Letters to the Editor: Tribute to Peggy Murphy
Southwold, England
Tribute to Peggy Murphy
In 1992, I answered a call from the late mayor of Southwold, Rosalind McDermott, to help entertain visitors to our town from the daughter town, Southold, N.Y.
One such lady gave me an invitation to visit Southold, her name was Winifred Billard. Before my second visit, Winnie was rushed into hospital, but Peggy Murphy and her husband, Jim, offered me accommodation — thus began a long, loving friendship.
I borrowed Peggy’s bicycle to explore Southold, collecting twigs for an art and craft project she was working on with children. Among the many sites of interest I found Reydon Shores, Reydon Drive and Founders Landing.
The town laid on a welcoming tea and I was given a slot on the local television.
The highlight of one of my visits was giving a slide lecture to the entire high school on the comparisons between the two towns. I might add it was a nerve-wracking experience but very worthwhile.
When Peggy and Jim came to England for a holiday, they came to stay at Tudorland, my house, for a long weekend.
Over our many years of friendship I have mailed the Southwold Gazette, a local community newspaper, every month to Peggy, which she would read from cover to cover before passing it on to the library —thus keeping alive the link between the two towns.
I shall miss her telephone calls, but she has left me with some wonderful memories. May she rest in peace.
Ruth Chapman
Southold
Meet the candidate
My name is Nicholas Planamento, and I’m running for a seat on the Southold Town Board this November.
Many of you may have known me from years ago, at my shop on Love Lane and where I worked to bring attention to this community asset and meeting point, which I call the Heart of the North Fork. Others may recognize me walking my golden retrievers or out on the bay sailing. As a real estate professional, I’ve also helped many local families make some of life’s most important decisions.
But my commitment to Southold goes far beyond business. For over 20 years, I’ve served on many town committees, including the Architectural Review Committee, the Hamlet Stakeholders Committee, the Board of Assessment Review, and the Southold 375th Anniversary Committee. I’ve also proudly represented Southold on the Suffolk County Planning Commission.
Most recently, I’ve spent nearly a decade as vice chairman of the Zoning Board of Appeals, where I’ve built strong working relationships across departments and with residents while upholding our Town Code.
I’m proud to be endorsed by the CSEA of the Town of Southold and the Suffolk County PBA. I thank both organizations for their trust and support.
Southold is at a crossroads. We face real challenges, from loss of experienced personnel and zoning reform to environmental issues, water quality and quantity, and the pressing need for attainable housing. Now more than ever, we need experienced, collaborative leadership that understands how Town Hall works and how to make it work better for all of us.
I believe my experience, education, and deep community ties make me well-prepared to serve. If elected, I will work hard for all Southold residents, longtime locals and new neighbors alike, with transparency, respect, and commitment. I humbly ask you to vote for me on Nov. 4.
Nicholas Planamento
Mr. Planamento is running for a seat on the Southold Town Board on the Republican and Conservative lines.
Cutchogue
Why I’m seeking office
As a lifelong Southold resident, I am proud to share my journey. Born in Greenport and raised in Mattituck as one of eight children of Helen and John Talbot, I have cultivated a deep connection to our community. Alongside my wife, Barbara, and our three children, we continue to embrace the values that define our way of life in Cutchogue.
I graduated from Mattituck High School, attended Suffolk Community College and began my career at North Fork Bank in Greenport. My passion for service led me to become a licensed master plumber, a path I pursued for 15 years before transitioning to building inspection and code enforcement. Today, I serve as the senior building and zoning official for the Village of Southampton, guiding me to ensure that our community thrives sustainably.
My commitment to community extends beyond my professional life. I’ve had the honor of coaching local youth, and serving as a Scout leader and Mattituck park commissioner. A highlight was collaborating with dedicated individuals, including Kim Prokop, Kathy Wilton, Nancy Esposito, and Cheryl Seifert, to design and construct the playground at Veterans Park between 1999 and 2002.
For nearly four decades, I have proudly served as a firefighter and EMT with the Cutchogue Fire Department, where I am currently a fire commissioner. My experience on the Town Board from 2009 to 2013 reinforced my commitment to land preservation, dark sky legislation, supporting local businesses, farming and fiscal responsibility.
If given the opportunity to serve again, I pledge to bring a pragmatic approach to our shared challenges. Together we can address quality of life needs, create essential housing options for our workforce and volunteers, and continue to protect the Southold we all cherish.
Thank you for considering my vision for the future of our community. I respectfully ask for your vote.
Christopher Talbot
Mr. Talbot is running for a seat on the Southold Town Board on the Republican and Conservative lines.
