Letters to the Editor: Sharing school services
Southold
Sharing school services
Superintendent/educator Shawn Petretti deserves credit for sounding the alarm to our communities about our present and future schools’ enrollment problems. It’s an open secret that our schools are underused and empty. By implication, there are school buses that haven’t been filled to capacity for many years. What a waste of taxpayer resources.
Elaine Goldman
Cutchogue
School consolidation
As a parent of both a recent Mattituck High School graduate and a current student there, and as a Cutchogue taxpayer, I applaud Superintendent Petretti for pushing for Southold Town school district consolidation.
As a parent, I want school district consolidation because declining enrollment threatens educational opportunities. Kids currently at Cutchogue East Elementary will not enjoy the range of high school AP classes my daughter took. Beyond that, a single school district would eliminate educational funding inequities across Southold Town.
As a taxpayer, I want school district consolidation to end the grotesquely unequal school tax burdens each hamlet’s taxpayers face. Laurel, Mattituck and Cutchogue pay the most; Orient, East Marion and New Suffolk pay the least. We all live in Southold Town and pay a single tax rate for our town government. We should pay a single school tax, too.
The idea that sharing services across school districts is an adequate solution is laughable. Shared service agreements cannot adequately address the tremendous duplication, inefficiency and administrative waste inherent in having five mainland school districts. They also don’t create a unified student body large enough to justify hiring teachers for a wide range of electives. Preferring shared services is solely about preserving the existing tax inequities. (Fishers Island is sufficiently different that maintaining a separate district can be justified, though shared services make sense.)
The elaborate state law process for merging districts offers both financial incentives to merge and community control over how consolidation happens. The multi-year process starts when school boards agree to start it. Please, Southold voters, let’s start the process. This spring, elect pro-consolidation school board members to all five Southold mainland school boards. Our kids and Southold taxpayers deserve it.
Abigail Field
Laurel
Democracy entails responsibilities
Writing letters about Nick LaLota allows folks to voice their opinions and vent. That’s fine and understandable, but how effective is it in affecting change? Democracy is not a spectator sport. Citizens have to participate in the process if they want to retain the power to make congressional representative act on behalf of the people instead of their party.
North Fork Action Center organizes events to support democracy. Seniors Taking Action sends postcards to people in Congress to let them know when seniors are unhappy with what’s happening. Organizations like these all have websites and can easily be found on the internet. Repetitive contact gets people in Congress to think maybe their constituents are the ones representing their job security.
In my opinion, the lack of participation in the democratic process by the American people is what enabled the dysfunction of the federal government. We have the power, but haven’t used it, letting lobbyists and corporations take our place.
Sending a postcard or leaving a phone message is easy. It only takes a couple of minutes. But once is not enough. If you feel strongly about something, be a nag so that he knows you’re serious. You can call his staff at 202-225-3826 or write to him at 122 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515.
Charles Gueli
Southold
Ruffled feathers
I am a Jasmine Lane homeowner. The proposed chicken/egg production facility proposed is questionable at best. Some town officials downplayed it — just a father and son, not a big deal. Six thousand to 12 thousand chickens is a big deal. How many trucks for feed, deliveries, cartons, storage, washing eggs, disposing of dead birds, manure/compost? Twelve hours a day seven days a week. Do you know how much manpower it’ll take to operate a production of this magnitude — all at our doorsteps. There may be a time and a place for this but it’s not on Jasmine Lane/Ackerly Pond Lane, when winds blow from the north right down Jasmine to Main Road to the school yard. How is it possible this went from conception to a public hearing without being heavily scrutinized?
We’re not against farming or right to farm but this is an industrial application that seems to have fallen through the cracks. Chickens attract rats, mice, flies, foxes and pests. This proposal is industrial caliber in my eyes and needs to be reimagined or denied in its current proposed location. Our community’s diverse, some living with compromised immune systems and underlying health issues, which airborne diseases only exacerbate. Residents are the working class of Southold. Our futures are directly tied to our homes. This project will destroy property values and diminish our quality of life. It has the stench of Crescent Duck Farm and it hasn’t even started yet. They say they want to be good neighbors? How could they, knowing full well the scope of operations without regard for families living there? They could’ve chosen a different location but I believe they don’t care because they’re not from here.
