Southold Town trustees taking the oath of office in January. (Carrie Miller file photo)
The Southold Town Board will likely name the newest Board of Trustees member by the end of the month, said Supervisor Scott Russell.
Tag: special election
TIM KELLY FILE PHOTO | Al Krupski won the special legislative election Jan. 15.
To the Editor:
The elevation of Al Krupski from Southold Town Board to Ed Romaine’s county Legislative seat was an unusual example of practical and productive government.
Al will bring sensible, beneficial North Fork policies to the Legislature, which is just what we want.
Now the question is, where do we find Al’s replacement?
There is so much political thinking in town government that pressure to replace him with a standard “property rights, right wing” Republican will be hard to avoid. But in fairness to the North Fork it would be correct to replace Al with someone of similar views and experience.
After all, he was voted onward and upward by his supporters. Shouldn’t those supporters get as close as we can come to an Al Krupski clone as a Southold Town replacement?
Howard Meinke, Laurel
To the Editor:
The residents of the Town of Southold have elected an extremely competent supervisor in Scott Russell. I think it would behoove the two party leaders to step aside and let Scott and the Town Board decide who should replace Al Krupski.
They are the ones who will have to work with this individual who will, hopefully, want to follow Al’s lead and do what is best for our town and not their party of choice.
Lauren Grant, New Suffolk
To the Editor:
I would like to extend my sincere congratulations to Al Krupski as the new legislator representing the 1st Legislative District.
The district and its residents have always meant a great deal to me and I look forward to working with Legislator Krupski to advance the priorities and concerns of the residents of the district.
Again, my best wishes to Legislator Krupski.
Ed Romaine, Farmingville
Mr. Romaine left his 1st Legislative seat when he was elected supervisor of Brookhaven Town.
Read more Letters to the Editor in this week’s Suffolk Times available on newsstands or by clicking for the E-Paper.
BARBARAELLEN KOCH FILE PHOTO | Mattituck High School track team members (from left) Anna Goerler, Tracy Grim and Caitlin Penny could only use their deteriorated home track for practice.
After years of pushing off a decision on what to do with the Mattituck-Cutchogue School District’s aging cinder track, the school could be poised to hold a referendum on replacing the surface as soon as next fall.
District business administrator Michael Engelhardt, who discussed a $650,000 project during the Dec. 13 school board meeting, said bonding the expense over 20 years would cost homeowners an average of $8 to $10 a year.
Mr. Engelhardt said it would likely take about three months to prepare an environmental impact statement for the project and the district would probably need to spend $15,000 to $20,000 before the vote to cover architect and legal expenses. The vote would then need to be advertised 45 days in advance.
Superintendent Jim McKenna said it has been the district’s policy to not hold bond votes in conjunction with the May budget vote, which would likely push the track vote back to the fall.
Many school board members said they believe it’s time to let the public weigh in on the proposal, although Douglas Cooper questioned the wisdom of putting the project up to a vote given the weak economy.
“I’ve been on the board 15 years, and every time it’s not the right time,” countered board president Jerry Diffley. “At some point we have to put it up to a vote.”
“Let’s do it. Let’s put it out to voters,” said Ms. school board member Janique Nine, who reminded board members that the referendum would need to be approved by a 60 percent majority.
Parent Jeanine Warns urged the board to act quickly, citing the benefits of sports to students. She also told them she and her friends would get the word out in support of the vote.
Mr. Diffley said the board would try to meet with an architect in January.
Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story said “Board member Janique Nine suggested developing an in-depth replacement proposal for the track, which would need to have an all-weather surface to be competitive with nearby districts and would include bleachers and a fence to keep other student athletes from walking on the track in their cleats.” After the story was published, she called to say she believed there was some confusion and that she did not say that. We’ve edited the story to reflect her concerns. — Grant Parpan, Executive Editor
