Hamptons Politics

The District Attorney Dilemma?

2011-07-05T19:53:00.001-04:00

You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do.
Henry Ford
-- 1863 - 1947

With the media second-guessing Cy Vance, Jr. over a very high profile prosecution, the question becomes what is not known, as opposed to what IS known about the case. No one doubts that there was some form of sexual contact, but it becomes murky beyond that. The fact that the current statistics on rape in New York are frightening -- up by 62%, -- may be the subtext to this case, however. It’s the kind of crime and numbers that are very disturbing to women as well as men in a civilized society. D.A.’s are pressured by such alarming statistics.

What was essentially a slap on the wrist, in the recent case involving two police officers accused of rape, may have become the backdrop for potential criticism of the D.A. – despite the fact that Vance’s office vigorously prosecuted the case. But, what is more likely, is that the speeding to indictment of DSK, a powerful international politician, may have backfired. Strauss-Kahn, as head of the IMF and previously, perhaps, in line to run for President of France, is not a man without resources -- despite his obvious lapses of judgment. And, if there is an undercurrent to this matter, the speed of indictment, as against the rising numbers of sexual crimes in our city, helped create a public rush to judgment. The publicity, the media, loves a good Greek Tragedy – a man of high station brought low by hubris. And, schadenfreude, is not just a “disease” known to journalists and the paparazzi.
But, unlike other D.A.’s, Vance does support the original American theory of Justice – that one is presumed innocent until proven guilty. It’s just that the media makes that concept unwieldy. In New York there are many media voices, but, in suburbs like the Hamptons, it speaks with one voice – a fearful one where the D.A. controls every utterance – or else.

Meanwhile, after leaving Riker’s Island, Strauss-Kahn hired one of the best criminal lawyers in the country and some of the best investigators on the planet. And, he also hired a prestigious “consulting” firm of former Intelligence officers to work on the case. You don’t want former U.S. Attorneys, Secret Service Special Agents, retired CIA, and FBI investigative specialists on your ass if you have anything to hide. And, apparently, the victim did. Spooks are smart and dispassionate about their business. When they are in private practice -- you don’t want to go there. As occurred in the recent retaliatory strike against Bin Laden, a “dish served cold” is an appropriate phrase that comes to mind.

But, what needs to be remembered here is that Cy Vance, Jr. ran for office as a Progressive. And during an interview we had several years ago in SoHo, what was clear about him is that he had purpose and was on a mission to open up the D.A.’s office, modernize it, and bring it to the people in the community. He has been doing that. Bob Morgenthau supported Vance and he was the clear choice over Leslie Crocker-Snyder, a Conservative take-no-prisoners, former Judge.

During an interview of former D.A. Bob Morgenthau, known as “the Boss” he spoke of the heritage of the Hogan office and his groundbreaking DNA indictments in absentia – which preserved the statute of limitations on rape. In his nineties, though, he had had enough and wanted Vance to take his place.
Richard Aborn, who has done a tremendous job as head of the Citizen’s Crime Commission was also in the running, but had a less cohesive campaign organization. He was, nevertheless, an impressive Progressive candidate as well as an attractive candidate for the office. In our interview he was clearly a powerful presence.

If the Manhattan D.A. made mistakes, the Hobson’s choice here may have been in deciding to not allow Strauss-Kahn to leave the country as opposed to speedily presenting the case for indictment as justification. While there was a fear that he would flee, he was an internationally known politician. He is not Roman Polanski. The vision of the Port Authority Police, whose most difficult work is patrolling the Holland Tunnel entrance for “terrorists,” dragging the President of the IMF off of a plane – is more akin to a Leslie Nielsen movie – than high-stakes law enforcement.

Cy Vance is a District Attorney who is ethical and effective. His office may have erred on the side of caution and had the good grace to face the music personally. The Media is not always kind. But, in Manhattan, at least, it is not owned. Freedom of the Press is alive and well – unlike Suffolk County where it is owned and operated by the District Attorney.

Cy Vance will heal from this, at worst, sin of omission and we should be grateful to have a District Attorney who deals in Justice, not in retaliation and intimidation to do his job.

Just When You Thought It Was Safe

2011-02-01T20:36:00.011-05:00

Economics is extremely useful as a form of employment for economists.
-- John Kenneth Galbraith (1908 - 2006)

With all of the conflicting reports about real estate and the housing market, perhaps a little perspective is in order.
In Manhattan, rents have settled and are trending higher. There are some great deals in the Battery Park/Wall Street area. Things are still a little desperate there but $2000 for a studio/one bedroom (depending upon how much sleeping space you need) is sort of the bottom rung. Sales are moving along in Manhattan but even formerly hot properties are still only lukewarm. Old line brokers like Robert Agee at Quattrone are doing fine. Upstarts have had to trade in their new Mercedes.

The story in the Hamptons is a little murkier. Since East End brokers tend to start telling the truth about business 3 or 4 quarters after reality is painfully obvious, it is safe to say that sales are very slow, prices are off by 30 to 50 percent (from 2006) – depending upon which Hampton and how exclusive the location is – and certain price ranges do not move at all.
From those brokers who will talk, we’ve learned that properties in the $300,000 to $500,000 price range are moving (Hampton Bays) and there are mortgages available. Properties sales in the $500,000 to $1 million range (Southampton) begin to get very dicey. And, from $1 million to $3 million sales (East Hampton) only occur when the original price has been discounted by at least 30%. Above the $3 million to $4 million range (Water Mill/East Hampton/Southampton Dune Road), sales begin to pick up – since that is generally the all cash purchase territory of celebrities and hedge fund buyers. Above and beyond that range it is all Goldman Sachs types using taxpayer’s money to fund their lifestyle, compliments of the Federal government (East Hampton Dune Road/Quogue Dune Road). Those have lots of hedges and front on the ocean for safety.
In Westhampton Beach Village, the Performing Arts Center showed Inside Job for one day last weekend. In that Village, the government is partially asleep and numerous commercial establishments are shuttered and out of business. Since East End media has no “voice of opposition,” there is little to learn about the workings of each of the monolithic governments in power or its sycophants. Occasionally, a local blogger will spew forth half-truths and venom but mostly independent writers toe the party line or are shut down by local law enforcement. Freedom of Expression or Freedom of the Press gets in the way of politics on the East End and therefore accurate business news is almost as difficult to report as politics or corruption. Perhaps Michael Moore will pay a visit soon.

Commercial real estate continues to drop along with residential property values in the Hamptons (Richard Silver at Norma Reynolds in Westhampton Beach is reliable) and the trend will continue as New York City and New York State continues to attempt to find money. No one knows, yet, what affect the reduced number of real estate transactions has had on the Town of Southampton – and whether the Preservation Fund or its general coffers will affect civil service jobs. Default on interest payments and possible Chapter 9 bankruptcy has not yet been broached by Anna Throne-Holst or the Town Board but is a subject on every political leader in every one of the hundreds of municipal governments across America. Perhaps Goldman, Bank of America or Countrywide executives who might buy the newest mansion in the Hamptons might offer the Town advice on how to move the debt and risk “off balance sheet” as they did with Greece. A reader writes:

“Goldman Sachs has admitted that it is under investigation for helping Greece to hide its vast debts.
The controversial Wall Street bank - nicknamed the Vampire Squid because its tentacles stretch far and wide - is accused of having profiteered out of a complex currency deal that helped Greece massage its finances.
The Wall Street giant is claimed to have received as much as £192m in fees by entering a complex currency transaction in 2001 that helped Athens borrow cash without putting it on the books as a loan.
Goldman Sachs was once seen as the invincible bank that could beat other firms hands down. It has always paid vast sums of cash to its employees, so it can employ the hottest talent in the financial world.
America's Securities and Exchange Commission accuses Goldman of misleading its own clients and encouraging them to invest in a product that was destined to fail.
The lawsuit centers on trades set up by its sub-prime mortgage trader Fabrice Tourre, who has since been placed on 'administrative leave'.”

In general, the housing market has a very strong effect upon the health of the economy. And, the prognosis is the it will take close to six years before real estate can normalize.
There is a temporary lull in foreclosures as the banks dig out from under their own fraudulent behavior and there are some 11 million people whose properties are worth less than their mortgage.
A tsunami of foreclosures will resume some time this year or next and this will depress prices and add to the unemployment numbers. We are at the precipice of a “double-dip” recession which, for many, will just be a continuation of what has not seemed at all like the end of the last one.

The Double Dip - Part Deux

2011-01-01T12:30:00.001-05:00

If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you.
-- Oscar Wilde

As previously reported (January 22nd “Double-Dipping), there is renewed interest in what we have been writing about. Actually, what has currently been written about is tame by comparison to what is going to happen. The median drop in housing prices across the country is roughly 30% off the peak. In reality, many areas have experienced reductions in housing prices of nearly 60%.
In the Hamptons, property values have dropped an average of 50% from the peak in 2006, with the exception of certain, very limited “trophy” properties. Essentially, this means that the “fool and his money are soon parted,” theory is alive and well. Investors are still on the sidelines and starting to drink heavily. Commercial property continues to drop.
While prices of condos have maintained their “value” in Manhattan, renting is the new buying. Prices have temporarily stabilized on sales but have suffered from lack of financing. Neither is the case in the outer boroughs.
The Trump SoHo property, a condo-hotel, is entering foreclosure and suffers from a multitude of lawsuits from buyers who claim they were misled and want their money back. This particular development is an indication of the overzealous fantasies about real estate and its imperviousness.

Of course, all of the above is really too optimistic. Few discuss the real El Grande problem, such as the Depression lurking around the bend.
If we limit discussions to housing and property values, the truth is that we will soon be experiencing a tsunami of foreclosures all across the country.
As a result of the “robo-signer” controversy which, basically, caught the banks with their pants down as they inspected the “irregularities” (translated=Fraud) in their foreclosure process. And, what was also exposed along with this problem is the fact that they may never have owned the properties in the first place. Establishing accurate title between the SIV’s (securitized investment vehicles) and the CDO’s (mortgage bonds) is next to impossible. Not even the bank’s foreclosure attorneys are sure that their clients own the properties that they seek to recover.

The next problem, aside from the fact that no recovery will take place until banks start to lend again, is the fact that municipal bonds may go the way of Free Speech in America. Down the toilet. It is not only in Russia that the government tries to silence journalists. Mainstream media is in severe jeopardy for all sides. Besides the Internet threat, the severe drop in advertising and pressure from the government to curtail criticism of its policies – have dovetailed to make publishers vulnerable.

The bonds that packed the toxic mortgage debt into CDO’s (which the prescient banks insured themselves against with CDS’s) are still held by Villages, Counties, States and Counties across America. And, these same municipal entities issued bonds in order to raise money for their bloated budgets – which counted on tax proceeds and transfer taxes for pay for everything from Police to Tax Assessors. Pensions are likely to be one of the targets eyed by bleary-eyed accountant/administrators. In the Hamptons, as in Suffolk County, retirement benefits are often a rigged game. For example, if you have 20 years of employment in civil service, the monthly retirement check is based upon the last year’s salary. Overtime can change the salary base dramatically. So, a job that paid a $75,000 salary for 19 years, can suddenly become a $150,000 a year job for the last year of service. The last year is used to calculate the retirement benefit. Police Departments use this ploy since emergencies often occur and overtime is arranged based upon seniority and political connections -- but politicians, as well, are among the most cynical players in making these arrangements for themselves.

Obviously, this is tantamount to fraud and is intended to rape the taxpayers. During these horrendous economic times, while people are scrounging for food, a retirement based upon $150,000 per year when the regular salary for 95% of the employ tenure is $75,000, is stealing.

As municipalities start to file Chapter 9, many unpopular decisions will have to be made. One of them is how many, not whether, employees have to be dropped. Pensions will need to be cut and in some cases eliminated.
While this inevitability may have been behind the supposed slowdown creating snowstorm problems in Manhattan (employee reductions), there simply is no choice. The Feds can print more money, the States cannot. And, if the international community rejects the dollar as the Reserve Currency all bets are off. Prices would skyrocket immediately.
At present, all of our imports are paid for in dollars. We do not have to exchange our currency into the currency of the exporting country– everything is dollar denominated. Were the Reserve Currency to be another denomination, we would first have to buy that currency and then pay the bill. Right now, if we are short on cash we just print more. Other countries are on to that and cannot do anything about since we issue the Reserve Currency. That would all change immediately if the dollar were rejected as the World’s medium of exchange.

Until the foreclosure mess plays out and housing bottoms, municipalities deal with budget reality, pensions are reformed and expectations are lowered by everyone – the recessionary spiral will end in a Depression. It will be a Depression that has many wealthy people associated with major corporations and Wall Street. But, for those of us on Main Street it will be another 5 to 10 years before this is over.

