Newsflash: There’s strength in numbers

This week the Riverhead Town Board succumbed to public pressure and dropped recommendations in the comprehensive plan supporting the development of resorts on the bluffs along the Sound. 

Hundreds of people wrote to town officials and thousands signed a change.org petition organized by the Greater Jamesport Civic Association against the idea. It was an impressive display of political power, one we are happy to see was successful.

But this situation is, unfortunately, out of the ordinary when it comes to Riverhead, where apparent widespread apathy is the status quo.

So what makes this time different? 

Before we answer that question, let’s look at the campaign against the Byhalia Pipeline in Memphis, Tennessee, spotlighted in an episode of Heather McGhee’s podcast, The Sum of Us, which explores the negative effects of structural racism on people of all races and walks of life.

The nearly 50 mile long crude oil pipeline, by Plains All American Pipeline and Valero Energy, would pass through historically Black working class neighborhoods in south Memphis — the “path of least resistance,” as one pipeline company spokesperson said — and over the Memphis sand aquifer, a critical drinking water resource not unlike our own aquifer here on Long Island.

Concern about the negative environmental and community impacts of the pipeline proposal united racially and economically diverse residents from different — mostly segregated — parts of the city. Black and white residents teamed to oppose the pipeline’s construction. They went door-to-door to raise public awareness of the plan and its potential impacts. They wrote opinion pieces in local newspapers. They attended public meetings in large numbers and spoke out on the subject. They partnered with other groups who had different expertise and skill sets. In short, they organized into a formidable force.

The pipeline company fought back, courting community members by donating to local charities, and trying to win favor at churches and homeowner association meetings. But residents saw through it. They rallied behind their leaders and other influential voices, including elected officials and celebrities. 

And from that fight emerged a new, young leader: Justin J. Pearson, who is now one of the youngest members of the Tennessee state legislature.

The pipeline project was canceled in July 2021; a pipeline company spokesperson said there wasn’t enough demand for oil to continue pursuing the project.

Did Riverhead’s recent campaign against agri-tourism resorts have the same effect? Well, eventually.

The Town Board has been considering the agri-tourism resort legislation since late last year. Sure, there were concerns raised from residents from the Willow Pond’s condo complex late last year, but nothing that town officials couldn’t shake off. Then civic members and other groups, such as the Group for the East End and the Southold Town Board, started raising alarms. There was still little momentum. 

Only about a month ago did Riverhead residents’ opposition to resorts start to look like something like the Memphis movement against the pipeline. Civic groups, environmental advocacy groups and a whole lot of residents took up the call. Signatures flowed onto petitions. The residents, under the pressure of a ticking clock, with a public hearing scheduled and the resorts recommended in the comprehensive plan update about to be adopted, made their voices heard. And the Town Board listened. It was certainly a buzzer-beater.  But better late than never.

The campaign against agri-tourism resorts is reminiscent of community opposition to Calverton Aviation and Technology’s plan for a cargo logistics hub at EPCAL. Public pressure contributed to the overall rejection of the project by the Riverhead Industrial Development Agency and then the cancellation of the project by the Riverhead Town Board.

At Wednesday’s Town Board meeting, civic leader Claudette Bianco of Baiting Hollow, said she was “very disappointed that it took hundreds of letters, 1,000s of signatures and a potential press conference to get you to see [that] the residents didn’t want” the resorts. She said civic leaders represent many residents and “it shouldn’t have taken the community in an uproar to get you to do what we want.” Other speakers, who are “regulars” at Town Hall, echoed her sentiments.

We disagree. If this situation teaches Riverhead Town’s residents and civic leaders anything, we hope it teaches them that size matters when it comes to a movement. 

Whether civic leaders are elected by a vote of their members, or appointed by their founders, they are simply not seen as representatives of “the people.” You hear it time and time again when Town Board members quarrel with civic leaders. Town board members regularly contend that civic associations don’t represent everyone in their communities. 

But that all changes when Town Hall is packed with people, as it was Wednesday. The strength of a civic leader should be as an organizer, someone who can get a bunch of residents off of their couches and into seats at a public meeting. Only then — when a community movement swells to a size that threatens politicians’ chances of reelection, will they take civic leaders seriously. 

Until then, it’s easy for them to dismiss civic reps as “the same six people always complaining about everything,” an oft-repeated opinion in the corridors of Town Hall — and sometimes one that’s even uttered from the dais. A civic leader’s credibility and power comes from the knowledge that, when an official sees them at the podium, they have hundreds of people behind them. And the only way to make sure they understand that is to pack the meeting room to capacity.

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