This week in Shelter Island history
50 YEARS AGO IN HISTORY
Gunmen in Argentina fired at the U.S. Ambassador’s residence where Britain’s Prince Philip was to dine with diplomats; the group sought to kidnap him and hold him for ransom unless the British government gave up the Falkland Islands.
Lester Maddox, a racist, hard-line supporter of segregation, unexpectedly won a runoff election for the Democratic nomination for governor of Georgia, ensuring he would be elected governor.
Hurricane Inez struck Haiti, killing 1,000 people and leaving 60,000 others homeless.
Sandy Koufax of the Brooklyn and then Los Angeles Dodgers pitched his third 300-strike season.
And on Shelter Island …
50 YEARS AGO
Vote here
A Reporter editorial 50 years ago called on second homeowners to switch their voting here to increase the strength of the East End in the Suffolk County Legislature.
At issue, according to the editorial, was that without more voters from the five East End towns, western Suffolk would control 240 votes to 27 for eastern Suffolk on a controversial plan to construct a new county building in Hauppauge under a special weighted vote system on the issue.
Even without the pending plan, then Island’s supervisor, Evans Griffing, said the regular balance of 120 western votes to 14 eastern votes needed to be changed. He called it an opportunity for East End voters to assert themselves in what could be the last chance for 100 years to not stand by and idly let the western towns totally control the legislature.
POSTSCRIPT: Fifty years later, East Enders continue to yearn from a separate Peconic County, but Mr. Griffing’s words may prove to be prophetic as the idea fails to gain traction with New York State, which would have to agree to such a plan..
30 YEARS AGO
Local committee examines land preservation
The year was 1986, long before the Community Preservation Fund came into being. But Islanders were already aware of the need to preserve land for recreation and maintain the Island’s ambiance. A task force was organized to identify environmentally sensitive areas that needed to be protected. It started small, but quickly expanded the identification of parcels that needed to be acquired to keep them from being developed.
POSTSCRIPT: In the late 1990s, it was then county legislator, now Assemblyman Fred Thiele Jr. (I-Sag Harbor) who led the effort to establish the Community Preservation Fund. Its money comes from a 2 percent tax on property buyers and millions has gone into the fund for the five East End towns to make the needed land purchases for preservation.
This year, the towns will each have referendums on their ballots to not only extend the life of the fund, but to allow as much as 20 percent of the money that comes into the fund for water protection purposes.
20 YEARS AGO
County looks at income tax
Twenty years ago, the Suffolk County Legislature was examining the option of replacing property taxes with an income tax to pay for local government, schools and fire districts.
Former Supervisor Hoot Sherman was at the helm then and he told the legislators such a move would be devastating to most of the East End. Much of the property belongs to second homeowners who currently pay taxes on the Island. But an income tax would mean those homeowners weren’t paying money here to support services, but were paying it wherever their primary homes are.
POSTSCRIPT: Clearly, property taxes continue to be the main source of money to support local government, schools and special districts. But East End locals continue to press for more money from the state and county where more tax money tends to go west and north than comes back to the Island.
10 YEARS AGO
More lands sign on to reduce deer herd
Determined to gain tight control over deer management, Police Chief Jim Read was enlisting more homeowners and homeowners associations to allow their land to be hunted 10 years ago. At the time, the deer herd on the Island was estimated at 570.
The chief said 20 deer had been taken in the Westmoreland area during the past nuisance hunt season, an increase from 14 that were taken during the nuisance season the previous year.
The town-managed private properties on which hunting is allowed are posted for safety and plans called for posting hunting dates in the Reporter alerting residents to avoid areas where hunting would be taking place
POSTSCRIPT: Today, no one is willing to speculate on the number of deer on the Island and only anecdotal information exists about the numbers. But Chief Read is still working to increase the number of places on the Island where private landowners will agree to allow hunting.
