Shelter Island Reporter Letters to the Editor: Jan. 29, 2026
OUR THANKS
To the Editor:
The Surozenski family and Trish Anzalone would like to thank the Shelter Island Emergency Medical Services, the Shelter Island Police Department, and the Stony Brook first responder for the prompt and professional service they provided to us on Jan. 18.
THE SUROZENSKI FAMILY, Shelter Island
BLAME GAME
To the Editor:
The stated topic of last week’s Reporter editorial is prioritizing the Comprehensive Plan. Instead, the editorial adopts a troubling and accusatory tone, falsely claiming that in 2024 there was “a strategy, put in place to consolidate political power by one political party.”
While it’s true that the Town Board did not fill its vacant seat in 2024, it’s incorrect to characterize this as a Democratic strategy. With two Democrats and two Republicans on the Board, the situation was a deadlock — neither party was willing to approve a replacement who would give the other a majority. In fact, the Republican leadership of the Board — Supervisor Amber Brach-Williams and Deputy Supervisor Meg Larsen — held two of the four votes and were just as responsible for the vacancy.
Many observers believed Republicans were content to wait until the November 2024 election in hopes of securing a Republican majority. Singling out Democrats as uniquely responsible is insulting, inaccurate, and misleading.
The editorial also states — incorrectly and offensively — that the supervisor was “challenged” to “train” Shelby Mundy in 2024. In reality, Ms. Mundy had been handling complex financial responsibilities for years, beginning before the pandemic, significantly easing the workload of both the supervisor and the Town’s contract accountant. The claim that this supposed “training” created additional burdens for the Deputy Supervisor in 2024 is simply untrue.
Rather than making unfounded accusations, the Reporter could usefully ask why the draft Comprehensive Plan has not been updated since 2024, explain what steps remain to complete it, and assess whether underlying data require updating. The paper could also highlight sections of the draft that are controversial or incomplete, summarize substantive community feedback from 2023–24, and encourage the early scheduling of multiple public hearings.
SHELTER ISLAND DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEE
Editor’s note: The Reporter stands by its reporting on the Board’s attempts to fill a vacant seat.
RADIO SILENCE
To the Editor:
It’s hard to imagine the Town Board doing more to keep the public out of its plan to purchase the .75 acre property at 2 School Street.
Sometime last year, the Board learned that the property was in foreclosure and that an auction was scheduled for Jan. 14, at 9 a.m. It waited to give the public wind of this until Friday Jan. 10 at 4:28 p.m., when it posted online an agenda for a Jan. 13 9 a.m. work session and special meeting to pass a resolution authorizing it to bid up to $2 million at the auction and seek to borrow money to pay for the property and related costs.
Despite several people raising concerns at the work session, the resolution was passed and, the following day, the Town had a winning bid of $791,000.
Radio silence from the Board until the Jan. 27 work session when, after some protested that the issue was not on the agenda, the public learned that it will likely not be included until after the closing.
The supervisor said that the Board has done all it is required to do. Whether or not that is true, it’s no way to run a railroad.
The public should be informed if this is a done deal — or a pre-closing inspection showing the house in poor condition would provide the Town a basis to get a better price or back out. If so, the public should be allowed input.
And, if it appears likely, as it does, that the property will be used for housing, the public should be allowed an opportunity to weigh in on whether funds should come from the housing fund, which is approaching $1.5 million, or taxpayers should bear all the costs of borrowing the money.
STEPHEN JACOBS, Shelter Island
