Letters to the Editor: Keep the Clean Pass
Orient
Keep the Clean Pass
Did you get that letter about the Clean Vehicle Pass program ending? Unless Congress acts, it’ll be gone after Sept. 30, 2025.
This has been a quiet win for Long Island, letting low-emission vehicles use the HOV lanes, cutting both traffic and pollution. Now our congressman, Nick LaLota, says he’s “studying” whether to support it.
Without the Clean Pass, nearly 79,000 EVs and plug-in hybrids — 3% of all registered L.I. vehicles, according to the New York State Department of Transportation — will shift back into regular traffic, leading to longer commutes, more gas burned, more polluting tailpipe emissions. Do you not care about our air quality and how it affects public health?
Local businesses will feel the hit: slower traffic and longer service routes impact everything from farms to small shops to contractors. Think delayed deliveries, higher prices.
Do you not care about the welfare of CD1? Oh, right; you don’t live in our district. We deserve better, not someone who keeps voting against our interests, apparently for his rich friends.
Mary Morgan
Greenport
There’s no ‘they’ in ‘neighbor’
In both Greenport and Southold, a troubling trend has emerged: loud voices swaying public opinion by using selective facts or appealing primarily to emotion. This isn’t healthy for our civic life, and we need to resist it.
Strong communities value diversity — of backgrounds, experiences and perspectives. That richness is lost when disagreements turn into an “us versus them” battle, where people are reduced to labels and opposing viewpoints are dismissed out of hand. We won’t always agree, and no one side is entirely right. But facts are facts, and selectively choosing them to fit an argument is one-sided and ultimately unconvincing to those who see the fuller picture.
Our boards and local governments should seek out as many viewpoints as possible, resist being swayed only by the loudest voices, and take the long view. Sometimes the right decision will be unpopular — but if it serves the best interests of the community, it’s the right path forward.
Patricia Hammes
Ms. Hammes, chair of the village Planning Board, is writing in her personal capacity.
Southold
A Trustee perspective
The Aug. 7 editorial “Getting Involved” highlights “small plans with potentially large impacts” for coastal resilience. As a Southold Town Trustee, I see this philosophy at work in local governance that balances public and private interests. Our unique role involves helping individual property owners become stewards of our common lands.
Trustees have jurisdiction over wetlands and 100 feet inland. What happens in this zone affects the health and resilience of our shared water bodies. In four years, we reviewed nearly 1,600 waterfront applications. Each represents collaborative effort among residents, landscape designers, builders, attorneys, county and state agencies and Southold Trustees. These working relationships are crucial to stabilizing shorelines, keeping waters clean and beaches open.
People today want to live ever closer to the sea. As sea levels rise in our lifetimes, our work must mediate these realities for safety and health as well as the ecology and beauty of Southold’s coastlands. Wetlands and native vegetation are our first line of defense against rising tides. Every informed decision we make tips us toward a future where we adapt and thrive.
These past four years I’ve invested myself deeply in this work—thinking about the well-being of neighbors, digging into old permits bearing local names and issuing new ones to people eager to make Southold their home. As a fourth-generation farmer and educator raising my sons on these same lands, I value being a public servant, a link in the tradition of civic engagement. I am grateful to be able to live something distinctly American — to put down the plow, assemble at Town Hall and get the kids off to school in the morning. I’m running to continue the work of Trustee on behalf of Southolders and ask that you join me in voting Nov. 4.
Eric Sepenoski
Southold Town Trustee
Mr. Sepenoski is running for reelection on the Democratic and Working Families lines.
Greenport
Dock dilemma
I’m writing to express a concern shared by many fellow boaters regarding the continued absence of free public docks in Greenport. As many residents and visitors know, the public docks were removed at the end of the 2024 boating season and have yet to be replaced. This change is having a very real and negative impact on local businesses and the vibrancy of the waterfront.
