and support.
A special thank-you to the Town of East Hampton and the East Hampton Village Police Department for their assistance and support in making this event possible. Their cooperation and commitment to keeping our runners safe helped ensure a smooth and successful race.
I would also like to recognize our incredible Y.M.C.A. staff, who worked hard behind the scenes to bring this event together. From planning and preparation to race-day execution, their dedication and teamwork made all the difference. I am truly grateful to work alongside such a committed group of individuals.
What makes this event even more meaningful is knowing that all proceeds from the 5K directly benefit our Y.M.C.A. scholarship program. This program helps ensure that individuals and families in our community have access to Y.M.C.A. memberships and programs, regardless of their financial circumstances. Every runner who crossed the finish line helped make a difference in someone’s life, and that is something we can all be proud of.
Finally, thank you to every runner, volunteer, and supporter who came out to be part of this special day. Events like these remind us of what makes our East Hampton community so special.
At the Y.M.C.A., we believe in bringing people together, promoting healthy living, and strengthening our community. Saturday was a perfect example of those values in action.
We look forward to seeing everyone next year!
With gratitude,
MOLLY TUZIL
Executive Director
East Hampton Y.M.C.A. RECenter
Flexible Thinking
Springs
October 26, 2026
Dear David,
I’m writing this letter in reference to the renewed interest in banning gas-powered leaf blowers. While I’m in favor of a cleaner planet and environment, there are several layers to this onion.
The fact that they are trying to just ban their use altogether is another example of government overreach, controlling just another aspect of what you can do or not do. If they want to consider time restrictions, that should be on the table.
And me, the homeowner on a retirement “fixed” income; what about those of us who already own them? Are they going to compensate me to turn in my gas blower, or subsidize me to help purchase a battery-powered unit? The battery units are about twice the price of a gas unit, and also having to purchase additional batteries.
When my gas blower runs out of gas, I put more in and continue on. When my battery-powered unit stops, I’m dead in the water or have to buy more batteries. They also weigh more due to the weight of the batteries; how about fatigue? Older people or those not as physically able may have a tougher time using them. What about having to dispose of these batteries when their serviceable life is over? Nobody seems to have a good idea for that.
I’m simply stating that there needs to be some forward and flexible thinking in implementation of such policies, they must consider everyone affected, not just a few who are inconvenienced by the issues that gas blowers create.
Sincerely,
JEFF MILLER
Invitation-Only
East Hampton
October 23, 2026
Dear East Hampton Star,
Did you know we have a Target in Bridgehampton now?
I’m being sarcastic here because I’ve been blitzed with ads on YouTube very specifically for the Bridgehampton location.
There are many reasons I don’t intend to ever set foot in any Target store ever again. (I haven’t been to one in at least a decade, anyway.) Top of the list is the cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which, in my book, is reason enough to shun the chain. I have some more personal reasons very specific to me but they boil down to just not having had a good experience in the few Target stores I went in years ago.
The fact that the grand opening was invitation-only reinforces the idea that Target is not just upscale but that it caters very specifically to the upper crust, which is very different from what has classically been in that same space. For those who are newcomers to the area, Target replaced a Big Kmart which replaced a Caldor. Before Caldor there was Woolco and before Woolco there was Grant’s. This list reads like a history of the affordable department store, large chains which had their origins in the dime store business model. The merchandise was for the most part reasonably priced and pretty much anyone could afford to shop there. Target breaks this tradition of affordability.
To my knowledge, Target is aimed more at upper middle class and higher. That prices it out of many of the lower-class workers who used to be able to shop at the previous incarnations of the building for most things. I don’t know if this was as true of Kmart since I stopped shopping there after they brought in groceries, which put them in a certain amount of competition with King Kullen.
Anyway, of all the chains which could have taken over the space, Target will be the least useful to the community, I think. It will also reinforce the stereotype of the Hamptons as a community solely for the rich and famous, which it’s really not.
To sum up, I never intended to go into this Target in the first place, but the way they’re blitzing me with ads is just another solid turnoff. I could go for an ad-blocker but that’s a whole other subject, and I’ve written enough for this letter. Thanks for reading.
