This week in Shelter Island history
50 YEARS AGO IN HISTORY
World Heavyweight champion boxer Mike Tyson was born in Brooklyn, New York. He defended his title nine times.Actor John Cusack, who starred in “Being John Malkovich,” was born in Evanston, Illinois.
Italian race car driver Giuseppe Farina, the winner of the first Formula One Championship in 1950, died in an automobile accident at the age of 59 while driving in the French Alps.
The Supremes made a studio recording of “You Keep Me Hangin’ On.”
And on Shelter Island …
50 YEARS AGO
Eastern supervisors to sue over reapportionment
Convinced it was not the intention of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1965 reapportionment decision that its one-man, one-vote edict filter down to the county level, supervisors from the five East End towns decided to appeal a decision that stripped them of their voice in the county.
The Supreme Court ruling requiring that states realign their representatives to reflect population in each area, when carried over to the County Legislature, resulted in western towns having 120 votes to 14 for the five East End towns.
East End supervisors called it taxation without representation and set about a plan to take their case to the court of appeals.
POSTSCRIPT: Fifty years later, there is still talk about the five towns succeeding from Suffolk County to form their own Peconic County as complaints persist that East End voices and interests are often ignored by the County Legislature.
It takes approval by the New York State Legislature to consider a new county, and through the years, despite East End complaints, there hasn’t been sufficient appetite by the state to move the issue forward.
30 YEARS AGO
Board mixed on 2 percent land tax issue
In 1986, Shelter Island Town Board members were squabbling over a proposed 2 percent tax that the state would have to allow East End towns to collect from buyers of properties.
Shelter Island was the only holdout at the time, with Councilman Kenneth Lewis suggesting it would amount to a double tax on property buyers and Supervisor Jeffrey Simes arguing that the town already had sufficient open space.
Councilman Alfred Kilb Jr. was adamant in supporting the imposition of the tax on purchasers. Still, it would not be until 1999 that the state legislature established the Community Preservation Fund (CPF).
POSTSCRIPT: This year, the state has passed legislation allowing each of the five East End towns to hold a referendum on two proposals. One would extend the CPF’s life until December 31, 2050. The second would allow each town to allot up to 20 percent of CPF revenues to programs to protect water quality. The Town Board is currently looking at specific language for the two propositions that could be on the November ballot.
20 YEARS AGO
22 students receive high school diplomas
Under sunny skies and a large tent on the school field, 22 seniors graduated in the class of 1996. The class had two valedictorians — Charlotte Moore and Nicholas Kilb — and the graduates walked away with a number of awards offered by various organizations.
POSTSCRIPT: There are 19 students in the 2016 graduating class in which Peter Kropf offered the valedictory speech while Kelly Colligan was this year’s salutatorian. Again, the awards were plentiful for this talented group of students.
10 YEARS AGO
No reply for offer to push 4-posters
Members of the Deer & Tick Committee were angered 10 years ago when Supervisor Alfred Kilb Jr. failed to tell them that Assemblyman Marc Alessi had offered to push a bill allowing Shelter Island to experiment with 4-poster units meant to kill ticks that were responsible for Lyme and other diseases.
It would take until 2008 before Shelter Island became one of the test sites for the Cornell University – Cornell Cooperative Extension test program that placed 60 units here.
POSTSCRIPT: Today, there are close to 40 units deployed around the Island and since taking over the program, the town has twice received grants to offset the cost of deploying and maintaining the units.
But there is also some controversy about their long-term use and whether they are effective and safe.
With another state grant of $100,000 pending, Supervisor Jim Dougherty has discouraged tick committee members from questioning their use.