Be prepared for Code Enforcement, Police and Prosecutors to fine, arrest, indict, imprison and confiscate everything and everyone that they can get their hands on – simply to justify their employment. In this environment you justify your job by bringing home the bacon.
And, this includes the massive seizure laws that have made police departments and political coffers a thing of amazing beauty.

But, the game is over. Every penny counts as we head into another major downtrend.

As Rome Burns

2010-12-22T19:28:00.015-05:00

An honest man can feel no pleasure in the exercise of power over his fellow citizens.
-- Thomas Jefferson (1743 - 1826)

Last month there was a hue and cry over a (previously removed) position being slipped back in over vocal objections at the Town of Southampton Town Board meeting. The pay scale was $150,000, roughly the same as most police in the Town after a couple of years.
Democrats were aghast that the 3 Republicans on the Town Board would try to slip this through without their approval.

Although one could not say that Democrats are naïve, in Suffolk County where Republicans pose as Democrats long enough to get elected (County Executive Levy, D.A. Tom Spota), it should be no surprise that once the Republicans again got a firm grip on power in the Hamptons, it would be business as usual.

Systemic corruption is different from actual corruption. The Republicans cannot escape the depth of the Heaney/Lombardo/Thiele/Schaeffer Hamptons monster, which gets its media support from the Southampton Press and Newsday. Without any real media unafraid of prosecution, only the Feds will have any interest.
Think about it. When was there last an article criticizing the power structure for what is currently called the “injustice” system in Suffolk County?

With Villages, Towns, Counties, and States about to be thrown into the chipper financially – doesn’t it make sense to slip in a few patronage jobs?

Bank Fraud of the Day

2010-10-13T13:23:00.005-04:00

I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies.
-- Thomas Jefferson

The economy has been reeling from the massive problems caused by the Wall Street creation of securitized bonds – CDO’s and synthetic CDO’s, which fueled the housing boom. While these securitized mortgage bonds were being sold off across the world, the banks were busy buying credit default swaps to protect that phony bet. We are now seeing how this was engineered and how it is being addressed as the foreclosures come to market. Almost daily, fresh disclosures appear in the media.

The government handed out massive amounts of money, hundreds of billions of dollars, to support the perpetrators -- investment banks and insurers like Citibank, Bank of America, WaMu (JPMorgan Chase), Merrill Lynch and A.I.G., in order to protect the banking system. They paid back the T.A.R.P. money with near-zero percent loans that they used to invest but did not use to afford loans to the credit starved small businesses who were damaged by their excesses.

What is clear about all of this is that any finger pointing in this entire charade belongs entirely pointed in the direction of these corrupt institutions, which ran a casino at which unsuspecting borrowers were playing a rigged game. The house, the banks, fully supported by the government, always wins. Even the bond ratings agencies like Moody’s and Fitch were complicit in rating inferior investments as AAA+.

But, now full-fledged investigations by Attorneys General across the country, point to a picture that has long been suspected. Banks, in collusion with mortgage bankers and brokers, foisted a huge fraud upon the American people. Dangerous loans were practically forced upon borrowers and investors in the form of “liar loans” and free money to buy and speculate with -- and are culminating the fraud with doctored paperwork and illegal acts – starting with the banks themselves and moving on through the attorneys processing the foreclosures.

In New York, Eric Schneiderman, currently running for Attorney General, has promised to be the Sheriff of Wall Street. Should he win this Election Day, we have the promise of a full accounting of how Investment banks, mortgage brokers, foreclosure attorney mills and servicers who preyed upon homeowners – all worked together to perpetrate the biggest fraud in history.

The Flash Crash

2010-05-13T23:02:00.006-04:00

Buy on the rumor; sell on the news.
-- Wall Street Proverb

So here’s the deal.

Flash trades basically are handled by “bots” or computerized systems at close to the speed of light.
Buy or sell orders are handled in nanoseconds. In fact, orders are received and transacted faster if the physical location of the computer-generated trade is closer to the servers that exist for the Exchange – wherever that facility is actually located.
If the brokerage house/investment bank is closer to the Exchange, it’s possible to execute a trade faster than a local office of, say, Merrill Lynch, whose office could be in Iowa. The electronic time lag gives the edge to the broker near the Exchange.

Goldman Sachs is known to have been making its money by having its systems closest to the action. Fully 70% of all trading is now flash trading. Goldman is said to account for nearly 48% of these trades and 35% of all trades. Flash trades enable the fastest “gun in the East” to get ahead of other orders and with a few million trades a day, makeing its money by executing in and out before its rivals. Investors who have stop loss orders are sold out and combined losses of hundreds of billions of dollars are estimated. Goldman makes money. In fact, Goldman regularly has $100 million days.

Essentially, flash trades permits Goldman to see an order and choose its execution by inside information that is due to the faster (closer) proximity to the source of the information. The Flash Crash exposed this system.

Mayor Motz of Quogue was prosecuted for this. Only, in his case it was called “Frontrunning.” Either Motz is innocent or Goldman is guilty. You can’t have it both ways. The only difference was speed.

There you have it, folks.

Political Notes 5.7.10

2010-05-07T16:34:00.002-04:00

Democracy becomes a government of bullies tempered by editors.
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882)

As the economy “improves,” the volatility in financial markets as well as the quality of life continues to deteriorate. The anomaly is not really inexplicable. What is missing is accurate reporting about what is going on. The government is desperate to have us believe that everything is on the mend. Despite the fact that “they are rioting in Africa,” or rather, in Greece, all is well. Except, that all is not well.

The fact is that the VIX, the market volatility index, is spiking and Wall Street had a wild ride on Thursday – down nearly 1000 points intraday.

The dismay sown by the Communists in Greece has risen to the level of a few fatalities. So, while a loan package via the IMF and Germany has been extended, the rest of the PIGS will soon arrive with their collective hands out. That’s when the fun will begin in the Eurozone – and that’s when it will start to really get interesting here in America.

We have Goldman Sachs, an investment bank that took TARP money because it was “too big to fail” unlike Lehman -- which had a hand in bringing down Greece through its “creative accounting” and credit-default swaps. GS is now arguably facing a criminal investigation – which the populace has been calling for, for years. The Eurozone is facing collective bankruptcy or at default on its Sovereign debt and the U.S. is facing the possibility of a double-dip recession. The current improvement in employment numbers may, in fact, be the predicted temporary rise in spring fever/seasonal employment for Small Business. Schiller, the Yale economic guru, has predicted a huge coming increase in foreclosures brought on by Alt-A and Prime loans which will reset this year and have a chilling effect going forward. The fact that nearly one third of all homes in America are worth less that the mortgage is important. Those that bought homes with the $8,000 tax credit have been told that the value of their homes dropped before the ink was dry on the loan documents.
As a backdrop to all of this, local economies from States to Counties, to Cities, to Villages have become the antagonists towards the one source of energy that can help solve the crisis – Small Businesses in America.

With fully 65% of all jobs emanating from this source, it has become the target instead of the savior for every civil service agency from the IRS, to the NY State Tax Department, the NYC Traffic Enforcement Bureau, and the Worker’s Compensation people, ending with Code Enforcement personnel, which initiate fines. The list of antagonists to the energy and drive needed by Small Business owners is growing as the deficits caused by the Wall Street/Banks/Mortgage Broker fiasco plays out.

The credit default swaps and phony mortgage products that were signed off on by unsuspecting borrowers – fueling the CDO’s and SIV’s that were sold off to pension funds, small banks, Countries, Cities, States, Counties and Villages across the country – are now spawning legions of civil service employees looking to make up the losses while creating a justification for them to keep their own jobs. Soon government will have no subjects to collect from and Hannibal Lector will be in charge of the feast.

This is being played out with the same tactics used by the King.

Threaten and tax the people -- who are the victims. Why? It’s easier than going after the banks. It’s cheaper. And, because we can.

But, why are we killing Small Business? It is the real Goose that laid the Golden Egg in America. This is the conundrum which begs a political answer in this country -- if we are to succeed.

Just Desserts or Black Swan?

2010-04-30T18:04:00.002-04:00

Men stumble over the truth from time to time, but most pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing happened.
-- Sir Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965)

Trying to read between the tealeaves in this regenerating economy is no easy task. While the numbers appear to show that business is improving in certain sectors, employment has again dropped along with optimism and foreclosures have again surged in March.

Improvements in certain real estate in some sections of the country have been noted. Condos in Manhattan have reportedly increased in both sales price and numbers of transactions. There is a market in Manhattan for higher-end apartments (above $3 million) and for Hamptons’ summer homes in higher price brackets (above $2 million) as well as very low priced housing (under $350,000). Most of these transactions follow a simple logic: FNMA mortgages are readily available up to $417,000 and for those happy souls with cash – the lack of mortgages is not a stumbling block. Discounts of 15 to 20 percent all across the board are common.

Meanwhile the foreclosure numbers keep rising and more product comes on to the market. This ensures that home values will not appreciate to the top of the market (2006) until the year 2020 in many locations. Fully 25% of all homes are worth less than the mortgage on it.

Businesses, on the other hand, are suffering. Unfortunately, small businesses employ more than 60 percent of the labor force. If loans are not available, most small businesses have few options: continue to operate at a loss, or fire a few people. When there are no people left to fire, the businesses must close.
Even the touted success that GM has paid back its government loans turns out to be like the shell game played on Canal Street.

The hangover, of course, is that unpaid bills and taxes follow everyone around and it doesn’t matter that there is no business. With no financing, many small companies and their employees are enmeshed in a death spiral. The banks have seen to severe bankruptcy restrictions to prevent a sane exit from Dante’s new Inferno.
Even Hollywood is suffering.
The government has attempted to deal with these issues in a variety of unsuccessful ways. Mortgage modifications are an acknowledged disaster, extended unemployment benefits has become the New Welfare, and rather than soften the crushing debt load for small businesses and individuals, 16,000 new IRS agents have been hired to tighten the noose.

Goldman Sachs, that paragon of American Capitalism philosophy, was finally charged with civil fraud for working its magic

After working diligently, sometimes hand-in-hand with JP Morgan Chase, to destabilize Villages, Counties and Countries with their credit-default swap derivatives – then perversely betting that their toxic handiwork would fail – they get a slap on the wrist from the SEC. Considering the degree of devastation caused by knowingly shopping their degraded bonds like Johnny Appleseed, while shorting them since they expected them to plummet, nothing short of scores of indictments are in order. But, that will not likely happen.

Here are some questions to be asked and answered:

Were the banks complicit in creating mortgage products that they knew would implode at some point

before they saturated the market through complicit mortgage brokers who created any and all documents to push them through – as recently came to light at Washington Mutual?

Were they designed to self-destruct from day one? And, were the securitized mortgage bonds created after harvesting the deadly mortgages back from brokers and then sold off – WHILE purchasing credit default swaps so that they could sit and wait for the bombs to go off?

Were homeowners and real estate investors duped by the fine print into accepting mortgages and easy money that were doomed to fail no matter they did?

Will the Goldman investigation spread to all of the other banks like JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Deutche Bank and a few that were decimated, like Bear Sterns, Lehman, Merrill Lynch and Washington Mutual? Given the fact that companies like Countrywide, Ameriquest, Long Beach Mortgage and thousands of other independent mortgage brokers were peddling dynamite – will an extensive investigation find out that all of this was planned and carefully executed since at least 2005?

Given the fact that no borrower ever had the time to read an entire mortgage document at a closing, was this the industry’s dirty little secret about duping the public?
Will this pass because the government has no stomach for it, or will Europe force our hand with its own investigations into the matter.

Then, there is the other dangling shoe in Europe -- which is the Greek financial fiasco. Of course, this too was partly constructed
by Goldman's "creative accounting." How many more of these fiscal time-bombs are buried within sovereign debt structures across Europe?

Either of these problems is capable of morphing into a Black Swan

The Motz Matter

2010-03-03T20:45:00.003-05:00

Just remember in the winter
Far beneath the bitter snow
Lies the seed that with the sun’s love,
In the spring, becomes a rose.
-- Bette Midler

It’s always a surprise that people lie to each other. There’s no question that this ridiculous sense of betrayal harks back to those days when we learned that our friends fudged and parents actually just sold us out. Since then, the downhill slide may have been more dramatic but a lot less surprising.

Mayor Motz was popular in Quogue. His wife was the head judge. His son aspired to public office. He was adored by some, respected by others, vilified by those who lived outside of Quogue. It’s still a Village where you have to studiously observe the speed limit – unless you live there. And, we won’t delve into a recent imbroglio involving an accident that most locals know about where people died. Let sleeping dogs lie.

So, here’s the deal: Motz was basically charged with switching tickets. Essentially, the attribution for trades was held in abeyance until everything was settled at the end of the day. ILLEGAL.

But, get this. Goldman Sachs does trades in nanoseconds. By computer, trades are done BEFORE they are attributed to the buyer or seller – and the advantage is attributed to Goldman. NOT ILLEGAL. Forget the fact that GS has destabilized Greece.