Sincerely,
MATT HARNICK
Terrible Track Record
Springs
October 24, 2026
Dear David,
I share your concerns about that Amagansett streetlight project. I delivered the “Five Principles for Responsible Outdoor Lighting” to the town board and made a presentation at the invitation of the Amagansett Citizens Advisory Committee about best practices to assure compliance with sensible design and energy conservation (plus attention to light trespass and dark sky preservation).
I do not have confidence that the town board, by constantly and consistently hiring out-of-town consultants (who do not live here or pay our taxes), will approve a streetlight design to conform to best practices and the five principles, which were developed by the Illuminating Engineering Society and Dark Sky International.
Engineers, architects, and electricians do not have the training in lighting design that will produce the appropriate outdoor lighting for Amagansett — or anywhere else in town. Only a certified lighting designer, with no ties to a manufacturer, can design a good plan. Yet they never hire one. They hire architects, engineers, electricians, and repeatedly hire McLean Consultants, who have a terrible track record all around this town for projects paid for by us taxpayers. By the way, it is typical for these consultants to simply give the plans to a manufacturer who develops and plans for free (with excessive lighting as a result).
We have great expertise by individuals living in this town. I for one, have credentials, contacts, and experience in Illuminating Engineering Society streetlight design, yet after delivering a mountain of information, studies, precedents, and support, the board ignored it in favor of a group of out-of-town streetlight salesmen who could not even pronounce Kelvin (the measure of blue light in a light source) correctly, pronouncing it “calvin.”
I also delivered four excellent brochures about how and why to address outdoor lighting on energy, wildlife, human health, and night-sky protection to every member of the town board and to all the boards and departments. I also recommended we update our very out-of-date guidelines for commercial outdoor lighting (which I wrote over 15 years ago). No response at all.
SUSAN HARDER
Dark Sky International
Indifference
East Hampton
October 20, 2026
To the Editor:
On Sunday night I was driving very carefully on Hand’s Creek Road heading into the village. Due to the great number of deer that were very active that night, I was going particularly slowly (25 miles per hour), and yet a small deer threw herself out at my car from the right just before Oakview Highway. Unfortunately, she was not killed outright, and I had to deal with the situation.
I pulled off the road on the left, my door and lights open. A family in a large open-bed truck pulled over and were very concerned for my well-being. I was fine. So, we stood near the deer that was then lying off the road on the side: five of us. I called dispatch. Then I called home and canceled my pizza! And we waited all together with the deer at our feet for the police officer to arrive.
Why am I writing? We have too many deer here, and it’s more than probable that we will end up as I did.
But what amazed and saddened me was the crass indifference these people and I witnessed to cars barreling down Hand’s Creek, not slowing down as they approached an obvious roadside problem, with two cars lit up and flashing lights, my door and trunk opened.
I am not questioning their disinterest in help, but why did they all drive by so fast as to endanger us and, by extension, themselves? Everything was obvious.
At least 15 cars went by in the time we waited for the police. Only three slowed down. Where has common sense gone?
Thank you,
MARINA T. SABATACAKIS
Other Ways
Sag Harbor
October 24, 2026
To the Editor,
I am writing to ask the Town of East Hampton not to cull the deer by shooting them. There must be other ways of controlling them.
Our relationship with deer reminds me of our relationship with Native Americans at the beginning of our country. We wanted their land. We moved onto it. And then we killed many of them.
The deer were here before the white people started coming. And now that there are many of us, and more keep coming, we have decided to kill the deer. Maybe less building or places set up big enough for deer to live?
We can be creative when we want to, and, in my opinion, this is the time to get creative.
Sincerely,
JEANELLE MYERS
Bad Enough
East Hampton
October 24, 2026
To the Editor,
What East Hampton Village is planning for Herrick Park is horrendous. It’s bad enough they put in two basketball courts. Now they are going to put in eight more swings, a rock climbing wall, a loop-360 slide, a sensory tunnel, a spinner, plus more. All this in two areas, one 10,800 square feet and the other 17,800 square feet. The total estimated cost is $1.7 million.
East Hampton Village is small and super crowded with car traffic in the summer. Expanding Herrick Park with added playgrounds in the middle of the village will only increase traffic. Think again and do not do this.
Plus, there are no areas in the Village of East Hampton for adults to sit outside in the quiet in a park with grass and trees. How about creating something somewhere for adults!
