Shelter Island Reporter Letters to the Editor: Sept. 26, 2025
STEADY, MEANIGFUL PORGRESS
To the Editor:
I want to take a moment to clarify some recent misinformation and share the truth about the work happening in the Town Clerk’s office.
Despite limited equipment and staffing, I’ve made steady, meaningful progress. I’m digitizing key documents — including old local laws, Town Board meeting minutes, and Planning Board minutes. I also successfully implemented Laserfiche, a powerful software that archives and indexes these records, making them searchable and accessible to the public. This budget season, I’ll be requesting updated equipment to continue this modernization work and ensure our records remain transparent and easy to navigate.
Recently my mother’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis has required my attention, as I work to formalize a long-term care plan. Anybody who has dealt with this disease understands how difficult it is, especially when your family is initially rocked by the news. While there were ups and downs, time and a proactive approach have given us a better idea of what to expect going forward, both for my family and for my continued service in the Town Clerk’s office.
These moments have been deeply personal and difficult, but they have not stopped my progress in the slightest. I remain fully committed to modernizing our records, increasing transparency, and representing Shelter Island with attentiveness and dignity.
Progress takes time, but with your vote this November, I will complete the work I started, and we will get there together. Thank you for your continued support and understanding.
AMBER WILSON, Shelter Island Town Clerk
MY PRIORITY
Letter to the Editor:
I presently represent you as a councilman on the Town Board and am running for Town supervisor in this November’s election.
I ran a successful business and have years of experience managing people, balancing budgets and achieving results. As past chair of the Community Preservation Fund Advisory Board, I bring substantial experience in land and water conservation and fiscal responsibility to the Board.
On the Board, I fight for transparency, including opening the Grants Committee meetings to the public, and foster ongoing expense evaluations, including shifting consultant review costs to applicants, saving taxpayers thousands of dollars.
The Town Board is currently reviewing the supervisor’s proposed 2026 budget. In these uncertain economic times, we must protect our taxpayers, our community, and our Town employees by applying strict oversight. My priority is to preserve the Town’s essential services, support both current and retired Town employees who have served our community, and help keep the Island affordable.
I will review the proposed budget line by line, with a particular focus on reducing non-personnel spending, including professional services, consultants, vendors, office supplies, and other non-critical purchases.
I want to ensure that new hiring is carefully considered and that our Town’s reserve funds are used cautiously and appropriately. I will push for more clarity and transparency about the budget, so that you, the voter, will see where your dollars are going, and your elected officials will be able to make more informed decisions.
I welcome your ideas and input as we move forward. Please join me for my next open meeting, Thursday, October 9, 10 a.m. at the Islander. I look forward to listening, answering questions and discussing issues. Together we will find solutions.
GORDON GOODING, Councilman, Town of Shelter Island
MANAGING RESOURCES
To the Editor:
I have worked in budgeting and financial management in local and State government and have also taught these subjects at CUNY Baruch College for many years. Two of my four published books were textbooks about public budgeting and financial management.
After reviewing our Town supervisor’s draft budget for FY2026, I see that the budget is highly problematic.
Islanders should be aware that, over the past three years, the adopted budgets have utilized over $400,000 in unrestricted reserves each year, resulting in spending exceeding the general revenues brought in. The Town supervisor was responsible for two of those years, indeed participated in the other one, and needs to stop doing this.
These unrestricted reserve funds are like a rainy-day account, but our Town supervisor has been tapping into them instead of making our spending match the town’s general revenue.
Of course, municipalities often use small amounts of unrestricted reserves, but not these large amounts.
Now it is showing up in the audits. The FY2024 audit revealed the town used $500,000 in just that one year, more than the $400,000 the supervisor had planned to use. If this continues, Shelter Island will soon be out of such unrestricted reserves which can mean a significant tax increase.
The solution is to exercise control over spending, something this Town supervisor has difficulty doing.
People ask why I support Gordon Gooding. He is a retired businessman with years of experience supervising people and balancing budgets, and he has a good heart. He cares about the Town employees as well as the taxpayers. And he knows, as you do too, that if we spend our savings, we will no longer have access to a rainy-day fund when it really rains. And that is why we need to be prudent now.