Is Goldman being investigated? Are they being indicted, arrested and forced to take pleas for trades where the firm inures to the firm’s advantage. And, who may I ask, is reporting this. The Southampton Press, Newsday? Anyone?

Makes you wonder what THEY afraid of?

EuroCrash vs. The PIGS

2010-02-25T22:19:00.007-05:00

They’re rioting in Africa
They’re starving in Spain
There’s hurricanes in Florida
And Texas needs rain.
(The Merry Minuet)

A business associate complained today that his house was falling into foreclosure, his credit-line second mortgage was in default, his credit cards were about to be charged-off, and he has been left, literally, with nothing of value. He lives on Long Island. He has a small business where he derives his income.
He was thankful that he has no assets. No one can attach them.

Meanwhile, a woman who bought a brownstone in upper Manhattan bemoaned the fact that she could get nowhere with the Department of Buildings and was unable, after nearly two years, to complete its renovation legally. The property is now worth 50% of what it was purchased for in 2007. But, she refuses to hire a lawyer despite her tribulations, even after the useless employment of expediters.

In Manhattan, real estate brokers took solace in the hordes of Europeans who, after the destruction of Lehman Brothers reportedly hopping off their 747’s onto the tarmac before the plane landed and immediately lined up behind shopping carts at Tiffany’s and filled out broker’s applications in order to scoop up condos with their rapidly appreciating Euros.
Builders in the Hamptons were stepping over ½ acre lots in Hampton Bays in order to pick up those 3-5 acre parcels in Water Mill to build mini-McMansions that were so popular with those Eurozone émigrés.

It was convenient to believe that Europe has much less exposure to the subprime mess. But, as the game has played out, it wasn’t simply those CDO’s and SIV’s that did them in.
Goldman Sachs, for example, was an advisor to the Greek government and proceeded to do two very neat tricks:
First, they showed the pencil-pushers how to hide a lot of debt, “off balance sheet” – then, knowing that this was an hourglass that would certainly run out, the boys at GS bought a whole lot of CDS’s (credit default swaps) which essentially bet that the value of the Greek debt would degrade to the point of default.
That’s the same play they used with mortgages and took TARP money from Paulson (Treasury Secretary and former Goldman CEO) in addition. Few people know about the private letter ruling that allowed Paulson to meet and do business with Goldman during the meltdown (read “To Big to Fail”).

Europe is now rapidly becoming the wagging tail that follows the American dog.
Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain (PIGS) now face the possibility of default on their debt. Not to far on the heels of already defaulted Iceland and Dubai – which recently rescheduled its debt while offering only 60 cents on the dollar.
No moral hazard here folks. That’s only for individuals. Corporations and countries walk away from debt all the time.

As Kenneth Rogoff of Harvard writes, this is just the beginning:

The Federal Reserve last week raised the discount rate charged to banks for direct loans, and plans to end its $1.25 trillion purchases of mortgage-backed securities in March. President Barack Obama’s administration is proposing a $3.8 trillion budget for fiscal 2011 to spur the recovery.
“When they start tightening monetary policy even a little bit, it’s going to send shockwaves through the system,” Rogoff said.
In an interview a month before Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. went bankrupt in 2008, Rogoff said, “The worst is yet to come in the U.S.” and predicted the collapse of “major” investment banks. His 2009 book 'This Time Is Different,' co- written with Carmen M. Reinhart, charts the history of financial crises in 66 countries.
“We almost always have sovereign risk crises in the wake of an international banking crisis, usually in a few years, and that’s happening,” he said."Greece is just the beginning.”

Few real estate brokers are now touting the advantages of a Manhattan market supported by the soon to be expected plummeting Euro. In fact, those who did buy condos and hopped back onto the plane are now worried about higher maintenance fees from enlarged shares of unsold or defaulted apartments and value dropping like a rock. At 311 West Broadway, a 68 unit condo in SoHo, for example, there are rumors of a huge inventory of unsold apartments with a developer whose monthly loan vig is $6 million a month. StuyTown value dropped from $5.8 Billion to a current value of $1.8 Billion. Rental prices are also dropping substantially despite what any broker tells you.

And, in the Hamptons, where the newly installed Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst has been the poster girl for the Moody’s investment rating for Southampton Town (which has dropped) – and the fact that it has only dropped a couple of notches shows you how both drugs and alcohol can be useful while reading through “news” reports. With a multi-million dollar budget loss that no one can figure out, a devastating indictment of a previous Supervisor Skip Heaney in a report by Linda Kabot, and rapidly disappearing revenues, only a fool would believe that the Town’s credit rating is anywhere near investment grade.
Construction of new homes is non-existent (certainly on spec), the value of the real estate tax credit has already been discounted and, considering the fact that there is no industry beyond real estate in the Hamptons, property tax receipts, transfer taxes, and home values have plummeted. It is much cheaper to rent than to buy anything. Values are 50% lower and are still dropping regardless of what anyone tells you.

Perhaps Goldman Sachs was the budget advisor in Southampton as well?

This economy has a minimum of another three years before it stabilizes, IF we do not have a double-dip and IF there is no credit bubble that bursts due to multi-trillion dollar deficits and the printing of fiat money.

The Debt Bomb

2010-02-11T12:29:00.006-05:00

He that dies pays all debts.
-- William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), "The Tempest", Act 3 scene 2

Few people have a handle on the real financial crisis that we are experiencing.
The trickle down from Wall Street’s implosion is talked about but not well attended. What is happening on Main Street and on Madison Avenue is the disappearance of credit. Few businesses can operate without credit. The uneven flow of stock to sell (whether it be lettuce or Chinese handbags) requires money to smooth out the wrinkles. Those wrinkles are the cost of electricity, garbage removal and last, but not least, salaries. We won’t mention taxes – which the government regularly demands – if you’re not yet dead.

The recipients of the TARP, arguably nothing more than a palliative, went to the banks. They kept the money after filling some holes in their balance sheets and the rest have gone for bonuses. We’ll never see any of that money. Dimon (JPMorganChase) got $17 million, Blankfein (Goldman Sachs) got $9 million -- if you believe the media – and a variety of top bankers got from $500,000 on up. All told, they gave out nearly $30 Billion to reward them for creating the morass.

Now, facing the next wave of this rolling disaster, commercial loans, the real problem is coming home to roost. Since there can be no “double-dip” according to Geithner, we have to punt. Along with the evaporation of the dollar’s value and the rolling implosion of foreign “sovereign” debt (that means that countries are defaulting on their loans), we have the commercial real estate and credit to small businesses going the way of dinosaurs.

When commercial loans default, it is usually due to the fact that business is drying up and the value of the mortgage loans is higher than the value of the property. With that comes the following: business failures, commercial foreclosures, and loss of jobs due to companies going out of business.

This doesn’t have to happen but it will happen. Why?
Because, small business loans were always a tenuous proposition. The SBA, for example, only gave loans to business owners who had collateral (usually in the form of real estate) to guarantee the payback. At this point, there are about 10 different reasons why that cannot work (credit scores, drop in value, foreclosures, reduced business, etc.). If SBA loans didn’t work before, they will be impossible now – unless the government stepped in to help. That will not happen despite the PR, which the administration will spread around.

We’re all in for a long and difficult recovery. But, it has not yet started. We are still heading into a nosedive.

Double Dipping

2010-01-22T10:26:00.012-05:00

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.
-- Abraham Lincoln (1809 - 1865)

Most economists but not all politicians admit that we are in the midst of a recession, at the very least. Some call it the Great Recession and some call it a mini-Depression. According to Bernanke and Geithner we are on the mend and while somewhere between 10% and 25% are unemployed (if you calculate the various categories of Not Working), the government’s standard line is that we are on track to recovery. Maybe later this year, maybe next year at the latest. Of course, if you are a Federal or State Civil Service employee, you are more likely to be unaffected by economic events around you. Federal and State governments have so far been loath to fire or lay-off civil service workers. But, that too could change if things get bad enough. To wit, California.
Then there’s Lloyd Blankfein and the Goldman Sachs “Bank,” formerly known as an “Investment Bank.” The latter gets no government bailout money; the former can take whatever it can get. And, it certainly did.

Obama’s big mistake was in not sweeping out the Goldman Sachs employees (current and former) so as to emulate FDR’s clean sweep of the crooks. Instead we have Geithner and Bernanke in the shadows of the biggest con man, former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who saved Goldman but killed Lehman and Bear Sterns. Of course, as a former CEO, he knew where the stock warrants were buried. While all of us were getting the picture on Main Street, Washington was still under Blankfein’s control. At least when Joe Kennedy was picked to run the S.E.C., he was known to be a crook who would catch the others.

What was on the horizon last year was the possibility of a double-dip or, even more ominous, a VW. The first refers to a second downdraft and the second refers to yet another uptick after the double-dip, followed by still another drop in economic activity.
Somewhere along these lines comes the possibility of Depression.
There were numerous drops in the Dow back in Depression number one and the last, which occurred in 1933, was the killer. At that point, the Dow had lost 90% of its value.

Recently, in addition to the bad news about Dubai’s default on its Sovereign debt, there is speculation about a default in Greece. The Greek economy is now saddled with debt totaling 133% of GDP. Souvlaki can’t solve that alone. And, Germany is entering double-dip territory. Recently, there have also been figures in the U.S. that belie a cause for concern that we may also suffer that fate. We now may be heading down again.
The fact that China is now tightening its belt while our own banks take more of the remaining credit off of the table, does not bode well for small businesses or their shrinking employment roster.

If we are entering a double-dip recession (which to some appears to be a Depression), some trends will accelerate.
In Manhattan, restaurants, clothing stores and real estate agencies continue to tout their special sales while beginning to close up shop.
Several condo developments have been abandoned in favor of hotel projects but the sluggish sales at locations like Trump SoHo, 350 West Broadway, and 311 West Broadway – are a signal that brokers still manipulate the truth. There is money around but the number of sales is off significantly and the discounts are deep.

In the Hamptons, as the new government takes shape under Anna Throne-Holst in Southampton, the Town is still struggling with anemic property tax receipts and evaporating transfer taxes. Available funds are becoming harder to come by.
The investigation into what happened to the missing $13 million in Town coffers is shifting from Linda Kabot to former Supervisor Skip Heaney – according to a lengthy document she forwarded to the investigating team. For the first time, Heaney criticized the Southampton Press for its coverage in this regard – a highly unusual complaint given its heavily pro-Heaney and pro-Republican history. With a Republican Party that is fractured and a Democratic Party that has never had a strong grip on reality, both the Independent Party (led by Al Gregor) and the Conservative Party (Frank McKay) have become more important.
Wherever that $13M investigation leads, the Town now needs the money. Loss of numerous Town jobs and a further contraction in available cash is now more of a possibility.
Restaurants have closed, real estate agencies have gone out of business and more and more shops are for rent.
Sales of properties beyond the upper limit of $750,000 are scarce and prices are still dropping.

Look for Bridget Fleming to fill the vacancy created by Throne-Holst who was elected Southampton Town Supervisor – and keep an eye on Regina Calcaterra for State Senator, who is challenging Ken LaValle. She is strong on gay rights and has the bona fides to pull off an upset over the incumbent.

Times really are a’changin.

Happy Holiday?

2009-12-17T12:12:00.005-05:00

I have enough money to last me the rest of my life, unless I buy something.
-- Jackie Mason (1934 - )

As we anticipate the possibility of snow, politicians who have been elected (or re-elected) are being sworn in. Most face the difficult task of doing more with less as New York City and New York State look for loose change to cover the growing financial shortfalls. California evidently was a harbinger of things to come and now falls somewhere between Greece, Latvia, Iceland and Dubai, in economic decline. Look for more of the same to spring upon us.
Governor Paterson and Mayor Bloomberg clearly have their hands full and when the MTA looks to cut service for the elderly and disabled, you know the problem is beyond voter rage.

In the Hamptons, newly elected Southampton Town Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst (a cipher who is a skillful politician that has managed to defeat Linda Kabot) will need more than just cooperation from the Republicans to keep things moving. Perhaps the success of the Shinnecock Indians in having gained tribal recognition from the Federal government should now be considered a godsend in improving the economy. This was written about years ago in the SoHo Journal when “Skip” Heaney (former Supervisor) and the Republicans fought casinos in the Hamptons. Looks pretty interesting now as a source of incredible income, which could offset the cost of keeping police, teachers, and social programs intact – while lowering property taxes. It’s something to seriously reconsider.

If you follow the meanderings of Wall Street, it is difficult to tell what the pundits are predicting -- since all things point to a resurgence of inflation, more prolonged pain on Main Street, an increasing number of foreclosures and job losses, a commercial real estate collapse this year -- come with record bonuses at Goldman Sachs -- along with a 50% increase in the Dow Jones.
All things point to improvement that investment bank employees experience -- coinciding with more financial and emotional pain for the average citizen. It is clear that the unemployment numbers are likely to continue to rise as inflation cures some of our problems temporarily. The fact that the employment numbers are “better” is no solace for people who are out of work, out of money and entering foreclosure. There is the possibility of a double-dip recession in spite of the numerous bailouts (like unemployment insurance) that keep the sans-culottes docile – and, as we wait for the credit bubble to burst, leading us into the Depression predicted for 2012-2013 – as a result of all of the money we have been printing.