Southold
Trustees need expertise, not guesswork
Like many of our neighbors, I’m following updates on local issues like the erosion reshaping Bailie Beach, the Suffolk County Water Authority’s pipeline extension, the update of our dock code and the implementation of a townwide irrigation law. It’s clear that Southold faces complex and urgent challenges that demand real expertise — not politics or guesswork. Town Trustees will make consequential decisions about issues like these — which impact water quality, shoreline protection and public access — that will define our community for decades. We need Trustees who not only understand these problems, but also know how to solve them.
As a marine engineer and former engineer diver, I’ve been entrusted by world-class organizations such as the U.S. Navy and Port Authority of NY/NJ to inspect underwater infrastructure around the world — from ports and seawalls to bridges and offshore facilities. My career has been dedicated to understanding how shorelines and structures interact — and how smart planning can protect both property and habitat.
I’ve built on that experience as co-founder of an oyster farm in Peconic Bay. Oyster farming has shown me how responsible marine use can strengthen both our environment and our economy — improving water quality, restoring shellfish populations and supporting local jobs. It’s a model of how environmental stewardship and economic vitality can coexist, and it’s the perspective I’ll bring to the Trustees.
The local issues making headlines demand Trustees who can bridge science, policy and community values. My work as an engineer and oyster farmer has prepared me to do exactly that. I understand how our coastlines evolve, how infrastructure must adapt and how local decisions ripple across our environment and economy. No other candidate brings this depth of knowledge and experience. I am the Trustee candidate that understands our problems and I am ready to deliver solutions.
Joseph Finora
Mr. Finora is running for Town Trustee on the Democratic and Working Families lines.
Greenport
This is not normal
Agreed, America is not like Nazi Germany in 1944, but the similarities to Nazi Germany in 1934 are noteworthy. To understand, read “Hitler’s First 100 Days,” where you will see much overlap between Trump’s and Hitler’s actions. Our democracy is being systematically destroyed in a power grab by a tyrant, much like Hitler did in Germany. What’s happening now in America is unprecedented. It’s not normal, business as usual. He is surprisingly transparent at times, wanting everyone to know what happens when you cross him by opposing, revealing or disagreeing. But fear lives within authoritarian dictatorships; it has no place in our democracy.
America was always great before Trump; it isn’t great anymore. You might agree with some of the stated goals concerning the undocumented, but we mustn’t abandon our laws and constitutional rights, which are the things that truly make us great. Where do you think it leads if Trump has no boundaries? Trump is building a private, loyal police force, which will be at his disposal. Billions have been allocated for building ICE and detention centers. Who — besides the undocumented — might end up there? Do you think that Trump and Steven Miller wouldn’t do that?
Look what’s happening to our universities, media groups and law firms as our president extorts money and power. Look at how our justice department is weaponizing the courts to punish and silence dissent. Whistleblowers beware. How about the Epstein coverups? He is sending troops to Blue States on fabricated circumstances as masked ICE agents run rampant. What about Trump Rx and crypto? The White House is open for business. None of this is normal or acceptable. I wake up every morning and read about recent distractions as they dismantle our Democracy. For whom? Who are the winners? Do you think that there will ever be a fair election again, if Trump gets his way?
Wake up, engage and fight. Democracy dies from silence.
Paul Henry
Cutchogue
Insanity mode again
Another government shutdown, which is just plain ridiculous. Government workers get a “delayed paid vacation” while the public be damned. “Continuing Resolutions” or as originally named “Temporary Resolution” were used to keep the government running when the budget process is not completed by Oct. 1, the start of the fiscal year.
The last time the budget was completed on time was Oct. 1, 1997. Do you see the insanity in all of this?
The answer is a requirement that if the budget process is not completed on time then all discretionary funding remains at present level until such time as the budget process is complete, with no government shutdown.
That would put real teeth into actual negotiations on the process. Can you imagine the country presently running at 1997 levels had this requirement been put in place? That is how insane the present process is.
Top it off with the fact that all the federal workers have always received back pay for time off during a shutdown once the CR was passed, just adds insult to injury for the taxpayers.
I don’t care what party you are, what is happening now is a dereliction of duty and brings dishonor to the halls of Congress. “A pox on both parties.”
Bob Bittner
Mattituck
Perilous parallels
History does not repeat itself but it rhymes, said Mark Twain.
While not widely reported, Pam Bondi is now the subject of a disciplinary proceeding in her home state of Florida. There are several grievances against her, but the heart of the complaint is her directive to all attorneys in the Department of Justice, charging them with responsibility for aggressively defending Donald Trump’s policies, irrespective of their legality. Known as the “Zealous Advocacy” memo, it provides that any attorney who, because of his or her “personal political views,” refuses to do so will be disciplined or dismissed.
