Finally a full Town Board
Shelter Island finally has a five-member Town Board with the swearing in of Gordon Gooding Tuesday.
Mr. Gooding had a comfortable lead over Republican Tom Cronin and independent Lisa Shaw in voting Nov. 5. But the law stipulates he could not take his seat until the Suffolk County Board of Elections finalized the results.
That took place last week, but the Town Board hesitated because despite Mr. Gooding being notified of the certification of this win, Town Clerk Amber Wilson had not yet received a letter from the County that results were final.
What difference did a week make in terms of his waiting to be officially sworn in? Probably none, but when his former running mates — Councilmen Benjamin Dyett and Albert Dickson asked last week that he be invited to join the table, Deputy Supervisor Meg Larsen, acting in the absence of Supervisor Amber Brach-Williams, deferred, saying it would be preferable to do it right and a week would make no difference.
The Town Board could have welcomed Mr. Gooding to participate at the table and still schedule the formal swearing in this week.
His voice could have been valuable in commenting on agenda issues such as the Comprehensive Plan discussion. Instead he deferred to Ms. Larsen.
Town residents have been denied a full Board since last January. The other four members had all said choosing from among 11 people who interviewed for that empty seat would be a sign they could put politics aside and work together for the good of the Town.
But what they showed by declaring themselves deadlocked only demonstrated the Town Board would be crippled for almost a full year.
Shelter Island, unlike many of its neighboring towns, lacks the professional structures the other four have. There is no planning department or other departments capable of handling the work load. The dependence on volunteers, despite many bringing excellent credentials to the table, is simply not the same as having people do work on an ongoing basis.
For four people to tackle so many vital issues without a fifth to share the work resulted in some important issues languishing on the sidelines.
This is not to disparage the efforts the four made, but to recognize it takes a full and focused Town Board to tackle the major issues facing the Town.
Despite hard work, the Town is no closer to addressing the need for all residents and visitors to have access to potable water. Last year came recognition that the issue of septics that had become so controversial needed a new start. But no real progress has been made to tackle that logjam.
Yes, some progress was made on conflicts in the Town Code and that remains important.
But a municipality lacking sufficient infrastructure certainly needed all hands on deck. We appeal to the five members to bring strong focus to a few important issues at a time and not what has been a scattered approach in the first year of this administration.
