Letters to the Editor: No dearth of deer

Laurel

No dearth of deer

I have to disagree with lack of deer in Laurel. (“Deer delusion,” Sept. 10). I live on Peconic Bay Boulevard and in the winter the deer sleep under the trees between our home and my neighbor to the west. During the summer, they fertilize our lawn.

In New Suffolk, I suspect some of the residents are on a first-name basis with “Bambi.”

I drive slowly through the hamlet and the deer stop grazing by the road and look up. I smile, they smile and then they go back to grazing and enjoying the view.

Bill Coster

Orient

An attractive nuisance

Deer are certainly attractive, posing in the yards and fields of the East End. One can imagine an 18th-century landscape with deer abounding.

The picture is tainted by the risks they pose. Deer are reproduction hosts for adult ticks, supporting tick populations and a host of disorders including Lyme disease, tick-borne encephalitis and Babesiosis. Deer-related traffic accidents are a dangerous and expensive occurrence in Suffolk County and, by extension, Southold. East End farmers have invested thousands to protect their crops— vital to the East End economy.

Deer are attractive in a painting … only.

Burke Liburt

Cutchogue

Go native!

With the North Fork Audubon Society’s native plant sale happening this weekend in Greenport, now is the perfect time to explore, appreciate, and purchase native plants that protect our unique environment!

If you have been considering adding native plants to your yard, this is your moment! The North Fork enjoys a stunning but fragile ecosystem. By choosing native flora over monoculture turf lawns, you directly support wildlife and protect our sensitive groundwater and fragile estuary.

Established native plants thrive without synthetic fertilizers or chemical pesticides, preventing harmful runoff from leaching into our drinking water aquifer or washing into our creeks and bays. Crucially, native plants serve as vital lifelines for our local bird populations, providing the exact seeds, berries, and nectar our resident and migratory birds need to survive.

Transitioning to native garden beds also allows us to finally stop destructive landscaping practices like leaf-blowing. The fallen leaves are a bustling winter sanctuary where native bees, butterflies and moth pupae overwinter. Leaving the leaves intact creates a rich, natural foraging ground where ground-feeding birds can hunt for nutrient-dense insects throughout the colder months. By replacing lawn space with native plants, you can let the leaves naturally decompose, enriching the soil and protecting wildlife. And you can do all of this just one plant at a time!

Stop by the plant sale Saturday or Sunday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. to find beautiful, life-giving, low-maintenance plants that protect our waters, heal our soil, support our wildlife, and preserve the unique character of the North Fork.

Sharon Kelly

Laurel

Campaign financing

This is a follow-up to Mr. Levy’s letter (“The score card,” Sept. 10). In my opinion, throughout our federal governance and our economy, there are about 80 issues that need fixing. Nothing will happen unless we get rid of super PACs and implement public financing for campaigns. That has to be job one.

There are five countries in Europe where this is already happening. In this country, three alternatives have been suggested: a 1% tax increase on corporations; a $15 additional tax per taxpayer per year; and a combination of the two, where the public has the option of contributing the $15 rather than having it imposed on them.

My preference is for the $15 per taxpayer because of the psychological shift it would create. People now pay for the salaries of Congress members, but nobody really focuses on that. If the people paid for salaries and campaigns, the mental shift for both members of Congress and the people would be that the people are in charge and Congress would listen to them to a greater extent.
Special interests would still be involved, but their influence would be greatly diminished. Bravo, Mr. Levy.

Charles Gueli

Cutchogue

Policies are working

In reply to the many who cited my recent letter (“Facts vs. feelings”) in last week’s Suffolk Times, each letter pointed to inflation at this time being higher than at the end of the Biden years or [said] my facts were out of context or implying that the high inflation occurred because of a global pandemic. A pandemic in which most of the world stopped working and had less money to spend.

First, this was an opinion letter based on economic factual numbers as of August. Second, each of you missed the fact that, as I stated, prices rarely come down after established by the market.

Inflation only measures how fast prices are rising, and core CPI is a guide to future inflation rates. The core CPI in the last month of Biden was 3.3%, and 3.2% the month before, indicating a higher future inflation rate when Trump assumed office. The latest core CPI showed inflation cooled slightly from 2.5% in July to 2.4% in August. Quite a downward trend since Trump assumed office.

I will state again that CPI under Biden rose 21% (that’s prices rose 21%) while so far under this administration it has risen 4.5% — mostly due oil price instability. Stay the course. Trump’s economic policies are working.

Bob Bittner

Greenport

A hat in the ring

I recently submitted my name to the Village of Greenport as an applicant for the open village trustee position. Now I must confess, as a realist, I have an incredibly remote possibility of achieving that goal, but my zeal is motivated by an ulterior purpose: I want to frame the issues that should predominate the March village election campaign.

As the autumn arrives and federal, state and local contests consume our attention, the village deadline looms on the horizon. The time is short and this election should turn on a number of issues. We need to focus on our economy, merchants and the empty storefronts. Vacant buildings represent a safety hazard, abandoned and stored cars are an unsightly code nuisance, our winter season is commercially unforgiving and actually needs regular computer- and AI-driven weekend activities in all four annual quarters.

The village – a steward of public land — needs a partnership with businesses to promote more fairs, markets, vendors, art and photo shows, and perhaps attendant food trucks. A competent, knowledgeable and informed village resident should be compensated as a grant writer. Inside the village and in the surrounding town, duplex and townhouse designs to supplement ADUs should be legally encouraged, with sewer service as an added financial benefit. If the local paid parking program is financially prudent, a special exemption for local taxpayers might be reasonable.

The mission is to maintain the quality of life, mitigate against higher taxes, provide worker housing without saturated density and keep the village and the area vibrant, attractive, inviting and comfortable.

Please vote in every election.

Michael Butler