Read between the tealeaves and hope that the spring selling season brings us some temporary relief from the pain. But, don’t be fooled by the economic shell game that does not hide a fragile economy where, instead of allowing the “too big to fail” banks -- to fail -- we have simply propped up bankers who want their bonuses at our expense and at any cost.
Remember, there were several drops after 1929 and they were much more severe than Black Friday.

PS. Since there is now an openly gay Mayor of Houston, the challenge of Regina Calceterra (www.reginacalcaterra.com) for State Senate takes on a new meaning. It is likely that State Senator LaValle will now face a credible and serious challenge to his incumbency. While there is certainly controversy over Gay Marriage, there is little disagreement over the need for equality – in long-term relationships and in civil rights. For many, it boils down to the use of the word Marriage. And, that is eroding. Keep your eyes open on this challenge in a typically conservative county on Long Island.

Hamptons Election Views

2009-11-02T13:13:00.015-05:00

If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal.
-- Unknown

In the Hamptons, D.A. Spota, who holds the most powerful elected position in Suffolk County, will be re-elected along with a host of other candidates who were cross endorsed. This leaves only the Southampton Town Supervisor race as one of the few obvious, contested elections. While a few of the Town Board slots are in question, only the Supervisor race -- and that of Highway Superintendent are important. Alex Gregor, a strong local candidate wants to take over that sensitive, contract-laden post of Highway Superintendant in Southampton. All should support his run for good government.
Prior to this, that job was a huge source of largesse via political contributions.

Anna Throne-Holst is vying for the incumbent’s job as Supervisor, currently held by Linda Kabot.
The election melodrama has a long history with players from several political directions.
But, essentially, the Republican Party has had a lock on Suffolk County (where the Hamptons are located) for the last several decades. Although interrupted briefly, Republican conservatism has been the area’s moral (in theory) and political structure.

While “Skip” Heaney, the former Southampton Supervisor who now works for the County Executive, was a Republican – he was defeated by Linda Kabot (also a Republican) in a vicious Primary fight two years ago. Heaney did not take this lightly and there have been reports that he has not so surreptitiously thrown his support to Throne-Holst: the theory being, better to support the enemy of your real enemy, than your political adversary.
To complicate matters, the current Supervisor Linda Kabot was charged with a D.W.I. and arrested in September. She is not only fighting the legal battle but the “moral” battle in front of the voters.

How this will play out is anyone’s guess.
Political gamblers have their bets on Throne-Holst who seems to have had the good sense to not attack Kabot and is riding the coat-tails of the Democratic resurgence. While the support of Heaney and his grip on some Republican stalwarts may be a double-edge sword that will help Throne-Holst now (since the voters had rejected him for Kabot), it remains to be seen how this will play out later. It could backfire on Throne-Holst in the next election if she wins this time. Both Malone and Nuzzi are supported by Heaney and the traditional Republicans and the objective is clear. One is reminded how DePirro had relied on Fred Thiele in her Democratic administration.

Kabot’s D.W.I. issue is not at all uncommon in the Hamptons during the winter. Bus service, car services and designated drivers are about as common and available as are jobs these days. Now that – cash and jobs – is the real issue. No matter who wins. There seems to be some serious denial about where all of this Great Recession is going. We are only in the eye of this financial storm right now.
The only issue that seems to be relevant in Southampton is the budget and the missing Town money (anywhere from $8 million to $20 million depending on which report you read) – and that seems to have predated both Throne-Holst and Kabot.

Faux Pas in the Hamptons

2009-09-14T14:24:00.010-04:00

You can observe a lot just by watching.
-- Yogi Berra (1925 - ), Berra's Law

After the screaming died down and the blogs and websites vented their bile over the DWI arrest of Town of Southampton Supervisor this past week, some reality has set in. DWI’s are a longstanding problem on the East End and also affect the restaurant business in the mini-Depression that we are all enduring. Bars and restaurants would wind up closing even earlier in the season if one could not stop in and have a couple of drinks after work. This does not make is smart or right to ever get behind the wheel while impaired – regardless of whether you are under the legal limit. It is one of the biggest problems in a suburban or rural area, such as the Hamptons, where transportation (both public and private) is an issue.
Fortunately, Kabot did not hit a pedestrian, do any property damage, or hurt herself. Having said that, she deserves her day in court – not to be tried in the court of public opinion – and, the opportunity to address the mistake no matter how it plays out. She’s already paid a price.

Of course, this was a gift to the Republican Party because she has had the gall to run against the machine and win in the previous Primary against Skip Heaney two years ago and went on the win the Supervisorship in the last General Election. The threatened Primary between Kabot and Maloney this year was called off because the Party knew she would win and essentially, by their actions, threw the race to Democrat Anna Throne-Holst by pulling a few party lines out from under Kabot. That’s politics. Holst is a good candidate and would benefit the Town. But, that isn’t the point.

Essentially, the lesson to be learned here is that making a stupid or dangerous decision -- is simply that. If you have a high profile it WILL be used against you. If you have friends in town, as in the past, coverage will never get published. If the ruling clique is after your ass, they will spread as much unsubstantiated dirt as they can against you. Linda is popular and she’s one of the people. Time will tell if they see through the smear and support her in spite of her mistake.

Summer in the Hamptons

2009-08-10T21:04:00.001-04:00

Illusion is the first of all pleasures.
Oscar Wilde.

This turned out to be the summer that never happened in the Hamptons. Between the rain, cool temperatures and lowered expectations, many local businesses that do not serve alcohol suffered. Even restaurants suffered. Beaches were often empty. At times, it was actually quite pleasant not to be buzzed by Porches and Bentley’s trying to find a parking spot at Roger’s Pavilion in Westhampton Beach.
The Real Estate industry continued to contract and several brokers closed-up shop. Estimates of total price drops hover between 35% and 50% from their 2006/2007 highs and the main selling areas are now in the under $500,000 range. While there are sales in the million-dollar territory, price reductions and hard bargaining are now the norm since mortgage money in that category is difficult to obtain. While there are actually some new no-income verification loans available, generally a 30% deposit is required.
There are many differing opinions on when the market will return to some semblance or normality, but right now properties languish on the market for up to two years if they are not priced aggressively – translated: take a beating or sit with an unsold home.
East Hampton has done better in terms of rentals and sales and Southampton has had the biggest drop in activity. This summer, renters started out by offering owners 50% off the listed price. Buyers have brutalized brokers as well as sellers – often walking away after they got their price. Despite this, one $25 million dollar mansion rented for half a million dollars for the month of August only.
Nevertheless, the shake-out will net fewer real estate brokers, fewer rental units and fewer businesses to service them by next summer. Let’s just say that it was not a summer to be in the lawn sprinkler business.

The Double Cross

2009-07-28T22:32:00.008-04:00

I once said cynically of a politician, 'He'll doublecross that bridge when he comes to it.'
-- Oscar Levant (1906 - 1972)

The recent news pieces about election time in the Hamptons have evidenced a panoply of sub rosa deals and three-dimensional chess moves. Most of the reports focus upon a Republican deal in which Jim Malone was to have dropped back to run for Town Board instead of challenging Linda Kabot for Supervisor of the Town of Southampton. Current Supervisor Linda Kabot was to have a clear run in November, having apparently made peace with the Republican Party to avoid another Primary contest (she won the last one two years ago against incumbent Skip Heaney). But, apparently, the antagonism among Republicans who supported Heaney has deep strong roots and the deal to have Malone run for a Town Board seat and to step aside for Kabot to take the race to November against Anna Throne-Holst, has blown up.
With the Conservative Party endorsing no one in November for Supervisor, the several lines on the ballot gives an edge to Throne-Holst. Postings on 631politics (http://twinforks.com/ "Conservative Party Tricks") have some blog entries that describe the gory details.

Malone is still running for Town Board but the tacit agreement that the Republicans would support Kabot for re-election has been side-tracked with the removal of support by the Conservative party endorsement.

The tea leaves point to a bait and switch whereby the Republicans would rather hand the election to Throne-Holst for Supervisor this round and place their bets on the contest for Supervisor next time around between Throne-Holst and Malone – than allow Kabot to have another term. Of course, one should not underestimate Kabot’s political acumen or popularity with residents. An internal struggle that would remove Heaney’s grip on the party may now be playing out between Kabot and Heaney forces.

No matter what you think about Skip Heaney, though, he continues to land on his feet and exert his influence over Southampton Town politics.

The End is Near?

2009-07-18T10:00:00.009-04:00

It's a recession when your neighbor loses his job; it's a depression when you lose yours.
-- Harry S Truman (1884 - 1972)

After several years of doom and gloom blogs and articles that point to the potential for devastation in the local economy as well as the national financial health, we are knee-deep in muck and mire. And, it’s not the vaudeville act by that name appearing in the Catskills. Few remember the fact that in 1982, prices for homes in the Hamptons actually dropped. This time around it is much worse.
Real Estate brokers were embarrassed and sellers were stunned in 1982. Now, they are heading for the exits.
It is now more akin to a creeping Depression
– which some think we have already entered. When you factor in falling tax revenues, missing money, increased budget needs, evaporating credit markets and rising unemployment, the picture is getting worse by the week. Given the fact that employment figures are rarely accurate and do not reflect numbers of workers whose benefits have run out and drop-outs who have lost hope, the real unemployment numbers are likely to be closer to 15% than the much-advertised 9.5%.

Many optimists thoughtfully point to the recent stock market rally which in many previous recessions was thought to be a prognosticator of future rebounds. They thought that in 1932 too, after the 1929 drop was “over” and just before the market lost 90% of its value -- in 1933.
And, with the price of oil seemingly stabilized – it, too, is also in a dangerous decline. Comments by some economical professionals have warned of a precipitous drop. It is said that $60 dollar oil is manageable, but that $20 oil
will foment revolution in countries like Russia.

The Hamptons have had their fair share of scandals this summer – from accusations of mortgage fraud to politicians dipping into the Preservation fund – but, nothing compares to what a month of summer rain can do. Pool companies, contractors, real estate agents, landlords, car dealers and purveyors have felt the pain of a double-whammy.
All have suffered from the disappearance of Bear, Sterns and Lehman Brothers bonuses and have experienced what has been an increasing problem – no customers and no cash.
We are about to enter a winter on the East End with no reserves, no cash, no credit and no prospects for nearly a year when the Spring "buying season" arrives. Main Street already has empty stores and the bankruptcies as well as business collapses are just around the corner. Foreclosures on many prime loans are just beginning, as distinguished from subprime products that banks foisted upon borrowers – and commercial real estate is just now heading down.
Independent lenders are predicting that this whole process will take another 3 to 5 years at a minimum. Some say that value in the Hamptons will not return to “normal” until 2020. By next year, the value of property is likely to have dropped by 50% across the board.

This will be the Winter of nearly everyone’s discontent no matter what the upbeat Obama officials tell us.

Imagine

2009-05-06T21:26:00.003-04:00

If I'd written all the truth I knew for the past ten years, about 600 people - including me - would be rotting in prison cells from Rio to Seattle today. Absolute truth is a very rare and dangerous commodity in the context of professional journalism.
-- Hunter S. Thompson

The people shall not be deprived or abridged of their right to speak, to write, or to publish their sentiments; and the freedom of the press, as one of the great bulwarks of liberty, shall be inviolable.
-- James Madison

Imagine that you are a journalist in a country where the ruling party and its government does not tolerate criticism or a difference of opinion. Or, were you to voice opposition to the government, you would be killed or destroyed – using any means possible. That the focus of the government attacks may be couched in some other mainstream, popular vehicle, permitting vast media resources (including PR and phony leaks) to create an adverse frenzy is merely part of a strategy. Think about reporters waiting for you at every turn, walking around your apartment and offices, asking accusatory questions based upon innuendos and lies to sell tabloids and gain viewers. Almost any excuse can be used by a government to make you, yes you, a criminal to be pursued.
What is widely viewed as legitimate business practices, can, with a twist of focus by a government official, become an illegality.

In Russia, several journalists and human rights advocates have been the focus of convenient, high profile murders that were never solved. Court cases pointed accusatory fingers but juries have acquitted them – as arranged. In Iran, North Korea and other countries, similar actions have caused journalists following important issues to be tried and imprisoned simply for investigating and writing.