JANE ADELMAN
Six Years of Plans
East Hampton Village
October 25, 2026
Dear David,
Last week’s front-page article “ ‘We’ll See Them at the Swings!’ ” reports on a proposed $1.7 million playground at Herrick Park and noted that $250,000 has been raised to date. What it does not provide is the history.
That omission is particularly striking because The Star knows the history and has written about it extensively.
The present village administration took office in September 2020. The following month, Jerry Larsen sought and obtained village board approval to hire his former campaign manager, Marcos Baladron, as village administrator.
At the time, Herrick Park already had a comprehensive plan developed by LaGuardia Design Group, for which the village had paid $37,500. That plan had gone through a public process and contemplated the park as a whole. The Larsen administration abandoned it.
What followed has been six years of new plans, revised plans, relocated facilities, construction, reconstruction, additional consultants, change orders, and additional expense.
This is not hindsight. In its own March 21, 2024, editorial “Nice Park,” The Star reminded its readers that the latest Herrick Park proposal looked remarkably like the plan presented in 2019. The editorial described the new proposal as “Deja Vu City” and questioned the circuitous route the village had taken to arrive back at substantially the same place.
That history belongs in a front-page story about yet another Herrick Park proposal.
There have also been very real costs along the way. The village spent $37,500 on the LaGuardia plan that this administration discarded. The Herrick Park bathroom renovation, initially projected at approximately $600,000, was subsequently hit with nearly $100,000 in change orders while running months behind schedule.
Those two items alone amount to approximately $137,500 in discarded planning expense and bathroom change orders — more than half of the $250,000 that has so far been raised for the new playground. And that is hardly a complete accounting.
Since 2020 there have been additional architects, landscape designers, engineers, and contractors; athletic facilities have been relocated or redesigned; plans have changed, and additional money has been spent. Yet residents have never been given, in one place, a straightforward accounting of Herrick Park: what was planned, what was discarded, what was redesigned, what was built, what changed during construction, what it all cost, and what remains unfinished.
Even where the East Hampton Village Foundation, rather than taxpayers, supplied funding, those dollars were finite charitable resources. Money spent on abandoned plans, change orders or projects later substantially revised was money that could have been directed toward other fully vetted village initiatives.
Instead, the Oct. 22 article gives us Mr. Baladron recounting how it “stung” when he heard a child say Sag Harbor had a better playground. He declared that East Hampton Village is “second to none” and that we are now in a “playground arms race.”
That makes for a colorful quote. It is not a substitute for municipal accountability.
Even “second to none” deserves some perspective. Southampton’s Cooper’s Beach was ranked the number-one beach in the country by Dr. Beach in 2025; East Hampton’s Main Beach ranked fifth. Main Beach again ranked fifth nationally in 2026. East Hampton has much to be proud of, but slogans should not replace facts.
Nor should municipal planning be reduced to competing with Sag Harbor because one child preferred its playground.
Herrick Park belongs to the public. Its redevelopment has now extended across virtually the entire tenure of this administration. In my view, responsibility for providing continuity, cost control, and a transparent accounting of that process rests squarely with village administrator Marcos Baladron.
Before another $1.7 million project moves forward, residents deserve a simple accounting: What has been spent on Herrick Park since September 2020? How much has been spent on architects, consultants, and plans? How much has come from taxpayers, how much from the East Hampton Village Foundation, and how much from other private donors? Which plans were abandoned or materially changed? What were the change orders and cost overruns? And what is the total projected cost when Herrick Park is finally complete?
The new playground design now divides children into specific 2-to-5 and 5-to-12 age groups. When were the intended users and needs of the playground first formally defined, and why has it taken six years of planning and redevelopment to arrive at this program?
Those are questions that should have been part of The Star’s Oct. 22 reporting.
East Hampton’s newspaper of record should do more than report the newest rendering, the newest price tag, and the latest press-ready quote. Particularly when The Star itself has documented this history, its readers deserve the context necessary to understand how we got here.
Thank you,
DAVID GANZ
Need to Know
Amagansett
October 24, 2026
Dear David,
Councilman David Lys has proposed $4,200 in next year’s Town of East Hampton budget to install static security cameras in the Amagansett municipal parking lot. This lot directly adjoins a commercial property where Councilman Lys owns four rental cottages. Taxpayers are essentially being asked to fund surveillance infrastructure that provides direct, round-the-clock security monitoring right next to his private business interests. This represents a glaring, textbook conflict of interest that must be openly questioned before any budget approval.