In the past, I brought my boat to Greenport two or three times a week. My family and I would shop, dine and enjoy everything the village had to offer. But with no free public docking now available, we — and many others — are going elsewhere. Neighboring destinations like Shelter Island and other hamlets within the Town of Southold have become more welcoming and accessible to boaters, and we’ve followed suit.
One example: Just a week ago, we took the boat to Greenport, specifically to have lunch. Since the free public docks were missing, we went to Claudio’s to dock the boat and have lunch. They charge $2/foot for docking. So the extra $50 fee made the outing cost prohibitive, causing the local restaurant to suffer.
We understand that installing and maintaining public docks comes with costs. However, removing access for boaters carries its own economic toll — a cost currently being paid for by Greenport’s small businesses. Shops, restaurants and local attractions all lose when fewer visitors can arrive by boat.
Our family is just one example, but I know there are many others who now avoid Greenport due to the lack of docking options. I urge local officials to reconsider this policy and invest in the public infrastructure that brings visitors — and their support — into town. Greenport has long been a gem on the North Fork. Let’s not allow it to become a port we pass by.
Richard Wehrmann
Southold
Not a problem
Abigail Field’s recent letter [‘Transparency is a priority,’ Aug. 7] argued for more transparency in the town clerk’s office. This felt like a solution in search of a problem.
The need for greater transparency wasn’t borne out by her own example regarding Laserfiche. She was concerned about the publication of private personal information but conceded that a call to the clerk’s office satisfied her that wasn’t the case.
Rather, the main work of the clerk’s office this year was highlighted in the first bullet point of the clerk’s report: the implementation of a new agenda and meeting management system. Per the town’s website, this upgraded platform will result in more efficient production, significant time savings, and give the public convenient access to agendas, resolutions, meeting minutes and related videos — all in one centralized location on the town’s website. In other words, greater transparency.
Let’s do better and keep our focus on problems that exist.
From a fellow Democrat,
Helen Finnigan
Southold
Time to rebuild Congress
If America were a classic car, Congress would be its carburetor, a device meant to blend the people’s will with sound legislation, fueling the engine of democracy. But anyone looking under the hood today can see it’s sputtering, flooding and choking on its own buildup.
I know this story because I’ve lived it. Not long ago, my 1950 Chevy pickup refused to start. A single-barrel Rochester carburetor had sat neglected for far too long. I pulled it out, cleaned every jet, replaced every brittle gasket and put it back together. That old truck roared to life like it hadn’t in years.
As a public school teacher, I’ve worked every day to fix problems, nurture growth and prepare the next generation to lead. As an independent, middle-class American, I know what it’s like to live paycheck to paycheck, roll up my sleeves and make things work with what we have. And as someone exploring a run for Congress in 2026, I can’t help but see how much Washington resembles that worn-out carburetor.
Congress is clogged with special interests, corroded by partisan varnish and sealed with outdated gaskets that no longer hold public trust. It’s delivering a mixture too rich in dysfunction and too lean in cooperation, stalling the progress our nation needs.
But just like my Chevy, we don’t junk something that’s worth saving. We clean out the sludge of corruption, replace the worn parts of broken leadership and outdated rules and recalibrate the system so it finally runs as intended — for all Americans, not just the few who can pay to have their voices heard.
Rebuilding anything worth saving takes patience, hard work and willingness to get your hands dirty. I’m hoping more Americans will see that it’s time to do the same with Washington. Our nation’s engine is running rough. The way to fix it is by electing leaders who put people over party and never forget working families. That’s how we’ll finally get Congress firing on all cylinders again.
Nick Antonucci
Riverhead
Their Irish is up
Representative Nick LaLota has joined 15 Republican colleagues who have sided with hard line pro Israel organizations to legislatively attack Ireland.
As reported by the Irish Echo, the letter LaLota signed argued: “Last month, Irish Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Simon Harris introduced legislation to prohibit the import of goods and services originating from territories under Israeli administration that they characterize as ‘occupied,’ including Judea and Samaria, Gaza, parts of Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.