For a journalist in America, with financial devastation facing many publications, prospects for the continuation of Free Speech and Freedom of the Press is in severe jeopardy. Even the New York Times is in serious trouble and may be sold within a year. Only bloggers, themselves journalists, have a real handle on many issues and continue to carry the torch for truth, even if biased at times.
A journalist or blogger now must often choose between writing the truth, conveying a sense of the real subtext in his or her political environment or community, and being able to live one’s life unmolested. There is a heavy price to pay for speaking out.

Who will uncover truth in our society if these trends continue and more and more media slip into the mist of history? How will we continue as a Democracy if the forces of the State are allowed to destroy people using whatever means at their disposal?

Imagine that you had a point of view that you were afraid to voice in America. Will we now crucify and destroy those who disagree with us? Is this the new journalistic reality? Is this our future?

If we lose our liberties, there is no end to the slide into totalitarianism and terror.

The Hamptons Meltdown

2009-04-03T10:40:00.009-04:00

I get no respect. The way my luck is running, if I was a politician I would be honest.
-- Rodney Dangerfield

As the politicians and media play out their roles in the recent real estate hysteria in the Hamptons, all eyes are looking away from the mismanagement and incompetence in the face of this financial Armageddon.

General Motors is facing the possibility of bankruptcy, Citigroup is certainly not making Saudi Prince Al-Waleed happy and AIG stumbles along on Federal loans.

Those who have been reading the tealeaves, including financial consultants and media gurus, watch Wall Street galloping away from the true cause of our potential financial demise – the derivatives market. Yes, that’s the $700 Trillion dollar elephant in the room. AIG is only a small element of that giant scheme which wrote insurance on sums that could never have been covered in case of a default.

Of course, that’s more difficult to comprehend and impossible to prosecute. It is an amorphous ride into Hell that makes Dante’s Ninth Circle seem like a trip to the Caribbean. Warren Buffet warned us all many years ago, as he started to unwind counterparty positions, that there was a ticking time bomb in our financial system. Even he has lost billions as a result.

As we consider the non-existent sales market -- auctions, short sales, and foreclosures have grabbed the headlines. But, until there is liquidity and a return to lending, all bets are off. Look for a shrinking of the commercial real estate market, downsizing of almost all businesses and the quiet disappearance of many real estate brokers. Jobs will also be difficult to find, except in the seasonal summer months.

This time around, unlike the crisis which began with the 500 point drop in the Dow in 1987, it is possible that the Great Recession may last anywhere from two to five years longer. Some predict that we will not be out of this until 2020.

Puffery in the Press

2009-03-22T13:15:00.013-04:00

Advice to writers: Sometimes you just have to stop writing. Even before you begin.
-- Stanislaw J. Lec (1909 - 1966), "Unkempt Thoughts"

Well folks, the boys and girls at the Southampton Press are at it again. We’re not really in a Recession or even a mild Depression, because the “bridge and tunnel crowd” are all around us buying out the stores in the Hamptons. In fact, there’s barely any room to park those Mercedes’. Lizzy Grubman says so. Even though her comments are made from home in Manhattan.

After trashing Grubman mercilessly in their rag a few years ago, they now want to quote her to revive the local economy. The comments following the article all focus on Grubman and, of course, the negative remarks were all published. Press editors usually filter out negative comments about them or the publication if they appear online.

And, in a sideswipe at the New York press, (not to mention this blog) which has been reporting the fact that real estate sales are non-existent and that rentals are a disaster, this article practically oozes confidence in the Hamptons chic. In other words, maybe someone at Town Hall thinks that, “Gee, maybe we do need the New York people to pay the bills here, after all!” But, no one can seem to admit that and simply say it.

Of course, the fact that the author, “investigative journalist” Michael Wright, quotes PR people and advertisers found in the Southampton Press, begs the question: from what planet does the writer hail? Or, better yet, did the assignment to find optimism come from Joseph or Donald Loucheim, the current publisher. Is advertising down, perhaps?

Now, before anyone gets too testy, let’s understand our terminology. The “bridge and tunnel crowd” a term used by the Southampton Press writer, was coined to describe visitors from New Jersey and the Boroughs (as in Queens, Bronx, Staten Island and Brooklyn), who regularly visited Manhattan on weekends, to party. Referring to those from Manhattan obliquely as part of the “bridge and tunnel crowd” is not only incorrect – it is indicative of the negative attitude towards all New Yorkers. As, in, “we love to hate them but they bring cash.” In fact, the only cash that is likely to prop up the Hamptons. And, in truth, on an income basis, it is more likely that a Manhattan resident would be the owner of a weekend retreat in the Hamptons. Jerseyites generally visit and buy on the Jersey shore – where it is more fun, cheaper, and has less Code Enforcement police to hassle them in a summer rental. While the summer rental crowds from the Boroughs as well as Manhattan still do come to the Hamptons, they have been disillusioned by the anti-New Yorker attitude that has chased away summer house shares, which used to proliferate in the Hamptons and supported so many local businesses. Skip Heaney, as Supervisor, saw to it that they were treated as targets by Town government.

Now, the Town wants that money to come back because McMansions are no longer selling. With no mortgage money available, dwindling Community Preservation Fund money to dip into, evaporating property taxes, missing Town funds, and a budget deficit -- rentals may now be the only form of hard currency for the Hamptons. Think about that folks.

While the reporter acknowledges that Sag Harbor has seen no such uptick in business (except for the American Hotel), that fact is merely a tag line in this puff piece trying to pass as news. And, although Westhampton Beach Village was recently visited by another, stellar reporter named Jessica DiNapoli, no mention was ever made of the fact that in that village numerous businesses have closed up, several establishments have ceased to exist and large stores are vacant or closed with no date for re-opening (National, Westhampton Bowling Lanes, Westhampton Movie Theatre, the Health Food store and a few others). In addition, several stores have shrunk or downsized. Apparently, no one who attempts to write at this newspaper talks to each other about such “facts” to check.

There is no line for a space to park your Mercedes in Westhampton Beach. Nor is there ever a sighting of the Mayor or Village Board. Perhaps, those elected officials should visit Water Mill or East Hampton and pick up a few tips on bringing in business. Or, the reporter might give them a lecture on how to arrange for those crowds milling about in Water Mill, like zombies from “Night of the Living Dead,” to move their operation in front of some shops on Main Street?
It is likely that the business experienced in the last week was due to the numerous, rolling, spaced out St. Patrick's Day revelers that has brought some restaurant activity in many villages, but little else. The same holiday is celebrated for weeks in different East End Towns and Villages.

And, should it be pointed out that parking spaces and window-shopping do NOT bring in cash. Just as calls to brokers do not translate into sales or rentals.
In other words, folks, this bizarre puff piece has all of the earmarks of a plant for PR purposes, supported by PR operatives, designed to encourage more business from people who the writer wittingly, unwittingly or dim wittingly is insulting (“bridge and tunnel crowd” a.k.a New Yorkers) and who the Town continues to target if they rent a summer house and try to pay for it the old-fashioned way – sharing it with friends. In fact, last weekend saw another wave of Code Enforcement “visits” to no less than 40 properties owned by various New York landlords to check for rental permits. This is a prelude to more heavy-handed actions against Latinos and young New York renters—which is the reason why the new law was passed. It should be scrapped completely.

This article was, as they say, an attempt to put lipstick on a pig. The pig, in this instance, is the disastrous economy in which we are all suffering. To think that people, who are losing their jobs and cannot afford their apartments, will drop everything and flee to the Hamptons to line up in Starbucks – because of this puff piece -- is approaching madness. And it is an insult to those who are suffering in this deflationary recession. While Wall Street may be responsible for the derivatives-driven economic meltdown, New Yorkers are not stupid.

However, the article is.

The Sun Also Sets

2009-03-15T20:35:00.014-04:00

People everywhere confuse what they read in newspapers with news.
-- A. J. Liebling (1904 - 1963)

The journalism industry, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs, for no good reason.
-- Hunter S. Thompson (1939 – 2005)

As the apparent economic implosion arrives with full force more and more businesses are reading the tealeaves and what the facts portend.

It is already March and in the Hamptons real estate-driven economy – where the only form of financial engine pays for everything from summer rentals, to hamburgers, to newspapers – desperation has begun to set in.
This is playing itself out in a few ways. The election process, which has always been a Republican fait accompli at the polling stations, is now seeing inroads from a previously dysfunctional Democratic Party. That is no longer true and there have recently been real challenges and successes – including Sally Pope on the Town Board and possibly Anna Throne-Holst as Supervisor in November.

Many New Yorkers have moved from Manhattan, relocated to the East End, and become more involved in Hamptons politics along with the artists of previous decades. With them has come a more progressive view of how business should be done at Town Hall.
What cannot change overnight, is a response to the Wall Street debacle initiated by the creation of a derivatives market which has poisoned the well for everything from corporate debt and mortgages, to bonds and credit-default swaps for esoteric debt instruments. As this plays out on the economic stage, the Hamptons will suffer more than the canyons of SoHo, Tribeca and Wall Street where condos and coops will first experience defaulted common charges (to be assumed by the others in the building), and then move on to actual foreclosures.
Right now, the outer boroughs are contracting at an alarming rate and the default and foreclosure rates are soaring. The SoHo Journal has been writing about this for several years as Wall Street plumbs the depths of the Dow.

In the Hamptons, the big lie is that it is just going to be a “later season.” In fact, many real estate brokers are saying that the lack of phone calls is scary.

Where will this lead? Well, everyone will be cutting prices on everything. There will be a summer but you know that things are difficult when lawyers start calling for business. Many lawyers and brokers no longer do any closings because there are simply no mortgages, no customers (above the $350,000 range) and more than two year’s worth of product sitting in the pipeline. This will lead to layoffs at Town Hall, in the police departments, at local stores and at many real estate agencies. When the money runs out and the flood of tourists dwindles because they have lost their jobs, the economy WiLL contract. That is already happening.

How is this reality being handled?
Well, among the die-hard Republicans and old boy network, they try to protect their friends.
Instead of reaching out to New Yorkers, where the money has always kept this Ship of State afloat, those who criticize the local economy and lack of foresight – as well as the corruption among the politicians who have brought us to this place in time -- it has always been popular to attack the opposition.

The only source of Hamptons news has traditionally been the Southampton Press, a Louchheim publication that has always taken its direction from the Republican Party, Town Hall and Law Enforcement (whom they fear) operating on instructions and fealty to its advertising base – the Republican Party regulars. They employ inexperienced “reporters” who take direction on the slant that the publication should produce for so-called public servants, like Town Attorney/Assistant District Attorney Joe Lombardo (who has been sued in Federal Court for his irresponsible and unconstitutional behavior) and conducts smear campaigns on assignment from Loucheim.
Since there is no real news organization in the Hamptons, efforts by the likes of Jessica DeNapoli, a “reporter” whose journalistic expertise rises to the level of “What I did on my summer vacation” and who apparently follows instructions to target political opponents of the Loucheim dynasty and its political handlers. Joe Lombardo, who works for the Town and its Heaney holdovers as well as his boss Spota call the shots and provide the leads. No matter that they are criminals hiding behind a political appointment.

The search for reasons why the derivative market is THE reason for killing the world economy (all $700 Trillion of the bets that are burying us); the Wall Street boiler rooms which created the foreclosure meltdown by securitizing and selling off worthless debt; the fact that mortgage brokers were psychologically beaten and threatened to create more and more product – is nowhere to be found in the local press. What this “news” organization focuses on is the DWI’s in local police blotters, dogs being brought into Town Hall, and noise violations in Westhampton Beach. Instead of bringing New Yorkers closer to the Hamptons, targeting and attacks are the new “journalism.” The institutional racism, which has spawned numerous Federal lawsuits, against Town Attorneys and politicians, has received little or no follow-up.
Where are the reports about the true costs for legal fees due to the unconstitutional actions that hide behind the Towns legal decisions? Where is the investigation of Code Enforcement personnel that target landlords who rent property to immigrants – under the direction of the Town. Why are there no apologies for targeting landlords in news pieces that are completely false and pander to Town officials?
Why? Because it is too dangerous to the ad budget and would displease the Republicans. It would also open up the Loucheims to unwanted scrutiny and lawsuits. Best not to go there.

Watch for more “leaks” and attacks against political opponents or New Yorkers via DiNapoli which the Press despises and tries to pass off as “investigative reporting” from a “news” organization that cannot even spell-check its articles properly. The Southampton Press is a throwback to the type of local targeting mechanism-for-hire that takes orders from its political handlers who have a lot to hide.

The Howell Raines imbroglio at the New York Times comes to mind – but, of course, even those fictitious journalistic entries by Jayson Blair were not ordered by the local political party in power.

Let’s see how this plays out.

Hamptons Politics

2009-03-11T21:19:00.010-04:00

Morality, like art, means drawing a line someplace.
-- Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900)
Election rumors in the Town of Southampton are heating up. Between the missing money that no one can seem to find and the implosion underway in the economy, it will take clean hands and moral strength to pull the Hamptons through this storm. The bucolic East End was a sleepy rural area at one time but that was decades ago before McMansions and heavy Republican politics. Many of the former politicians like Skip Heaney were from “up Island” and influences from neighboring towns saw the money, which flowed through the Preservation Fund coffers and moved in.