Beyond this ethical red flag, a critical privacy question remains unanswered: Where exactly does the data from these cameras go? The vague public explanation that the feed goes to “headquarters” is entirely unacceptable. Residents need to know which specific law enforcement or administrative headquarters receives this footage, how long it is stored, who has access to it, and why it’s needed.
This issue points to a broader, more-troubling trend across our community. Why are so many surveillance cameras suddenly appearing all over East Hampton? We are seeing them pop up at Atlantic Avenue Beach and possibly numerous locations throughout Montauk.
Unlike the cell towers proliferating across small properties to address infrastructure needs, this rapid expansion of government cameras directly intrudes on public spaces.
Our town government should prioritize transparency and personal privacy over private benefit and unchecked surveillance. A sitting councilman should not use taxpayer dollars for projects tied to his personal real estate holdings. Councilman Lys should immediately withdraw this proposal from the budget, and the town board must provide full transparency on the townwide camera rollout and data management before allocating a single dollar.
East Hampton definitely needs a change in government leadership. It’s time for a change! Mismanagement looms large in Town Hall.
Sincerely,
RONA KLOPMAN
Unable to Act
Amagansett
October 25, 2026
Dear David,
The East Hampton Town Board’s decision to pierce the New York State budget cap for the third consecutive year reflects rampant fiscal irresponsibility and a bloated administrative staff.
Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez is currently collecting her salary while outsourcing her office’s core responsibilities to highly paid personnel. Taxpayers are paying for Patrick Derenze, her public information officer, leaving the supervisor seemingly unable to act without a prepared public relations script.
During the public comment portion of all town board meetings, she routinely refuses to respond to residents, even when they raise serious public health concerns about water contamination and children’s safety at our beaches. Instead, residents are told to leave their contact information, with many concerns going unanswered.
Residents deserve more than silence from their elected supervisor, especially when public health and safety are at stake. True leadership means listening and answering difficult questions, not hiding behind a taxpayer-funded public relations spokesperson.
That is why I’m writing in Jerry Larsen for supervisor on Tuesday. Our town deserves a supervisor who is fiscally responsible, demonstrates true leadership, and listens to residents’ concerns.
Sincerely,
EUGENE SHAW
Proven Leader
East Hampton
October 26, 2026
Dear David,
This is it — by the time this letter appears in The Star, there will only be five more days until Election Day 2026.
There is palpable excitement around this election from all. Standing outside the East Hampton Post Office on Saturday morning, the first day of early voting, with Kathee Burke-Gonzalez and another volunteer, we heard repeatedly that people had either already voted or were on their way to vote. Our citizens are engaged and informed, which is wonderful to see.
This election doesn’t just feel important, it is vitally important to our town, county, state, and nation.
On a national level, it is a chance for us to return accountability, good governing, and democratic ideals by voting Nick LaLota out and bringing in Chris Gallant.
On a state level, we get a chance to return Kathy Hochul and Tommy John Schiavoni to office, both of whom are staunch supporters of our communities, and to elect Chris Murray as our state senator.
And countywide, we can bring accountability back to the clerk’s office by writing in Abigail Field and by voting Jon Estreich for comptroller.
But most important is our town election for town supervisor. Kathee Burke-Gonzalez is the clear choice (not because she is the only candidate) but because she is a proven leader. Kathee has been an active member of the community for many years and has served in multiple positions, starting with Springs School Board. She shows up for her community every day — not just at Town Hall but at events across East Hampton. She puts her constituents before herself and is not running for a position of power to benefit herself or her friends and family. She is running to continue to serve the community. And yes, there are always mistakes and missteps made along the way, but Kathee continues to show up, roll up her sleeves, and do the work that running the town requires.
There has been a lot of extraneous noise this election cycle, all sorts of accusations and innuendos and drama. But peel all that away and ask yourself if the person you are supporting is for something or are they just against everything that the other candidate represents, and I think you will find that after all the noise, the quiet business of running the town is best left in the capable hands of Kathee Burke-Gonzalez.
Vote. It’s not just your civic duty, it is vitally important to the future of our town, county, state, and nation.
