Recommends Henry

To Editor,

In 2007, I had the opportunity to advocate and work for Jim Henry’s campaign for Southampton Town Supervisor. I witnessed first hand how Jim works and came to understand what drives his public policy thinking. It was a pleasure being part of that campaign.  Some things that impressed me:

Concern for the public good. Jim understands the connection between public policy and undue influence from favor seekers with deep pockets. Clean government is a top priority for Jim.

Financial acumen. Jim has an economic degree from Harvard which he used to establish a successful career as a business consultant. This technical and practical background will give Sag Harbor the right mix of intellect and experience to handle fiscal matters in these tough times.

Legal talent. On top of having an economics degree, Jim is an outstanding attorney. Combined with his keen understanding of economic issues, his legal skills can be put to good use for the betterment of Sag Harbor.

Honesty. During the course of campaigns, candidate handlers will suggest ways to best position messages and campaign personalities. Jim would have none of it. He is his own man, what you see is what you get. No camouflage, no subterfuge, no duplicity.

I recommend Jim Henry to the voters of Sag Harbor, you won’t be disappointed.

Mike Anthony

Former Chair, Southampton Town Democratic Committee

Westhampton

 Village Needs Improved Fiscal Management

To the Editor:

I greatly respect Greg Ferraris’ record of public service, but I guess that we are just going to have to differ about whether or not Sag Harbor Village needs to improve its fiscal management. In my view, it clearly does.

My concerns are really quite simple.

First, in a year when average property values in the Village have already fallen by more than 22 percent from their October 2008 peak, and our economic outlook remains cloudy, the Village’s new budget for 2009/2010 still assumes that the average value of the property tax base will continue to increase next year, from $1.898 billion to $1.920 billion.

While it is true that the Village has cut total spending slightly, from $7.55 million in ‘08/09 to $7.52 million next year, since the revenues obtained from non-tax sources has declined even faster, this means that the absolute value of property taxes will continue to rise, from $4.94 million to $4.97 million.

Coupled with the fact that property values are plummeting much faster than the Village has predicted, and also faster than spending has been reduced, this means that average property tax rates – as a share of wealth or income – are likely to soar, reversing the track record of declining tax rates since June 2006.

Of course this increase will be on top of the sharp increases that are expected in Town and State tax rates, in the midst of the deepest recession in five decades.

These rate increases will be especially hard on seniors and middle-class taxpayers. While the Village may well already be giving as much special relief to seniors as allowed to do by law, that relief is paltry. The best thing the Village could do for our seniors now would be find other revenue sources and prevent tax rates from rising still further.

Second, In hindsight, it turns out that all those vaunted “declining tax rates” that were ostensibly achieved by the current Village administration were not only temporary, but were also based entirely on the real estate bubble, not on any new efficiencies in government.

For example, total Village spending increased by more than five percent a year during 2006-2008. And some departments increased much faster — the expansion of police-related soared by 40 percent from 2006/07 to 2009/10. While Chief Fabiano and team do a fine job for Sag Harbor, if we are going to continue to maintain spending at this level, it is clear that we are going to have to find other sources of revenue. In these hard times, taxpayers simply cannot keep up. 

Third, the Village simply hasn’t devoted nearly enough energy to pursuing these other revenue sources. For example, the share of Village spending funded by state and federal aid fell from 6.8% in 2006/7 to 4.1% in 2009/10. And even after February, when the Obama stimulus package offered billions of dollars to state and local governments for projects like storm water treatment, Sag Harbor officials were slow to respond – while Greenport’s Mayor lobbied hard in Washington and has already been rewarded with a $4 million grant to fix his waste treatment plant, Sag Harbor’s conservative Village administration has so far only managed to hire a $5,000 grant writer. 

Furthermore, the Village administration has also not had much success demanding our fair share of Town CPF mortgage tax revenues – over the last decade, we’ve paid in more than $10 million and gotten back less than $1 million.