LYNNE WEIKART, PH.D , Member, Shelter Island Democratic Committee
A CHANCE TO LEARN
To the Editor:
Everyone matters. Every faction in the community is equally deserving of respect and consideration in decisions that affect their lives. The majority of us live quietly conducted lives filled with joy and sorrow, celebrations, hard work, family, and friendships. We may each experience different realities here on the Island, but we all share a love of place and people.
I value peaceful living. The only time I step out of my cocoon is when I see or experience injustice. I have always been, and remain, an independent voter who believes in human rights, personal freedoms, and compassionate action.
Voting is a powerful tool. Engaging with our neighbors, listening to them, and voicing our concerns is both a right and a duty. True unity is harmonious, not exclusionary.
I will be voting for changes in November, voting for a fresh perspective, because we have elected officials who are serving injustice instead of being accountable to the people.
The Town supervisor and the highway superintendent oversee the largest budgets and hold the priorities list that shapes our lives. We hold the power in our vote to change our own lives.
Our responsibility is to choose leaders who will put the needs of our community above all else. We all know the difference between a want and a need, and we need to look closely at what is going on.
To be clear: I speak only for myself, my beliefs, and my understanding. I do not speak on behalf of any candidate, even those I may support or endorse.
If you’d like to talk about concerns related to town governance, you can reach me at [email protected] or join the Shelter Island Community page on Facebook, where free speech and open dialogue are welcomed.
K.D. HURST, Shelter Island
BUDGET SEASON
To the Editor:
In this climate of political and social divide, we the people have critical decisions to make through the power of our vote in November.
When do we vote for someone who is competent, committed and compassionate about their role in local government? When do we vote for someone just because of their party affiliation? When is a candidate’s record of accomplishment and behavior considered? How do we weigh the value of consistency and commitment of local government officials against changing the tide for the hope of a better tomorrow? When is it time for a new regime? Our Town supervisor and her senior account clerk, Shelby Mundy, have been working on the 2024 audit for Shelter Island for months and still the numbers are not correct. Deadlines are being missed for grant opportunities, the accounting is questionable for the West Neck Water District owned by the Town, questions about the Library budget impact on our taxes have been diverted to the assessor’s office and public awareness is left in the dark.
Last week the supervisor stated the breakdown of Professional Services for the 2026 Town Budget amounting to over $213,000 and the Town employee salary list would be posted on the Town website. Neither document is available one week later, and the supervisor was absent from the second meeting of budget talks on Monday. To quote her from the April 8 Town Board meeting: “I’m freaking out over the budget. I’m starting to make sense of how bad it’s going to be.”
Is this the leadership we are banking on?
Will we see a 7.8%, 5.4% or 2.4% increase in taxes due to an inflated budget? Watch the discussions, write to the Town Board, and attend the public hearing this fall.
PAM DEMAREST, Shelter Island
AMERIACA’S GREATEST CHALLENGE
To the Editor:
During the turmoil of the 1960’s, marked by assassinations, the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War, the Cold War (Cuban Missile Crisis), Women’s Liberation, just to mention a few, there is no doubt that we as Americans were being tested.
Fast forward 50 years later, I am now asking myself: “What is the greatest threat facing America today?”
Is it the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine? Is it gun violence and crime? Is it threats posed by illegal immigration? Is it a struggling economy that seems to pay little attention to the poor and middle classes? Or, could it be something else?
Obviously, all of these threats are real and need to be addressed by responsible leaders. Candidates who are willing to work across party lines, while respecting other points of view, and their willingness to compromise, represent qualities that help unify our government and our nation.
Many Americans now recognize that our worst fear and challenge, may be that of “self-destruction.” Too many of our fellow Americans believe everything they hear on social media and by groups of people who choose to exploit hatred and division. This includes foreign powers that seek to foster this polarization in America.
Determining if the U.S. is on a self-destructive path is highly subjective and depends on interpreting multiple economic, political, and social indicators. Recent analyses from various think tanks, academic researchers, and news outlets highlight significant challenges, including a deeply polarized political landscape, economic inequality, and democratic erosion.
Unifying our nation requires addressing deep-seated divisions, while fostering mutual respect. Hopefully, we all value our right to vote and elect candidates who will respect one another and value our Constitution.
Remember, our national symbol, the Bald Eagle, does not distinguish between its left wing or its right wing, they’re both part of the same bird.
JIM COLLIGAN
Former councilman, Town of Shelter Island