The town should carefully consider impacts of this operation on residents.
Leslie Herrlin
East Marion
Thank you, highway department
On behalf of the Orient Ice Yacht Club, I would like to extend our sincere thanks to the Southold Town highway department for their extra effort in clearing snow from the boat ramp and parking lot at Narrow River Road.
Hallocks Bay rarely freezes. It’s been about 13 years. But when it does freeze, it becomes a winter playground for our community. Last weekend, thanks to the department’s snow removal, 25 cars were able to access the lot (with more on the roadway), 10 to 15 ice boats sailed on the bay and 100 people visited on Saturday alone.
Iceboating, skating, pickup hockey and simply watching the action provide joyful, healthy and much-needed get-out-of-the-house adventures for families, friends, and visitors of all ages. Safe and timely access to the bay is essential to making these activities possible.
The highway department’s willingness to go the extra mile ensures that residents can enjoy these fleeting winter moments while conditions allow. Their support helps keep a unique and beloved local tradition alive, and for that we are grateful.
Karen Sauvigne
Mattituck
Dare to declare
Re: Richard Park’s Jan. 15 letter to the editor proclaiming he “unapologetically supports ICE and local police,” I dare him to say that to the families of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
Deirdre Sokol
Southold
Optimism in the cold
It is so profoundly easy to be cynical and depressed. To begin with, it’s one of the coldest winters in years. Added to that is we are bombarded with all the negativity in society. But, like our ability to appreciate the stark beauty of the frozen landscape and bay, joy and optimism creeps up on me when I realize that the East End, thankfully like most of the country, is populated with those who care — about neighbors, strangers and the future. Last week in the frozen tundra we call home, there were nine vigils in East End towns protesting the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Young people in Greenport and all over the country walked out, railing against ICE. Those are the events that warm my soul, if not my body.
Rosellen Storm
East Marion
Rage then, rage now
The writer of last week’s letter, “A Solemn Promise is Failing” cites our Constitution’s Preamble to insure, “Justice,” “Domestic Tranquility” and the “Blessings of Liberty.” I, too, was a member of our armed forces and took the same oath. Unfortunately his letter continues: “violent street protests,” “obstruction of justice” and an insistence that “criminal immigrants and criminal citizens” be “held accountable for their actions.”
How agonizing that the writer fails to see that his exaggerated mislabeling as “criminal” of the vast majority of immigrants, and of our constitutionally guaranteed right to peaceful protest as “violent,” has been employed as an incitement and excuse for the ICE violence unmentioned in his letter. Orwell’s “1984” taught us that designating war as peace, slavery as freedom, is a fascist government’s creation — which its citizens are expected to believe so that “Big Brother is Watching You” feels like protection from a haunting and violent “deep state” rather than a mythology invented to keep that government in office. Goebbels similarly labeled Germany’s Jewish population for the Nazi government in the 1930s.
In the ’60s we felt deeply the explicit rage in Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind.” In rising anger we marched, sang and gathered again and again to force our government’s attention. Dylan’s angry words ring true today: “How many times can a man turn his head/And pretend that he just doesn’t see?” “How many deaths will it take ‘til he knows/ That too many people have died?”
Today, Bruce Springsteen’s rage is going viral: “Their claim was self-defense, sir/Just don’t believe your eyes/ It’s our blood and bones/And these whistles and phones/Against Miller and Noem’s dirty lies.”
Nathaniel Donson
Wading River
Nothing new
Reading Rep. Nick LaLota’s letter about Greenland in the Riverhead News-Review (“The right approach,” Jan. 29) was a bit of a surprise. But any communication from our 1st Congressional District representative is welcome, given that he has eschewed any own hall meetings open to the public during his current term in office.
Rep. LaLota points that Greenland is of immense strategic value to the United States. Well, it always has been — in World War II in the war against Nazi Germany and during the many years of Cold War with the U.S.S.R. But what he fails to note is that Greenland is an autonomous territory of Denmark, a nation that is a staunch U.S. ally and a founding member of NATO at its inception in 1949. Moreover, the U.S. has a very generous treaty with Denmark that would permit a greatly expanded military presence in Greenland with NATO should we pursue that course. Owning Greenland is not a requisite for defending that large and important island territory. Bolstering its defenses in conjunction with our NATO allies would make the U.S. stronger and safer.