Finally, and most important, there are several large “unfunded liabilities” – critical projects investments that we should be making — that are simply missing from the Village’s new budget. 

As I have argued elsewhere, perhaps the best example is the long-delayed Havens Beach cleanup, which would cost at least $300,000. But there are many others. The fact is, despite talking about a “long-term capital plan” for years, the Village still does its budgets on a snapshot, year-to-year basis. Nowhere do we have a careful consideration of the major investments that are likely to be required down the road, even for the year after next.

So we are driving down the road, but looking out the side window. We were able to get away with this when the economy was booming, but it is risky when times are tough and the tax revenues and debt capacity may not be there when we need it.

So the Village’s next administration will inherit all these problems. To prevent the tax burden from rising, either it will have to embrace sharp spending cuts, or — as I have proposed – aggressively seek aid from state and federal sources.

The good news is that such revenue sources do exist if we move quickly. The day after I am elected, Congressman Tim Bishop and I will be meeting to find ways out of our impending troubles.

Respectfully,

James S. Henry

Candidate for Mayor of the Village of Sag Harbor

No Endorsement

To the Editor,

We, as the Board of Save Sag Harbor, would like to remind our friends and members that we are not taking any political position as an organization in the upcoming Village elections.

While two of our former board members are current candidates for Sag Harbor Village Mayor and Village Board, Save Sag Harbor does not endorse any particular candidate, nor have we directed any statements made by them in the press or in advertisements.

We believe that the current, outgoing administration of the Village under the leadership of Greg Ferraris has in the main been an excellent model of leadership and community involvement. As we have said so often at Village Board meetings and in other public venues, we respect and thank Mayor Ferraris and the Board of Trustees for their fine work in helping the Village to move ahead while respecting its past, for listening to our and other members of the community’s viewpoints, and most recently for accomplishing the passage of the revision of the Zoning Code.

Yours sincerely,

Mia Grosjean, President,

and the Save Sag Harbor Board: April Gornik, Susan Mead, Lester Ware, and Jayne Young

Will Represent the Community

 Dear Editor,

I have had the privilege of working with Jim Henry for almost two years. Through those years we ran a high-spirited campaign for Southampton Supervisor (which we lost by 52 votes), volunteered hundreds of hours to elect Barack Obama to be the first African-American President and now spend our days listening and speaking with Jim’s fellow residents in Sag Harbor in his bid for Sag Harbor Village Mayor.

Many of you have read or listened to Jim’s ideas for Sag Harbor Village. These are great “outside-the-box” ideas that I believe could create an even better Sag Harbor. But I don’t live here and that’s not why I’m writing.

I’m writing because I want to tell you what Jim is really like.

As someone who has occasionally filed Jim’s notes, I can attest to the fact that he is the most amazing researcher I have ever seen. If there is a question to be answered, Jim diligently looks for not only the answer, but other contributing factors and how that affects the original issue. This is a great attribute to have in a leader, especially during a time when Sag Harbor is facing many issues that could alter village life. Jim has promised to be a full-time mayor and I have no doubt that he would be. He throws himself into every task he takes on with determined passion and Sag Harbor Village can only benefit from this attribute.

He is passionate about peoples’ rights. He has stood up for anti-war protestors, spoken publicly of his support of recognition for the Shinnecock Tribe (my husband’s tribe), became a vocal voice in the aftermath of the vicious hate murder of Marcelo Lucero in Patchogue, and stood-up to election fraud where many peoples’ votes were not being counted. As an activist myself, I have called upon Jim many times for his advice and to volunteer time. He always responds the same way… “when and where.” His dedication is astounding and his reliability allows me some peace in otherwise hectic situations.

He is intelligent. Not in that “I’m better than you” way, but in the “let’s sit down and I’ll try to help you understand” way. International economics is not something that I majored in, but I understand a lot more about the world around me because Jim took the time to explain a lot of things to me. Things that seemed boring, dull and impossibly hard to understand are now much clearer due to Jim sharing his knowledge with me. Jim is always eager to share a new piece of information he has learned with me. Why some people have commented that he is “too intelligent” to be mayor just simply baffles me. Is being smart a bad attribute for the mayor of Sag Harbor to have? Have previous mayors been of low intelligence? I don’t think so and I think that’s the silliest reason to not vote for someone.