JENNIFER FOWKES
Record of Service
East Hampton
October 26, 2026
Dear David,
I have known Jerry Larsen for the better part of 40 years, and for 35 of those years, I had the opportunity to work both with him and for him. That included approximately five years when Jerry served as East Hampton Village mayor, and I served as a department head.
Over those many years, I witnessed firsthand Jerry’s ability to lead, listen, and solve problems. One example that stands out is his leadership as village police chief when he spearheaded a major overhaul of our 911 emergency communications system. It was a complicated undertaking that required vision, determination, and the ability to bring people together to get the job done.
Jerry has never been someone to shy away from a challenge. He listens to all sides, respects differing opinions, and understands that effective leadership is about finding solutions, not creating divisions.
Having spent my own career in public service, I know how important experience, sound judgement, and the willingness to make difficult decisions are to good government. My years working alongside Jerry gave me a firsthand appreciation for his work ethic, his energy, and his dedication to the community we both call home.
As East Hampton residents consider the future leadership of our town, I believe my experience working with Jerry offers a valuable perspective on his record of public service.
Jerry Larsen’s name will not appear on the ballot. To vote for him for East Hampton Town supervisor, you must write in “Jerry Larsen.”
J.P. FOSTER
Complete Phony
Amagansett
October 26, 2026
To the Editor,
No Democratic supervisor in East Hampton’s history has ever been as environmentally destructive as Kathee Burke-Gonzalez. She wiped out a critically endangered species, the long-eared brown bat, by leveling the eight-acre forest that was their home. Now there are no more bats. She has just presided over the decision to employ sharpshooters to murder the deer population because she, and the rest of this moronic board, don’t care that the primary host of the ticks that endanger us is the white-footed mouse, not the deer.
Kathee wiped out the bats to build her pet project, the much-reviled proposed senior center, a building nobody, including virtually every senior I have asked, wants. She blew almost $2 million of our town money, wasting it away on a fight between two architectural firms, demonstrating her complete inability to safeguard our town funds, raised from our taxes. She is completely incompetent to run the town government.
She is also a complete phony as she tries to convince gullible voters she is protecting our water. The eight-acre forest she leveled to wipe out the bats was, to quote the town comprehensive plan, “within the N.Y. State Special Groundwater Protection Area and the five-foot groundwater contour boundary, both criteria identified as critical for protecting East Hampton’s ground and drinking water resources.”
The town comprehensive plan, which Kathee and the other town board members need to read since they violate it repeatedly, says establishing the Stony Hill region as a multi-hamlet priority drinking water protection area will help to protect high-quality drinking water supplies for a large number of people in East Hampton. The highest level of protection, acquisition, is recommended for all the vacant parcels within this area. Yet Kathee Burke-Gonzalez completely failed to protect six parcels making up 50 acres of the highest importance that would have protected the Stony Hill aquifer, the source of all public and private wells in Springs (where she lives), Amagansett, northern East Hampton, Napeague, and Montauk.
She could have bought the Kane piece, the Saskas piece, two parcels that Bobby Flay built on, the Smolian piece, and, most important, the Stone piece. Unbelievably, after failing to conserve the Stone piece, she permitted the new owners to level 100 vital trees for their new expanded lawn. She failed on all counts to protect our water. She is a total phony, who is not deserving of your votes.
Write in Jerry Larsen, whose main priorities are clean drinking water, community preservation, lower taxes, and acceptable and effective government.
He has not only made East Hampton Village a safer, more attractive place, but more accessible to the common folk. Who doesn’t love Tuesday nights at East Hampton Main Beach or watching the Knicks on Newtown Lane with our whole community? Thank you, Jerry. Go, Jerry, go!
Sincerely yours,
ALEXANDER PETERS
President
Amagansett Springs Aquifer Protection
Aquifer Protection
Has the Experience
Amagansett
October 25, 2026
Dear David
Kathee Burke-Gonzalez has the experience, priorities, and energy to continue to serve all the residents of our town.
Kathee is not beholden to a group of friends and contributors who pledge their loyalty for the sole sake of winning — we’ve had enough of that on the national level.
She will continue to apply her proven track record to protect the environment, assure good schools for our children, and make East Hampton safe for all hard-working citizens of our town.
In early voting or on Election Day, please vote for a lifelong Democrat, Kathee Burke-Gonzalez.