On Jan. 21, President Trump, in Davos, Switzerland, ruled out using military force against Greenland. A number of days later, Rep. LaLota, in his letter, stated the same view. The congressman is hardly going out on limb with this stance after Trump had taken the military option off the table. He hopes that “hard bargaining” and “diplomacy” will convince Greenlanders to choose the U.S. over Denmark. Given Trump’s ill-advised threats against the island and his passion for the U.S. to possess Greenland’s vast mineral deposits, I think that train has already left the station.
Martin Skrocki
Aquebogue
Out-of-control spending
The Republican front-runner for supervisor, Ken Rothwell, vowed to shut down projects and town departments that can’t pay for themselves. Mr. Rothwell’s pet project — the money pit hockey rink — should be the first to go. It was reported in 2024 that almost $2 million was spent to primarily benefit the rink — not including time and costs for town employees. The unsafe structure was evacuated last week after it partially collapsed. Perhaps pastor qua Supervisor Jerry Halpin should exhort Mr. Rothwell and his colleagues to practice what he preaches before more taxpayer funds are wasted.
Ron Hariri
Riverhead
Shaping our legacy
Stopping the assault on immigrants, documented or not, is the moral test for this era that ending Jim Crow racial discrimination was in the 1960s. We have legitimate differences about U.S. immigration policy, but only a shrinking minority of Americans accepts the extreme behavior of the Trump administration.
The East End has so far faced only the tip of the repressive iceberg. We need to prepare at all levels of government and civil society to resist Stephen Miller’s command of 3,000 detentions a day carried out by masked marauders. It is impossible to find so many immigrants convicted of violent crimes! Riverhead is a prime target. Our high school is nearly two-thirds Hispanic. Even if born here, they are vulnerable to prejudice against birthright citizenship. And how many of their parents are un- or insufficiently documented?
The killing of anti-ICE protesters Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis shocked and alerted the country. Unless ICE and the Border Patrol are controlled or defunded by Congress, there will be more deaths and injuries and families torn apart. How will Representative LaLota vote?
Communities, cities and states around the country oppose sweeping raids without judicial warrants based on the lie of targeting the “worst of the worst.” At a minimum, critics want body cameras, name badges, the end of masking and respect for habeas corpus.
On which side of history is Riverhead? OLA Operation Stand and Protect is monitoring local ICE raids. Will our supervisor and board members make clear that they are not welcome here or will silence be their legacy?
John McAuliff
Laurel
Following the leader
We recently received an email newsletter from Congressman Nick LaLota titled “Minnesota: My Perspective on Protest, Safety, and Our Values” and we are again upset.
While he attempts to strike a conciliatory tone, he continues to support President Trump. He congratulates himself for “criticizing his own party,” i.e., Noem, for her horrifying comments after the murder of Alex Pretti; he does not mention Stephen Miller’s equally horrendous attacks. Is this due to President Trump’s criticism of Noem while defending Miller? I fear Mr. LaLota will go only as far as his leader guides him. He will not step out from behind that dangerous shadow.
We take exception to his statements, “At the same time, the First Amendment does not give license to interfere with law enforcement activity … that is what we saw in the incidents involving Renee Good and Alex Pretti.”
Renee Good was driving away from the problem, calmly telling the agents that she had no gripe with them!
Alex Pretti was assisting a woman who ICE agents were attacking. He was unarmed, taken down by an ICE agent and then shot multiple times! These were attacks on peaceful protesters.
Representative LaLota continues to stand behind this president, which is unacceptable.
Mary and Emery Korpi
Riverhead
Riverhead supervisor’s choices
Life decisions are not easy. Jerry Halpin took a vow when he got married and has lived up to that vow and has a wonderful family but on Jan. 1 took a solemn promise to be Riverhead’s new supervisor. Which comes first an oath or a vow? There is an old saying: “I live by first God then family and then country.” If Halpin runs again for supervisor or not we all should give him our blessings.
Warren McKnight