“This measure is part of a broader effort aligned with the global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which seeks to economically isolate Israel. …
“We encourage the Treasury Department to assess whether Ireland’s proposal indicate that they require or may require participation in or encouragement of an international boycott within the meaning of Section 999(a)(3). If the criteria are met, Ireland should be added to the boycott list to ensure that U.S. companies are informed of their reporting obligations and protected from unintended legal exposure.”
The Irish Times “noted that the letter makes no mention of rulings by the International Court of Justice on the illegality of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories which is relied upon by the Irish Government as a justification for the bill.”
LaLota’s position is surprising, given the number of Americans of Irish descent in his district and the growing public opposition here and in Israel to Netanyahu’s merciless military and famine polices.
John McAuliff
Aquebogue
Enough marijuana already
A proposed Aquebogue site wants to work with the community. I don’t want you here — and I’m not alone. We would rather smell Crescent Duck Farm. The state can’t even follow their own laws. They issued scores of illegal permits (New York Post, July 28). The former director of the Office of Cannabis Management states that Gov. Hochul intentionally violated the law (Spectrum 1 News, Aug. 9).
Gov. Hochul wants you to think that “legal” mean “safe”; it does not. Marijuana is addictive (“Cannabis Use Syndrome aka CUD,” CDC, Dec. 5, 2024). Studies have linked it to increased cases of schizophrenia (NIH, May 4, 2023), increased risks for dementia (New York Times, April 14) and negative effects on the heart and lungs (UCSF, Feb. 28, 2024). Most of the U.S. studies only involve medical levels of THC in marijuana, not recreational levels (Marilyn Huestis, University of Wisconsin, Oct. 16, 2023).
The politicians don’t want you know how harmful marijuana can be. Why? Because they get 13% in sales taxes. All the politicians only care about the tax revenue.
If you really think you need marijuana, then support the marginalized indigenous people of Long Island. Go to the Shinnecock Nation in Southampton Town to buy your marijuana. There you can help support them and save yourself 13%. It’s tax free!
Richard Park
Riverhead
One big, beautiful bill
Congressman Nick LaLota recently expressed jubilation over the passage of the “Big Beautiful Bill.” Another appropriate name for that legislation might be the “Billionaire Bootlicker Bill.”
Mr. LaLota says in an email that “partisan special interest groups have spent tens of millions spreading disinformation” about this bill. Maybe he considers the Congressional Budget Office one of those special interest groups. The CBO concludes that as a result of this bill, 11.8 million Americans will lose health coverage.
But, he tells us, it’s “illegal immigrants” who will lose Medicaid coverage. He fails to mention that undocumented persons were already ineligible for Medicaid.
He also tells us that able-bodied people who refuse to work will lose benefits. According to the Millbank Quarterly, such individuals constitute 8% of the total Medicaid population.
The people who will stand to lose health care and food benefits are native U.S. citizens and 37% of them are children.
Some will benefit from Mr. LaLota’s vote, namely multinational corporations and multi-millionaires.
But the middle- and working-class of this great county and country deserve better.
Benjamin Bortin
Shirley
Playing games on marijuana
Forget that the companies looking to open a marijuana shop have jumped through every hurdle the Town of Riverhead has put in front of them. Never mind that New York State has legalized the sale and use of marijuana. This is now just lawyers and politicians playing legal games, looking to make more money.
Now, as always before, someone looking for marijuana has to continue buying it from the same criminals who would like to groom them into customers for their heroin, fentanyl, cocaine, crack and meth. Like the politicians and lawyers, the drug dealers are trying to maximize profits, too, and blocking the marijuana stores is playing right into their hands.
P.S. I’ve smoked marijuana for depression, to alter bad moods and as a sleep aid (and a little bit for recreation) since I was 15. I’m about to turn 75 and have lived a very responsible life. I credit marijuana with keeping my marriage together and happy for almost 50 years.
Edward McTiernan