This years contests include the Supervisor’s post, Town Board slots, Town Clerk and Town Highway Superintendent. Nuzzi is running again for a slot on the board and, surprisingly, while a Crookhaven transplant and Heaney protégé he’s come out on the right side of a few issues. But, the real contests are Town Supervisor and Highway Superintendent.
First, Alex Gregor is rumored to be considering a run for William Masterson’s position as Highway Superintendent. This is not the first time they would be squaring off against each other. However, the previous race was marred by dirty tricks on the part of the Heaney Republicans and a lot of local voters remember the bad taste in their mouths over that campaign and how Masterson won. Gregor would likely win this contest and it would be a major vote for good government.
The Kabot/Throne-Holst race is a bit different. Kabot was a step up from Heaney and the Republicans who controlled Town Hall for decades. The animosity between Kabot and the Heaney controlled machine was palpable. Unfortunately, Kabot has squandered her victory and has appeared to play it safe at every turn and has not come out with strength on any important issue. Unfortunately, she has also recently dwelled upon a non-issue and leaked a negative press piece to the local organ of the Republican Party – The Southampton Press – about Throne-Holst bringing her dog to work, of all things. Try as it might, the Press’s anachronistic attempt at journalism always manages to fall on its face and show its reactionary roots. If ad sales continue as they have with other major news organizations, however, the days of the online and printed version of this publication may be numbered.
Clearly, while Anna Throne-Holst has had minor missteps in the service of improving the environment, she is an outspoken reformer. The Town now has an opportunity to make a fresh political start in a resort area that will now be severely challenged by world economic events and its local history of punitive values. The little understood financial realities that have trickled down from the derivative disaster – which has caused everything from subprime defaults to the evaporation of credit -- is something that the new Supervisor must cope with. The financial investigation that is going on in the Town, the prospects of a severely reduced budget, and the realities of the Preservation Fund drying up – will be challenging. And, all are Republican-made problems that are a result of greed and, to be charitable, mismanagement.
Throne-Holst has a steady hand and does not owe her success to any group. While the Democrats supported her in her Town Board election, they do not own her vision.

The Panic Phase

2009-03-02T21:28:00.012-05:00

The only way not to think about money is to have a great deal of it.
-- Edith Wharton (1862 - 1937)

It is difficult for most of us to believe that we now may be looking over the precipice.

A series of Doom and Gloom pieces published here were somewhat unpleasant – but now there is the real prospect of a very serious drop brought on and also perpetuated by a deflationary spiral. If you’re out of work in the Hamptons and you’ve been trying to figure out what to do next, there is no surprise about what’s out there. What was unthinkable before now seems possible.

Rentals are off, jobs are difficult to find, and home sales are few and far between and the blame game is now beginning in earnest. When in doubt, indict someone.
The press is not immune and the bloodletting in that industry is just beginning. Newspapers are filing Ch. 11 at an alarming speed. Suffolk Life was one of the first local publications to go after the Improper Hamptonian bit the bullet. More will follow. It has little to do with newsworthiness. The problem is lack of advertising. Businesses that typically advertise, which are failing, hasten the demise of publications -- and then there is the readership move to the Internet. Hamptons.com and 27 East, for example, have had some success -- but that does not sell newspapers. Regardless of the merits of those publications, people have stopped buying newspapers, stopped subscribing, and will not pay for Internet access. It’s a deadly combination for publishing since reporters and office staff still needs to get paid. This week the venerable Rocky Mountain News ceased publishing,
The New York Times faces a possible Chapter 11 and most newspapers operate in the red.
To make matters worse, it has been open season on journalists. In Russia they shoot them, in Somalia they murder them, in Iran they arrest them, in Suffolk they terrorize and indict them.

The 401K that was supposed to allow boomers to retire in style are now worth 50-70% less than they did a year ago. And, the Buy and Hold crowd is thinning out. Enrollment has dropped at private schools. Real Estate prices are dropping in the Hamptons and in Manhattan and are expected to arrive at a point that is at least 50% below what they were a year and a half ago. There are some who predict that drops of 90% in value are possible if we truly hit the panic phase in the stock market and deflation accelerates. That’s possible. Not likely, but possible. This era of deflation may take all of ’09, ’10 and ’11 to play out. Not a pretty picture.
If that happens, none of us are safe from the financial devastation that will ensue. Social unrest will follow as it already has in the Eastern block countries.

Right now, newspapers and websites dwell upon salacious stories of fraud, murders, disasters and mayhem. Law enforcement personnel, like prime time players in old episodes of Law and Order, are busy trying to find someone to blame. Meanwhile, Wall Street continues to hand out bonuses for having papered the world with securitized debt that was worthless before it was packaged.

If they ever find out where the money went at Town Hall in Southampton, people might wonder if it really was all of those New Yorkers who are responsible for the mess after all. The Feds are at least looking to find out where the money went.

The Other Shoe

2009-02-18T10:35:00.006-05:00

I never did give them hell. I just told the truth, and they thought it was hell.
-- Harry S Truman (1884 - 1972)

As the Monty Python players famously remarked, “No one ever expects the Spanish Inquisition.” Similarly, in the Hamptons economy, which is driven by real estate, no one ever expected the kind of financial problems like those in California and Kansas. Still fewer expect the kind of dire financial problems about to hit New York – not to mention the Hamptons.

While the current difficulties were clearly predictable several years ago, it is only now that there is a sense if dire fiscal eventualities, that will soon be upon us. Manhattan is no exception. With a predicted loss of 275,000 jobs on Wall Street; the disappearance of Investment Banks –-which was the driver of the worldwide expansion of money and credit; and virtual elimination of mortgage lending – a one to two year recession may take five years to play out. There are those who think that this country will not recover from this bout of deflation, which may turn into hyperinflation from printing all of those trillions for bailouts, until the early 2020’s.

The Spring selling season in the Hamptons has all of the earmarks of a temporary lift, which will last 3 or 4 months. Small properties, those in the $300,000 to $500,000 are starting to sell. Larger properties are sitting with no activity.

And, while there are some rentals, local businesses in the Hamptons will face stiffer competition and budget conscious tourists. The Town of Southampton may need Federal money to remain viable. The “business-as-usual” trend towards increased fines, increased taxes and harassment of New Yorkers may not be a good idea in these economic times.
The immigrant problem, which created lots of bad blood and a very negative attitude, will be solved by economics. Everyone is leaving town due to lack of work.

Freedom of the Press

2009-02-09T22:18:00.004-05:00

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.
--Abraham Lincoln (1809 - 1865)

In Suffolk County there have been numerous Federal investigations into corruption over a period of decades – all of which were unsuccessful. One possible reason for this is that there was no corruption.

The other possibility is that it is so entrenched that the circle-the-wagons mentality, which maintains an elite club of crooked D.A.’s, repressive Police, bought judges and fearful media, makes Federal prosecutions very difficult. Political enemies must be willing to pay the price in Suffolk’s “Democracy.”
The Marty Tankleff case, for example, which the SoHo Journal has been writing about for several years is an example of how an innocent individual was targeted and deprived of almost everything we hold dear in this best of all possible New York counties. From the Suffolk D.A. on down the chain, including prosecutors, judges, and police – do not like to be called out on their behavior. Retaliation is the political norm in the Hamptons.

Currently there is more press freedom in the former Soviet Union than is tolerated in Suffolk County.

And, there is very little in the way of opposition in the media. True Journalism is becoming a dangerous profession. Bloggers write at their own risk.

In Russia and Somalia they shoot people for writing the truth.

In this country they indict them for anything that will get headlines.

As a result of numerous articles that exposed the shameful attempts to keep Marty Tankleff in prison for a crime that he did not commit; commentary on the cover-up and involvement in that travesty by the current D. A. Thomas Spota; the series of blogs by this writer exposing racism in the Hamptons and complicity by the D.A.’s outpost in Justice Court; and, as a result of the unconstitutional behavior by the Town of Southampton in dealing with New Yorkers, property owners and Latinos who live in these properties –- the Suffolk County D.A. ordered and executed a raid on the offices of the SoHo Journal and this blogger. It was a bold effort ordered by Spota to teach journalists that anyone who criticizes him or his corrupt administration can be reached with the aid of the New York City Police Department.
At least 20 Suffolk County Detectives with automatic weapons, supported by three 1st Precinct police including Sgt. Morales conducted the raid.

Business records were taken, personal property and valuables were confiscated and Detectives, who were seeking to silence any opposition to political corruption in Suffolk County and the Hamptons, removed computers containing articles and publication drafts. A child’s cell phone and an artist’s computer were also taken.

Detective Josef Miceli, of the D.A.’s Detectives division -rapidly becoming known to be an individual closesly associated with the corrupt political structure and repression - led the raid.

Miceli is a zealot run by Spota, who has fostered indictments and phony confessions from little old ladies, blacks and poor people for non-criminal violations – (such as the “Star Program” tax deductions). Convictions are obtained by threats of imprisonment and the impossible cost to fight a criminal complaint - which supports the D.A.’s “conviction rate” and subsequent budget demands for law enforcement. Detective Miceli, acted on a phony “tip” initiated by a former police officers working with Town Attorneys (who have already been sued in Federal Court for targeting and retaliation), in attempting to shut down the publication’s offices.

During the raid, one glock-weilding Detective stated, “You don’t like police in this magazine, do you?” as a SoHo Journal was picked up.

Well, Hello! Wonder why you would say that, hey fella?

You’re here for what, suppression of Free of Speech?

As Sol Wachtler once said, “district attorneys now have so much influence on grand juries that 'by and large' they could get them to 'indict a ham sandwich'." And, of course, that’s the plan.

As has been shown in “The Terror” during the days of Josef Stalin, pressure by the State using its unlimited resources can force confessions and threaten to create crimes where none ever existed.

Soon, the show trials will begin anew in America. Anything can be made to appear to be a crime in Suffolk County – especially against one is speaking the truth.
For eight years, civil rights and the Constitution have been whittled away by George Bush – and one can only hope that that will now change under Obama.

This is the current state of our Democracy in the Hamptons.

Freedom-loving tourists and New Yorkers, especially those who believe in Constitutional rights, should stay in Manhattan. Let the Suffolk politicians pay their own bills as they arrest anyone who criticizes them.

Just One More Question . . .

2009-02-02T17:08:00.016-05:00

Every culture has its distinctive and normal system of government. Yours is democracy, moderated by corruption. Ours is totalitarianism, moderated by assassination.
-- Unknown Russian

Now that we have learned that $19 Million dollars is missing from the Town of Southampton, the question becomes – where is it? And when was it missing?
For those of you who have not been following the handwringing, remember that real estate taxes -- the money that pays for this government -- is severely reduced and likely to partially evaporate. California can't pay its bills, New York City is about to follow suit and the Town of Southampton may be an economic disaster area before the end of this summer. It should not be lost on anyone that Wall Street drove the economy and paid for the Hamptons government. It should also not be lost on anyone that Investment banks drove the Wall Street machine -- and that they no longer exist.

Of course, if you read between the lines, it’s not so much a question of where that missing Southampton money is now. It is question of how long it has been missing and whether the money was being massaged over the last several years compliments of nearly a decade of Republican “management." Can we be surprised by a group of buddies fed by Masterson’s highway department and his contracts for Town highway contracts and a Planning Board run by a developer named Zizzi? Now that Heaney is carefully ensconced in one of Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy’s mindless jobs to save his lifestyle, will the cover come off the can of worms?

Richard Blowes resigned (was fired?) today from his job and a few other heads may roll. According to Kabot he will focus on finding the $19 Mil.

Instead of asking Blowes, perhaps Heaney and the Republicans can help them find the money. The cell tower and cash on the front seat comes to mind in the last Federal investigation.

According to sources in the Blowes matter, Charlene Kagen who is mentioned in the news reports and who was the former comptroller maintained that Blowes was incapable of reading a spreadsheet. His salary was $118, 000 and he had refused to allow her to train her successor (the Town will now probably hire her back as a consultant to plow through the mess). She is currently Comptroller, Town of Brookhaven but was not able to be reached for comment.

Cheryl Kraft, head of Code Enforcement was also demoted and there may be some changes coming from that direction as well. Her salary was reduced to “only” $114,000. Perhaps, if the Town needs to do a Ch. 11 filing at some point – considering all of the off-budget legal fees defending against unconstitutional behavior – she may be asked to get lost.

Or, perhaps, Obama’s Justice Department will find the racist evictions signed off on by the Justice Court in tandem with the Town Attorney’s office -- might become interested in the unconstitutional behavior there as well.
Just to keep it interesting, George Guldi, former Suffolk County Legislator has thrown his hat into the ring. There are quite a few happy voters and, surprisingly, a few sour faces in the Suffolk County Democratic Party hierarchy. We’ll keep you posted.