DAVID HILLMAN
What We Can Do
East Hampton
October 26, 2026
To the Editor,
As a follow-up to my letter last week, I would like to mention an example of an elected official that has unfortunately put his own selfish ambitions above his constituents and what we, the voters, can do about it.
Nick LaLota is a prime example of an elected official who has consistently failed to put the needs of his constituents above his own ambitions. He has voted along with the G.O.P. 86 percent of the time and parrots Trump/MAGA talking points whenever the opportunity arises. Recently, he threatened to withhold federal funding from East Hampton because the town board, under the leadership of Kathee Burke-Gonzalez, passed an immigration enforcement accountability law, sponsored by Organizacion Latino America with significant input from former Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. If Mr. LaLota follows through on his threat, it will affect over $9 million in federal funds, including money earmarked for law enforcement. This will raise taxes for all East Hampton residents and make us less safe.
What can we do to push back on this threat? That is easy: Vote for Chris Gallant in the First Congressional District!
Now I would like to mention two elected officials that have done the exact opposite of Nick LaLota with their time in office: Tommy John Schiavoni and Kathee Burke-Gonzalez.
I have had the pleasure of working very closely with Tommy John over the years, originally as a committee member on the Southampton Democratic Committee and now in my role as chairman of the East Hampton Dems. Tommy John is one of the hardest-working officials I have ever met. While on the Southampton Dems, he was always the person that got the most signatures, knocked on the most doors, and delivered the most for his constituents while in office. His accomplishments include being one of our most productive freshman assembly members, getting eight bills passed into law. He has secured significant funding for nonprofits, infrastructure enhancements, transportation improvements, and the environment here on the East End. I can’t think of many politicians more deserving of our vote than Tommy John.
I also want to mention Kathee Burke-Gonzalez and the work she has done for East Hampton. When you speak with Kathee about her public service, she immediately jumps into how energized she gets by helping people. There will always be those who second-guess policy decisions, but there is a real sincerity from Kathee when she speaks about helping others. This is clear from the focus she has placed on affordable housing initiatives, emergency funding for food pantries, supporting our immigrant community, and securing funding for critical infrastructure improvements.
Her focus on placing her constituents first is in stark contrast to her opponent’s ambitions that center around getting elected to town supervisor by any means necessary.
The Democratic voters of East Hampton overwhelmingly chose Kathee to be their candidate in the primary election this year. Kathee has already won the support of East Hampton Democrats, but we still need to show up and pull the lever for her now in the general election.
MICHAEL KOEGLER
Chairman
East Hampton Town Democratic Committee
Has No Right
East Hampton
October 26, 2026
David,
I was reading discussions of Chris Gallant’s and Nick LaLota’s statements over the last two months or so. I wanted to try to get a solid handle on who both men were, politically. I think I have it.
Mr. LaLota said, “I told all my towns and villages” that if you don’t support Immigration and Customs Enforcement by not passing laws against them, he will refuse to listen to you when you ask him for funds for infrastructure and similar requests.
Chris Gallant said those funds are our tax dollars being returned to us and LaLota has no right to withhold them.
In addition, all the towns and villages in District 1 do not belong to Mr. LaLota. They are not “his towns and villages”: They belong to us, the residents and taxpayers of District 1.
So, think about it before you vote. Do you want a guy who is going to hold onto money that really belongs to your town, East Hampton, or a guy who will work hard to get your town or village every dime he can? Vote for Chris.
JERRY BUTLER
Needs Your Vote
East Hampton
October 22, 2026
Dear Mr. Rattray,
In his inaugural address on Jan. 20, 1961, President Kennedy urged Americans, “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.” What Kennedy said over 60 years ago has taken on even greater importance today.
Ask yourself, what can you do for your country now? If you find yourself answering that stopping Trump’s attempt to destroy our democracy is of paramount importance, then act. Start by voting this midterm election to restore our democratic form of government that operates under a system of laws established by our Constitution.
To accomplish this, we need a representative in Congress who respects the Constitution, represents his constituents, and rejects Trump’s attempts to establish authoritarian rule. Chis Gallant will do this. But first he needs your vote for Congress.
SALVATORE TOCCI
A Correction
A letter last week from Katherine Stahl, Alyson Follenius, and Gloria Frazee contained a misprinted email address. People interested in volunteering their time to help organize the next local “No Kings” rally can send a message to [email protected].