Hamptons Political Scenes

Things are moving at a rapid pace in the Marty Tankleff case (www.martytankleff.com).While D.A. Spota has not changed his public position on the guilt or innocence of this high profile prisoner -- whose re-trial application has been sitting on Judge Braslow's desk for months -- apparently everyone is feeling the heat by now. The New York Times, CBS News and other major media organizations as well as Barry Scheck of the Innocence Project appear to be incredulous(if you read between the lines) about the depth of what appears to be political corruption in Suffolk County. Only a re-trial will put this issue to bed and a re-trial is what many politicians do not want -- ergo the delay, hoping it will all just go away. Of course, as a result of the momentum now generated it is more likely the Titanic will sail again -- than this will just disappear.

The fact that Tankleff has just been ordered back to prison during Braslow's extended soul-searching, while the media has it's field day with the smell of Suffolk County politics wafting through the courtroom --has been the source of speculation that the court long ago decided to rule against him. Understandably, Tankleff's attorneys are concerned.

What all of us should be concerned with is that the Hamptons -- the "jewel" of Suffolk County which fills the tax coffers compliments of non-resident property owners that pay virtually all of the bills (and cannot vote in local elections)-- is owned and operated by either Republicans or "Democrats in Republican clothing." Although there is a progressive political trend sweeping Long Island, the jury is still out on whether this Democratic surge is real or imagined. Steve Levy, the Suffolk County Executive who is a Democrat has gotten good marks but has recently been reported to have supported some of the anti-immigrant legislation proposed that follows on the heels of the Farmingville problems with all of those nasty "illegals" that clean toilets and handle the heavy landscaping work that Americans are averse to doing. He has also been criticized for being sensitive to political criticism and has been reported to be establishing a virtual freeze on reporters who are not complimentary. We have not experienced that but it is an issue to keep on top of. Freedom of Information and "Sunlight" behavior is critical to our delicate system of an open Democracy.

Important in all of this is the fact that Vince DeMarco recently won his election and has taken office as the new Suffolk County Sheriff. He seems to be showing signs of responsible law enforcement that has come of age (due, in part to support of the new Integrity Party), and his election is an indication that the populace has had enough of real or imagined corruption and is pissed off enough to finally vote the suspects out of office. Tisch, the outgoing Sheriff, not incidentally, was the Judge who was responsible for imprisoning Tankleff in the first place. Small world, isn't it?