Southampton Village Police Chief Wilson apparently has been spotted looking for a job in Las Vegas. That could be interesting. The motivation for that has not yet been established. It might be hotter here than there.

Seems that the Appeals court has found that D.A. Spota’s hounding of nurses who quit their jobs because of abuse -- by threatening criminal action against them and their attorney is a little too much like Stalin’s moves in the Great Terror during the 1930’s. As the appellate court ruled, a synopsis by Mitchell Rubinstein wrote:

“Both the lawyer and his clients [were] criminally charged with endangering the welfare of critically ill pediatric patients and related crimes because the nurses resigned en masse without notice. You might think that such a case could not arise in Twenty-First Century America, but in 2007 that is exactly what occurred in Suffolk County New York and resulted in a New York appellate court having to prohibit the criminal prosecution of both the nurses and their attorney. Matter of Vinluan v. Doyle, ___A.D.3d___, 2009 WL 93065 (2d. Dep't. Jan. 13, 2009).”

They don’t call Suffolk County a Police State for nothing.

Institutional Racism

2009-01-26T09:07:00.004-05:00

A functioning police state needs no police.
-- William S. Burroughs

There is some speculation about the meaning of a recent report that Town Supervisor Linda Kabot and Board member Nancy Graboski will take over the control of Code Enforcement in the Town of Southampton. A meeting is scheduled on that issue on Tuesday. Of course, almost anything is possible in the land of a real estate driven economy where cash literally used to fall from the spec house cedar shakes. Now that the grim reality of reduced transfer fees for the Preservation Fund, slimmer taxes flowing from an impoverished class of landlords and property owners, and a budget that predicts disaster for currently overstuffed Town bureaucrats – something needs to change. Six figure salaries for any police officers are absurd in this economy, unless they have a gun to your head, literally.

This potential change in how “City Hall” is operated may reflect the growing awareness that the racists who have operated this badly trained Police force (Code Enforcement) have done nothing to improve the Town. The sub Rosa instructions to this paramilitary group which has been used to target political enemies and conduct a terror campaign against immigrants and the landlords who dare to rent to them, is the real point of their mission. The major drivers of this band of incompetents have been Cheryl Kraft, Steve Frano, Donald Kauth and David Betts (Town Investigator). Together, with their flunkies, they have pressured judges to sign search warrants to check for smoke detectors and gotten Town Attorneys like Joe Lombardo to deprive landlords of their property – instead of conducting a sane policy of educating property owners. Housing safety was never their concern. Most of these characters, incidentally, have been named in Federal lawsuits for unconstitutional behavior.
It has always been true that if housing safety in the Hamptons was the point, ALL homeowners would be invited to take part in a Town-wide campaign of education – and, not in the Stalinist sense of the word.

Perhaps, the raid against Kabot’s aunt during Heaney’s primary challenge was a key ingredient in a coming shift? Heaney ran on a platform of destroying immigrants and those who harbored them in their homes and schools. And, now he works for Levy, someone accused of a deeply racist agenda. Every politician from D.A. Spota to Representative Bishop participates in this little charade in varying degrees.
Perhaps, the numerous Federal lawsuits that are costing the Town huge legal fees for the unconstitutional behavior of a few local malcontents whose racist agenda are embarrassing – has some bearing upon this?
And, perhaps, with the complicity of the Town Attorney’s office in prosecuting landlords -- exemplifying a pattern of Institutional Racism under a new Justice Department -- may not seem so wise after all. The new Federal view of these antics may not play well in Washington.

Time will tell.

Historic Shifts

2009-01-12T11:27:00.007-05:00

It's a recession when your neighbor loses his job; it's a depression when you lose yours.
--Harry S Truman (1884 - 1972)

One of the problems with the blame game affecting the views of our contracting economy is that we fail to recognize the seismic shifts that occur among populations ranging from aging baby-boomers to new births – as well as flows of capital, business cycles and markets. The ebb and flow of capital and degrees of risk and risk-avoidance – as well as major financial cycles -- are outside of our control. Some of these sometimes generational factors are completely independent of toxic financial vehicles likes SIV’s and CDO’s and whether Bear Sterns or Lehman Brothers have taken the pipe. The shell games going on in corporate America are as much a result of the cyclical forces as they may be the cause of current pain. Even the Madoff fiasco is a symptom, not a cause. In short, nothing that the Federal government or we can do will alter what is about to happen.

We are entering a deep Recession that will become a Depression by 2011. During that segment in our history there will be a stock market rally lasting for perhaps several months, a very brief improvement in lower end real estate numbers and a resurgence of inflation – but will shortly be followed by an even more calamitous collapse.

Knowing this may or may not prevent the S.E.C. or D.A.’s office from trying to blame individuals for what is about to happen. But, it’s important to know that there is no correlation between specific events and the macro cycle we now face. The events we are about to witness are cyclical and inevitable. Those macro events currently affect the evaporation of capital, the downsizing of business and the deflation (and inflation) about to ravage the economy. The inflation, which will occur within the next year or two, will be short-lived and prepare us for the precipitous drop shortly thereafter.
Credible predictions for the local economy in Manhattan and the Hamptons see the loss of 4 to 5 million jobs, a reduction in the number of retail companies and stores through closure or bankruptcy, and a further deflation in the value of real estate. In the Hamptons, home prices will have fallen by 50% by the end of 2010. According Harry Dent author of The Great Depression Ahead, in order to arrive at values consistent with long term trends, real estate must drop between 40 and 60 percent from 2007 values in order to attain balance.

In Manhattan, where prices have just started to drop – meaning, that brokers have finally admitted that it is happening – the slide has just begun. Projects have stopped in some locations and commercial real estate will deflate at an alarming rate – which will cause bankruptcies and rents to drop precipitously. Harry Macklowe’s tribulations are a symptom of what will happen to many major developers and landlords.
Manhattan apartment rentals have already started to drop and we are only at the beginning of what will become a full-blown Depression by the end of 2010 to 2011. The reduction in services in Manhattan will be difficult to believe and the quality of life stemming from the relentless fines and fees that Bloomberg resorts to will sour any positive feelings towards his Savior image. A respite to this scenario may not occur until 2013 to 2016.

In the Hamptons, an economy that is entirely built and paid for on the backs of New Yorkers who buy summer homes and investment property, the only question is whether a Chapter 11 is in their future. In recent months, one broker described his business succinctly, “the phone doesn’t even ring.”
A broker in East Quogue reported that even the houses in the $300,000 to $500,000 range are not selling. Many McMansions have already dropped by 50% in value (if not price) – and have further to go on the downside.
There will be a modest upsurge in Hamptons real estate activity as people try to rent a summer house and pool their money to share it – as the Code Enforcement police (who will be getting pink slips along with many more of the Town of Southampton’s employees this year) try to fine and criminalize this last and only form of income.
Regardless of how Southampton Town or East Hampton Town treats this brief shot in the arm for the summer season, after the Spring “selling season” is over the slide in that economy will start in earnest. The deflation in real estate will be the new long-term trend – along with the tax base that once propped up the local economy. The brief resurgence of $200/barrel oil (which will collapse again to $30) will exacerbate local conditions that are made worse by with a corrupt political bureaucracy. The
flow of easy money in the Hamptons is gone and this will end decades of political incompetence.
Look for oppressive attempts by the local governments to squeeze money out of tourists and property owners who will abandon properties in growing numbers.

While the towns in the Hamptons might seek a political solution by reaching out to New Yorkers in order to solve the impending disaster by working together, that will not happen. Lip service was once given about hiring a Public Advocate to bring New Yorkers – who pay for the economy – into the local political process but until the vote is garnered that would not happen.

Sell all real estate if you can and buy 30-year Treasury Bonds. It will be a long and difficult ride. Even buying food (which will escalate in cost) will become an issue for many families.

A New Year in the Hamptons

2009-01-04T18:11:00.003-05:00

Nobody outside of a baby carriage or a judge's chamber believes in an unprejudiced point of view.
--Lillian Hellman

A recent break-in involving several hundred thousand dollars of restaurant decor, fixtures and equipment was carted
away this weekend after an alarm went off in Westhampton Beach. The perpetrators produced a phony set of court papers to the local police officer (called twice on the matter). The police officer just waved on the workers who disappeared with three trucks full of merchandise. On the spot, the officer apparently had ruled that it had to be a civil matter while the alarm blared and the wires were being illegally ripped out. Seems like a little training might be in order.

In Quogue, the Motz case still hangs in limbo since the Christmas Verdict ploy apparently didn’t work. It appears that the stock swindle case will now be heard this month (instead of December) despite attempts to lessen the severity of the matter at hand. A new date is not yet set but is expected to go to trial this month.
Since the Federal judge is in his eighties, the plan to seek succor based upon age may not work. Motz is just a kid as far as he is concerned.
Federal prosecutors have a different level of credibility than local D.A.’s.
While indigenous D.A.’s, like Spota, are known to employ bag men for cooperating attorneys to obtain beneficial results for their clients, use corrupt cops for investigations and informers, and utilize docile jurors who are often half asleep – in order to obtain indictments -- the Feds are usually awake and have a point to make. Political targeting is big in the Hamptons.

Don’t expect too many different results in the Hamptons this New Year.

The Christmas Verdict

2008-12-25T12:36:00.002-05:00

Crime does not pay ... as well as politics.
-- Alfred E. Newman

For those of you who were holding your breath waiting for the results of the “Quogue matter” involving the S.E.C. claim and indictment involving Mayor Motz – half of the dynamic duo running the Village (his wife Kitrick is the Village judge) – you’ll be happy to know that the back door is still open in the Hamptons, even on the Federal level.
Apparently, as a few learned attorneys have commented, the Christmas Verdict refers to a little known ploy that allows a defendant to go to trial when juries are least likely to convict and most likely to want to NOT be locked in a controversy. The case went to trial on the 19th.
It seems that Motz, or his connected Republican buddies in the Town and Village still know a few important politicians and sympathizers among those who prosecute these matters. Too bad Gonzalez isn’t still running the AG deals. The investment firm will now be convicted (no individuals) and Motz is likely to avoid any untidy outcomes. Money is not the issue, as recompense has been arranged – after the fact, of course. Only jail time was of a concern. Ticket switching is only a crime when Democrats or defendants without Republican connections are involved. There are lots of them in the Hamptons.

Looks like Quogue residents may continue to get what they deserve in Village government.

Happy Holidays.

A Dose of Reality

2008-12-21T22:40:00.011-05:00

When a stupid man is doing something he is ashamed of, he always declares that it is his duty.
-- George Bernard Shaw

We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.
-- Aesop

As the Hamptons economy burns, the Southampton Town Board fiddles, the real estate industry implodes, Suffolk County D.A., Tom Spota arrests people. It’s not bad enough that Henry Paulson is saving his buddies at Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley -- by dishing out billions from under the TARP to cover them for the losses that they created by handing out mortgages to anyone breathing – now Spota’s Economic Crimes unit is busy trying to criminalize the people who accepted the largesse. The bogus paper known facetiously as CDO’s and SVI’s -- debts that were bundled into securities by thirty year olds pulling down $5 million dollar a year bonuses at Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers and Bear Sterns. One thirty year old from Merrill Lynch recently commented that he left the company with $20 million in cash and his only heartburn comes from trying to figure out how not to pay taxes on it.
You think he has a mortgage to worry about?

So Spota, seeing an opportunity to show what a tough guy and a great politician he is, along with his envious Detectives on a paycheck and all they can arrange under the table who try to “make” cases by threatening people -- went into action against the poor schmucks that Wall Street people targeted. Mortgage holders and real estate owners have always been the preferred targets of police. They try to pay their bills and they are law-abiding middle class citizens and investors – who in this case were conned into being part of the biggest Ponzi scheme in history – not Madoff’s – but the securitized mortgages scheme by Wall Street that generated billions in fees to everyone in on the scam even before the ink was dry on the bonds and notes. The middle-class homeowners who took the loans and bought the property that greased the economy are easy to intimidate and convictions are a snap. There is zero risk for cops. No drug dealers or hold-up threats here.
There was no way that the escalation of financing by Wall Street forced upon a greedy society (like the Town of Southampton where the party is now over) which pushed banks, mortgage brokers and real estate agents to push loans -- ever expected, or cared, whether the bill would ever be paid. That was never part of the equation. That never mattered to the kids pulling down $5, 10, or $20 mil per year. There were so many tricks in the fine print that Wall Street’s yuppies and CEO’s knew to take their fees first and move on before the shit hit the fan. That was part of the plan and when they finally acknowledged the Ponzi scheme that THEY had created, they were out the door and long gone. Of course, Paulson then had to bail them all out.