Ms. Bondi’s memo bears an uncanny resemblance to orders issued in 1933 by the Reichsanwaltschaft, the German attorney general’s office. Also calling for zealous advocacy, they instructed prosecutors to act in accordance with party policy, and to align all prosecutions “with the Will of the Fuehrer.” Plainly, neither the German prosecutor’s office in the 1930s nor its American counterpart are willing to tolerate “personal political views,” certainly none that dissent from or disagree with the party line.
It is now politically unacceptable, and unacceptable generally, to compare Trump and his followers to members of a group that rose to prominence in Germany in the 1930s. To do so is considered, depending on your point of view, needlessly provocative, inaccurate, inappropriate or, at a minimum, in bad taste. In bad taste it may be, but it is ironic that the more the current administration comes to resemble Germany in the 1930s, the more opposition there is to saying so. The so-called “N-word” has been effectively purged from the English language and those who persist in using it deserve to be scorned and repudiated, as they are. But it may be time to revive the other N-word. The time has come, finally, to call things by their true names.
Dave Warren
Cutchogue
The big lie about free medical care
In 1986, the U.S. joined most of the Western world in providing emergency medical care to anyone who arrived at an emergency department in need of aid. The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) requires hospitals that participate in Medicare to (1) provide emergency medical screening and treatment to anyone who arrives at an emergency department; (2) treat patients regardless of ability to pay, citizenship or legal status; and (3) stabilize patients before discharge or transfer, preventing the practice of “patient dumping” for financial reasons.
Now, our government has shut down because Democrats in the Senate won’t vote for a funding bill that doesn’t require the government to continue assisting with payment of Obamacare premiums for U.S. citizens who need the financial help. Without Congressional support, those premiums are about to skyrocket, and millions of Americans will lose their medical coverage.
The Republicans are insisting that their funding bill prevents the government from continuing to spend billions on free medical care for undocumented immigrants, claiming it is something the Democrats desperately want — free medical care for everyone, including undocumented immigrants.
Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth. Undocumented immigrants are not entitled to free medical coverage in the United States. They are, however, entitled to emergency stabilizing treatment under EMTALA, just as the law requires.
What the Republicans are not telling us: EMTALA was part of the Consolidated Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) passed in 1986 and signed by President Ronald Reagan.
Facts matter.
Michael Levy
Mattituck
Positive protections
After reading last week’s article about proposed changes to Town Code 275 (“Dock ban proposal sparks battle”), I felt compelled to offer some balance and clarification. The story focused mainly on critics of the code, but several residents also spoke in strong support. Along with Carol Brown of the Conservation Advisory Council, Bob DeLuca of Group for the East End, Trustees Gillooly and Sepenoski, I voiced my support, not out of personal interest, but because we care deeply about preserving the fragile ecosystems and rural character that make Southold Town so special.
What I witnessed at the meeting was disappointing: several adults behaving like spoiled children unwilling to accept that they can’t always get their way, more concerned with their own wishes than with the greater good of the community. They complained that Southold’s regulations make it “too hard” to do what they want, seemingly unaware of the irony that these very regulations are what have kept Southold the kind of place they wanted to move to in the first place.
The proposed code changes are not about limiting people’s enjoyment of the water or the land. They are about protecting what makes this town unique and ensuring that future generations can enjoy it too. Southold’s regulations are not obstacles; they are essential guardrails that help preserve the clean water, open skies and unspoiled landscapes that define our town.
I urge residents and second-home owners alike to approach these issues with empathy and respect for both the land and each other. Trustees and Town Board members work tirelessly to strike this delicate balance, and they deserve our gratitude and support as they continue to safeguard what makes Southold unique.
Protecting Southold’s natural character through these code changes isn’t about saying “no”; it’s about saying “yes” to a sustainable, vibrant future.
Tami Loeffler
Southold
Let’s learn Spanish
I am writing to request that Southold Free Library consider offering live beginner Spanish lessons for adults. I have seen this offered at the Hampton Bays and Longwood libraries, and also at SCCC — but in the evenings and at a considerable distance. I think it would be of tremendous value to Southold residents looking to better communicate with neighbors, tradespeople, caregivers, etc.
Wendy Kammer
Mattituck
My choice for town clerk
Local elections always offer the public some great candidates, regardless of political affiliation. Once the elections are over, however, local government works best when politics get left at the door. No one exemplifies this more than our Town Clerk, Denis Noncarrow.
Denis’ commitment to this community has always been on display, whether by his volunteering with service organizations or charitable good works. He brought that same commitment to his position as town government liaison. He worked with officials from all political parties to secure hundreds of thousands of dollars for local projects and programs enhancing all of our lives.
To Denis, it’s not about party and not about partisanship, it’s about people. With his talented staff, Denis starts each day with one question: How can he make government more responsive and more user-friendly for the public?
