Letters to the Editor: We must decide who to trust on EPCAL

Calverton
Political signs are just litter

It seems that every year the political signs littering the sides of our beautiful roads get bigger. I guess local politicians believe that we all vote based upon who has the largest sign. But, did you ever wonder who’s paying for these signs and what they want in return for their contributions? I contend that we should view each gigantic sign as an IOU to big moneyed interests and developers. 

Jerry Silverstein

Riverhead
We must decide who to trust on EPCAL

We are often warned that a forthcoming election is the most important of our lifetime. It may be true locally next Tuesday. While there was great relief when the Town Board declared the Ghermezian contract null and void, its unseemly haste could make their decision vulnerable to threatened court action.

Was it political posturing or fear of the Ghermezians that compelled the board to hold emergency sessions less than 24 hours after the IDA decision, posting the wrong location until an hour prior and circulating at 5:02 p.m. an email notice for a meeting that began an hour earlier?

The Republicans unanimously saw the light on EPCAL two weeks before the election. Will their vision dim after Nov. 7 if faced with an aggressive Ghermezian legal assault against a flawed procedure, not to mention public and private inducements to reconsider?

Voters must decide whom they can trust to keep the coffin closed on the EPCAL deal and address other development misjudgments before it is too late.

John McAuliff

New Suffolk
Is this who we want?

The U.S. House of Representatives has now elected a new speaker, the presiding officer in the House and the second in line for the presidency. The new speaker is Mike Johnson, who has not accepted President Biden’s election and was a principal architect of one of the efforts to overthrow it. It is a national disgrace to have such a person in this position, so high up in the presidential line of succession.

Our congressman, Nick LaLota, was among those who voted for Johnson to be speaker. Is this how we want to be represented?

Stanley Brown

Aquebogue
Thank you, IDA

Riverhead’s taxpayers owe the IDA a debt of gratitude for repudiating the Ghermezians’ EPCAL scam. The agency’s conclusion that Calverton Aviation and Technology presented neither a proper plan for development nor evidence of financial qualifications is bulletproof. But how such a patently deficient application won the support of Riverhead’s Republicans for years is more than troubling. Millions and years have been wasted on this mess. As the News-Review has already urged, the circumstances of this epically bad deal should be investigated — including why the GOP’s new standard bearer Tim Hubbard flipped his vote to find CAT qualified when previously rejecting the contract.

Ron Hariri

Greenport
A wonderful story

What a wonderful story about the Rotary exchange student from Australia! I just returned from Belgium where I visited my exchange student (I call her my exchange daughter) I hosted back in 2000-01. She has been here several times and we have been to Belgium several times since then. If anyone is considering hosting a student from another country, I say do it; it’s the best experience you and your family can have, you will have lasting memories and the added bonus of an extended family! Your article just brought back many remarkable memories!

Christina Dinizio

Laurel
The leaf blowers have returned

Well, fall is here so get your ear plugs ready. Every single day from now until Christmas we will be hearing those noisy leaf blowers. I really don’t understand why gas-powered leaf blowers cannot have a muffler attachment. In my opinion there should be a muffler requirement for all gas-operated leaf blowers. To make matters worse, I have see most of the landscapers just blowing the leaves onto the road, where eventually they end up on a neighbor’s property or in the storm drains. In my opinion something must be done to quiet these things down and strict enforcement to require all landscapers to pick up the leaves and not blow them into the roadway.

Vincent Falco

Southold
Tragedy repeats itself once again

I wrote this letter in May 2022. It turns my stomach, breaks my heart and enrages my intellect to read it again. Thoughts and prayers don’t bring back lives. I cannot comprehend how ANYONE with a heart and brain can support assault weapons. Tragedy upon tragedy, families devastated, fingers pointed — repeat, repeat, repeat. I think it is fair to say that we don’t have all the mentally ill people in the world and yet this country has the vast amount of mass shootings. I truly don’t believe there is one solution, but as a society we must find a comprehensive plan to help avoid these tragedies. Common-sense gun control, mental health awareness and encouragement to get that help are just two of the changes that will help. I don’t pretend to think that is the be all and end all solution, but we are failing our children in this country when they are taught from preschool about active shooting drills.

Rosellen Storm