But the most important thing people should know is just how much your opinion means to Jim. Sag Harbor Village is not five people sitting on the village board. Sag Harbor is all of you. And Jim would see to it as mayor that your voice was heard and weighed in the decisions he makes as mayor. The most important aspect of this job would be listening to Sag Harbor residents’ issues and concerns. Jim has always made himself available to anyone who needed him. He has said many times to me that he wishes that communities would become more involved in their local governments. You can rest assure that your voice would be part of the future of Sag Harbor.

I know Jim Henry will be a great Sag Harbor mayor. My only hope is that I can convince the people of Sag Harbor Village the same. But I know that to Jim, the most important thing is that you get out and vote on June 16^th (no matter who you vote for). Your participation in our government is his highest hope. So come vote on June 16^th at the firehouse on Brick Kiln Road, 12:00-9:00. I respectfully ask you to vote for my friend, Jim Henry on election day.

Lisa Votino-Tarrant

Shinnecock Reservation

Need a Great Sag Harbor

Dear Editor:

Jim Henry is a friend of mine. I believe he will be a good mayor of Sag Harbor because he is energetic, enthusiastic, dedicated to public service and brilliant. He is also very passionate, as everyone who knows him knows. 

To some, the Jim Henry package is simply too high-powered for the fabulous un-Hampton we all know and love. The present crisis, however, in economy and politics, both nationally and locally (since all politics is, after all, local) makes it necessary to have such a person at the helm.

As a former resident I am asking for you to please vote for Jim because a great Sag Harbor is vital to the health of all of us– Hampton or un-Hampton.

Sincerely,

Bob Zellner

Southampton

Community-Based School

Dear Bryan,

I would like to thank all the volunteers and voters that supported my bid for re-election to the BOE. Not since the community decided 15 years ago to support a 21 million dollar addition to our school have we seen such a clear message to stay the course of a community-based school that strives for excellence.  The BOE and community face a challenging future providing a quality education the community can support.  It is up to every member of our school community; students, parents, teachers, administrators, taxpayers and BOE members to work toward greater efficiencies, increased rigor, and open communication to achieve the highest level of success we can provide.  If we can’t dedicate ourselves to this our future will be less bright, less fulfilling and rather than leaders we will become followers.

I will close with a quote from Thomas Jefferson, the 1st education president,

“If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.”

Thank you,

Walter Wilcoxen

Sag Harbor

Sharing and Caring

Dear Bryan,

Michelle and I just wanted to say a big “Thank You” to all the wonderful people who contributed to the tremendous success of the first Jordan’s Initiative Care Package Drive which resulted in 84 packages of goodies and essentials being shipped off to troops in Afghanistan. For two weeks people generously deposited items into boxes set up in local banks and schools and on Saturday, May 16th with the help of Sue Mayer and her local Boy Scouts and many other helping hands we packaged, taped, stickered, addressed, and shipped these vital items to a group of well deserving Marines. 

The recipients of the packages hold a special place in our hearts. They are a unit from the 2nd Batallion, 8th Marines….the unit that lost Cpl Jonathan Yale alongside my son Jordan in Iraq in April 2008. We applaud the outpouring of community spirit and love that allowed us to show our Marines that Sag Harbor truly cares. Thank you to Bridgehampton National Bank, Apple Bank, Stella Maris School, Sag Harbor Schools, Sag Harbor Fire Department, and the Sag Harbor Volunteer Ambulance for participating. Thank you also to The Sag Harbor American Legion and The VFW for their generous donations of shipping costs and to the Sag Harbor Post Office for their hard work. This is the reason Jordan loved his village so much and the reason that makes it truly such a special place to live.

Christian Haerter

Michelle Severance

Jordan’s Initiative

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