I urge everyone to re-elect Denis Noncarrow as Southold town clerk so he can continue to put this community first.
Scott Russell
Calverton
Mr. LaLota, do your job
So why did Congressman Nick LaLota, who should be in Washington doing his job, instead slink back home to Amityville? He is essentially on a paid vacation while millions of servicemen, air traffic controllers and TSA officials are working without pay. The answer is twofold.
First, he and Majority Leader Mike Johnson wanted to make it impossible to negotiate on the GOP health care crisis created by their “Big Beautiful Bill.” Notices of jacked up insurance rates are already being sent out to thousands of Long Islanders and millions country-wide.
Secondly, Mike and Nick don’t want the House to be in session because then Mike Johnson will be required to swear in a duly elected new Democratic member of the House. Adelita Grijalva of Arizona, when sworn in, will be the 218th and final member to sign the discharge petition to force the Justice Department to release the Epstein files.
Donald Trump, and therefore Mike and Nick, are desperate to keep from exposing Trump’s connection to a notorious pedophile who famously said he was Donald Trump’s best friend for 10 years.
Congressman LaLota: Go back to Washington so that you and Mike can do your jobs! Stop protecting pedophiles and start protecting health care.
Jerry Silverstein
Wading River
LaLota is wrong
Rep. Nick Lakota’s response in last week’s paper to a letter from a previous reader was civil and along the lines of, “Let’s agree to disagree.” But his statement that he is not “bending the knee” to anyone, meaning Donald Trump, is disingenuous and worrisome, at the very least. He has bragged several times that he is an ardent supporter of the current president, who has been the agent of chaos in America.
If the congressman is not toeing the Trump/Republican line, then he must truly believe that it is proper to weaponize the U.S. Department of Justice, as we’ve seen in the reckless indictments against James Comey and Letitia James; that it is proper to ignore the rule of law by ordering National Guard troops into Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and Chicago on the weakest of premises; that it is proper to wreak havoc and fear on immigrant families who are not terrible criminals, but who rather tend toward being law-abiding and hard working people who contribute to the nation’s economy; that it is proper to dismantle the federal government in ways that defy logic and best practices, only to hire back many of the fired employees when it becomes obvious that they are indeed needed.
If Rep. LaLota really believes that these are good policies that somehow make our democracy strong, then I suggest that the voters of the 1st Congressional District need to send the message in the 2026 election that Congressman LaLota is wrong.
Martin Skrocki
Riverhead
Why turnout is declining
Who should the we vote for this year ? Should we vote for the person with the most lawn signs or the person with the least signs? Should we vote for the candidate with no traffic violation or the least? How many of us voters know anything about the candidates who are asking for our vote?
I suggest that the next town person or persons who want me to vote for them in the year 2027 start campaigning in June 2026. And that each of the potential candidates send a message about themselves in person or via the media with substance every so often. How can any of us vote intelligently when these politicians start trick or treating a month before Election Day? Maybe then more voters will vote intelligently in the next election.
Warren McKnight
Riverhead
Critical questions
Tonight, Thursday, Riverhead residents will finally have a chance to compare candidates for supervisor and the Town Board at 7 p.m. at Riley Avenue Elementary School in Calverton.
It is hard not to conclude that incumbents Tim Hubbard, Bob Kern and Ken Rothwell made a tactical choice to boycott previous candidate forums at the Jamesport Meeting House and Riverhead Free Library to minimize exposure to criticism from their challengers, Messrs. Halpin, Shea and Woolley.
With limited time, it will be hard for the Calverton and Wading River Civic Associations to make the contrasting choices clear for voters.
The basic question I’d ask is: Do the incumbents still support and do the challengers offer alternatives to these controversial decisions?
- Demolition of Craft’d tavern and diversion of public land so a political donor can build a private five-story hotel and condominium. If the incumbents lose, will they pledge to freeze destruction and construction in the Town Square park and will their successors seek real community input about preferred use of the space?
- Allowing HK Ventures to build a mega storage facility in Calverton, an environmental assault by a principal who allegedly seeks investment opportunities for the Russian Mafia, as the News-Review reported five years ago.
- Advocacy for the once and likely future agritourism resort north of Sound Avenue.
- Permission for another political donor, Scott’s Pointe, to keep expansions that violated town permits with a relatively light financial penalty.
- Allowing Patriot Recycling, represented by a politically well-connected attorney, to dump noxious wastes until neighbors complained loudly and repeatedly.
- Inability to resolve legal issues blocking use of EPCAL because of credible accusations that the incumbents and the Ghermezians had a behind-the-scenes deal to fool the public with an IDA charade. Failure to use two years of legal limbo to seriously explore alternative environmentally responsible development concepts.
John McAuliff
