Many reasons to vote in this election

To the Editor:

As a concerned resident of Riverhead, I am writing to express my growing unease with the lack of transparency in recent decisions made by our Town Board. Riverhead citizens need to vote this year and consider whether we want to keep a board that isn’t transparent with its citizens.  

I publicly informed citizens on several platforms about the Main Street town square. It surprised me how many residents lacked knowledge of this occurring.  I asked them to write to the Riverhead Town Clerk, James Wooten, if they were opposed to the building of a Miami style five-story hotel/condo by Aug. 1 and request that other plans be presented for the community to review.  

At the Aug. 5 Town Board meeting, Mr. Wooten stated that he received some letters and would present them in the future.   Another resident  stated he had the results of his online public poll of residents regarding the building of the square and he commented that the board was probably not interested in the results.  No board member requested to hear them, so he didn’t present.  That evening, the board unanimously approved Petrocelli to build the town square.

On Oct.16, Tim Hubbard defended piercing the state’s 2% property tax cap, calling it “antiquated.”  He has proposed a 7.92% tax hike.

On Oct. 21, the Town Board voted unanimously to authorize demolition of the building at 127 E. Main Street, which was not listed on the meeting agenda, and has received numerous complaints of this being a “surprise move” which benefits Petrocelli.   When decisions are made behind closed doors or rushed through without meaningful dialogue, it erodes the democratic process and leaves residents feeling excluded from shaping the future of our town.  Are we not seeing this on a grander scale with the demolition of the White House’s East Wing and Rose Garden?

Let’s not forget that Mr. Hubbard chose to limit residents from speaking 5 minutes at a meeting to 3 minutes.

Some residents have commented on their concern of the number of plastic political signs and the impact on environmental waste and obstructing our North Fork natural beauty.  Kevin Shea is running for a town council  position and gave out aster seeds so that yards with blue asters in the fall would represent their support for him.  Kudos to his forward thinking.

I encourage the community to take advantage of your right to vote.  In a non-presidential election year, there is a drop of almost 50% in the number of residents that will vote in their community elections.  After the Aug. 5 meeting, I felt like I wouldn’t vote in this year’s election. Please remember that this discouragement is what those in power thrive on. Everyone’s vote does matter, so get out and vote  — no matter how you vote. It is your constitutional right!

Gina Ristau
Aquebogue