What is happening now in Suffolk County is the age old 90% -plus conviction rate game – the D.A.’s ploy to hold on to his job – boasting high conviction rates by picking on people who do not have the resources to defend themselves against bogus criminal charges. They know better than to go after the Bear Sterns executives because any laws actually broken (if there were any) were beyond the D.A.’s ability to prosecute. Better to go after middle class people who were the real victims in all of this – by virtue of Wall Street’s greed, mortgage broker’s greed and the greed of Towns and Villages with bloated economies and police forces pulling down a few hundred thousand a year.
Even local corruption, like the Masterson Southampton Town Highway department con game of collecting cash from pavers for contracts for the Republican Party, is ignored. That’s a political accommodation. Then, there are the local law firms (with partners in Town government) who have been illegally steering business to themselves and off-budgeting any hard legal work to outside legal firms at $500 per hour, while getting a kickback. That too, is ignored by the D.A.

Spota is a Republican despite the Democratic moniker. And, the D.A. recently cut a deal for himself after it became clear that his continued prosecution of Marty Tankleff (who was railroaded into prison for 17 years by one of Spota’s clients, a dirty cop) was a tad too over the top. He subsequently appointed a Special Prosecutor so he could go out the back door, who, low and behold, dropped the entire matter against Tankleff. Showmanship is part of law enforcement and the media is “malleable” in Suffolk. Aside from Tankleff’s release, some really positive results arose from the birth of such organizations such as the Fortress Innocence Project – a world class investigations agency that assists wrongly imprisoned individuals.
Jay Salpeter, who worked hard to help Tankleff,
is among its highly qualified staff.

In truth, Spota is better than Catterson, a D.A. who was a retaliative dimwit that practically ran a bag man operation out of his Suffolk County bar -- and who routinely got drunk with another recently departed bully, Dave Wilmot, the publisher of a now defunct comic book known as Suffolk Life. “News” was routinely leaked to Suffolk Life by the likes of Town Attorney Joe Lombardo when a character assassination job was needed on any targets who actually believed in the Constitution. Lombardo, known as a legal errand-boy for Heaney and the Republicans was given the job of executing Southampton Town’s anti-Latino racial bias and its concomitant landlord policy directed against New Yorkers -- and has been sued in Federal Court in part for his complicity.
Town Attorneys Joe Lombardo and Michael Sendlenski both operate a plea bargain program for the Town, ostensibly directed at code violations, in order to bring in fines while intimidating New Yorkers – who pay for the entire economy. While Town officials and friends of the police never see a visit from the Code Enforcement clowns, anyone who criticizes the Justice Court, Town Attorneys or Police are regular targets. Unfortunately, due to this corrupt system, many people have been forced to give up their property rights while a rumored “payoffs for constitutional rights” operation continues. Investigators have uncovered widespread abuse of the legal system where nearly 90% of the housing in the Town is substandard or below State codes yet, is ignored or tolerated. Code Enforcement is only used for targeting, not safety.

All of this is essential to the Southampton Town Attorney’s office operation which has followed Skip Heaney’s announced agenda against New Yorkers -- of prosecuting landlords and the taking of their property if they rent to people who are on their racist hit list (illegal immigrants, blacks, or Latinos). While there is often no illegality found as a result of the expensive searches, seizures, fines and plea deals -- coping with the cost for justice in a prosecutorial environment can be daunting, if not impossible. Silencing objectors, of course, is the point.

As Sol Wachtler once said, most prosecutors can get a Grand Jury to indict “a ham sandwich.”

Justice is ephemeral and in Suffolk County it’s based upon who you know, not whether you did anything wrong. A.D.A’s and Detectives in Suffolk County routinely threaten people on and off the job because they know that they can ruin a person’s life with any criminal charge that causes large legal fees and fear, despite their dubious legitimacy. And, as criminal attorneys will attest: those who lie the most on the witness stand with impunity -- are police and prosecutors. Many judges are blind to the game – until you get into Federal Court.
Recently, for example, scores of people were arrested for having unwittingly forgotten to advise the tax collector in Suffolk County that they are no longer qualified for STAR exemptions – and were arrested by the D.A.s office for something that is simply not a crime. It is a completely civil matter. There is no criminal penalty for the oversight – even if it was intentional. Old ladies, black people, working mothers and laborers were dragged in to court by Suffolk County D.A. Detectives. Everyone pleaded guilty, of course. They did not have the money or legal counsel to withstand the pressure. But, every aspect of it smells of intimidation.
Of course, you tell that to the high school grads at your door with badges and guns drawn. You don’t pick a fight with someone holding all of the cards. And, there’s the rub. Justice is expensive and risky. Suffolk County juries are not known for their legal knowledge. They are hand-picked by corrupt A.D.A’s looking for a raise or notoriety.
In Manhattan, the D.A. goes after criminals. Bob Morgenthau may not be a saint, but he’s alert, awake, and has a real sense of justice – in spite of his age and long experience. His top prosecutor, Dan Kastleman is as tough as they come, but does not prosecute people as a political favor to informers, police, or politicians. Not so in Suffolk County.

Police routinely move from on duty, to home security company, to informer. They may not have any balls left but they still have the urge to be relevant and feign importance – even when they step over the line. Until they are caught.

The Hamptons are known for its Police State mentality and the concept of retaliation for not going along with the program is acknowledged widely – so that the Town Attorneys, current and former Police officers, current and retired Supervisors or Town officials, Code Enforcement personnel – all have a vested interest in being informers and inciters to augment the Republicans -- the symbols of which are described by Seth MacFarlane as "an elephant, and a big fat white guy who is threatened by change."
Recently, in fact, where no criminal actions existed, in an environment of retaliation, D.A. detectives have been hiring out their services and doing personal favors both on and off duty -- to feed this illegal operation of acting to further personal vendettas using their badges. They know that this is an effective way to conduct what the NKVD perpetrated in the Soviet Union during the 1930's. It was called "The Terror." Rather than support of their efforts in the service of Justice, honesty and diligence, the D.A. and his Detectives would prefer to be feared rather than respected by the public. That was true of Stalin and Machievelli as well.

As the economy sinks further into the muck and mire – verging on a full-blown Depression by the year 2011– more illegality will be uncovered. But, it won’t be due to people like the couple in East Quogue who were accused of supplying incorrect information in order to obtain a mortgage -- It will be due to Hedge Funds who won’t (or cannot) return money to investors, financial institutions who cooked up securitized debt obligations and who knowingly sold off trillions of dollars of phony securitized mortgages to make commissions and signaled to everyone in the real estate market that they needed more and more product to feed their insatiable need for commissions, salaries and bonuses. The mortgage banks like American Home or American Brokers Conduit, as in the case of the East Quogue matter, were encouraged to package loans however they could so the loans could be passed off. So, where are the Wall Street boys in this so-called investigation? Oops, probably couldn’t get them to lie down on that end of the “investigation.”

Counties, Towns, Villages and even States may be headed for bankruptcy.

And, this is a ship of state that few realize is in much deeper trouble than anyone yet realizes. With the probability that another 4 million will be unemployed this coming year; with the probability that the foreclosure numbers will INCREASE over the next two years; and, with the reality that this economic pain is a worldwide reality for several years going forward – expect the Justice system to founder and collapse along with the Bankruptcy system, as it seeks answers while attempting to punish innocent victims in its bewilderment.

What we have to do is take the power away from the abusers in our society.
In the Town of Southampton, we must succeed in obtaining the right to vote so that Justice is a reality.

The Big L – Gloom and Doom Part 3

2008-11-21T23:28:00.001-05:00

Here's what Richard Russell (Dow Theory Letters) -- one of the few market commentators with first-hand experience of the Great Depression -- has to say:

“The market is warning of a coming depression. Next year there’ll be a huge problem of unemployment, job openings will have disappeared, and every business will be going over its personal thinking in terms of who the business can do without.

“The sentiment in the country will be dark grey to jet black. Fortunes will have been wiped out. Thousands of savings plans and 401Ks will have been shattered. Americans who have never experienced true hard times will be living hard times. Confusion and fear will be rampant. How do I know all this? I’ve been here before, I know the signs.”

By now, even those among us that think economists are people who know what they’re talking about, realize this: that the genie is now out of the bottle. Few believe that the government has a handle on where this ship of state is headed, financially. Despite Wall Street and its current health, next year and quite possibly the year after, 2009 and 2010, will almost certainly be a disaster. Even if a traditional-style recovery on Wall Street were to start happening now, there is no imaginative vehicle, like CDO’s or SIV’s, that will be the “next big thing” to bail out this economy. Wall Street may recover slowly from here, but it is more likely that any rally that occurs will be a Bear Rally, to be followed by pain -- a lot more pain.

What lies ahead is not a V or a U – traditional symbols of a bounce in Wall Street that signals we are recovering. The big L is now what is predicted if we are lucky enough to avoid the big D.
This describes a long, long, slide down – followed by a very long period of flat or low economic activity accompanied by deflation. It is clearly NOT a period of recovery – it is a period of economic stagnation. Few new jobs, little housing activity and disasterous, permanent downsizing. Only afterwards, assuming that rational economic policy – worldwide – is put into place, can there be any growth.
If you doubt this, contemplate the fact that Japan was in the dumpster for 17 years before it began to recover. Contemplate the fact that real economic activity after 1929 did not occur until World War II – and that any stock purchased in 1929, which was followed by SEVEN major drops before it ended in 1932, did not regain its value until 1954.

We are now still on the slide. Housing has another year or two before it hits bottom. Many houses in the Hamptons have already dropped by 50% in value and Manhattan condos and coops are just now beginning to fall in value. Many of the sales figures that real estate companies provide are hype. Few brokers will tell the truth that activity has fallen by 30-35% and that prices are buoyed only be the averages artificially skewed by a few extremely upscale new developments which are as close to speculating in tulips, as one can imagine.
Price drops are now common. They will soon be the norm.
With 50,000 Citigroup pink slips, 10% of JPMorgan Chase employees being dropped and the combined redundancies at the Merrill/Bank of America merger, the Lehman fiasco and the disappearance of WAMU, not to mention the bank failures across the country – credit, capital and investment is fast disappearing. The recovery figures in housing are based upon limited sales – foreclosures and short sales. By the end of this year and next, several million more people will be out of work and the foreclosures may INCREASE rather than decrease as a result.
There are convincing arguments that we are, in fact, no matter what anyone does, headed into a Depression by 2011. This is based upon the cumulative begging, borrowing and stealing now going on by the Federal government – which uses printed money to solve an essential problem with our economic model. And, that is, there is a limit on how long you can pay your bills and the interest on your bills by borrowing yet more money. That process, created by massive leveraging, does end somewhere. And, since we are still leveraging our way out of this mess by printing more money, issuing more Treasury Bills, and bailing out more inefficient businesses, the end will not be pretty.

What is to be learned from this?
Nothing. This is our future.
Everyone needs to understand where we all going.
To know is to be forewarned.

Buying gold is a hedge but until grocery stores start accepting gold coins for bread, the only transactions that can be had are with Steve, the coin dealer. It is neither realistic nor practical to hoard gold. And, don’t forget, those who bought gold at $950 an ounce a few months ago, have lost $200 on that investment already.
Reducing expenses, downsizing your business, limiting unnecessary purchases and increasing your productivity are among the few things you can do personally. If you MUST attend a political fundraiser, be damned sure that he or she represents your needs and will give you real promises.

What may be helpful in knowing what is about to happen, assuming that GM, Ford and Chrysler do get a bailout or bridge-to-nowhere loans (since non are viable business models), is that voters need to keep a sharp eye on the politicians.
Forget Bush and forget Paulson – the Goldman Sachs CEO who bailed out his buddies on Wall Street first -- and then scrapped plans to buy the toxic debt which he used to convince Congress to give him the money. Paulson had resigned effective January even before he got the green light from Congress, so he’s already accomplished what he needed for his friends.

But, local politicians need to be watched like a hawk.

In the Hamptons, where a bankruptcy in the Town of Southampton is not unlikely, more local residents need to understand that the Republicans have been running things for decades. They are used to living off of the fat in the real estate game – by taking the property taxes and the transfer taxes intended for the Community Preservation Fund to run the government. Fred Thiele, former Town of Southampton Supervisor, buddy of Democratic County Chairman Rich Schaeffer and friend of racist County Executive Steve Levy – created the Preservation Fund to buy vacant land not to be developed. That fund has now been raided by Supervisors in East Hampton and Southampton in order to pay salaries and other expenses. In other words, instead of the painful decisions, they have dipped into that money improperly, if not illegally.

What does this tell you? It tells all of us that the source of funds to run the government – the money used to abuse New Yorkers, landlords, non-resident taxpaying property owners – has dried up. The entire local economy in the Hamptons is in deep, deep trouble. And still, like before, they exclude the ONLY source of money in their planning or government. Calls for a Hamptons Advocate fell on deaf ears in the past. That is unlikely to change with another administration of Republicans who only want power.
With wins by Obama, Pope and Schiavoni, the economy as well as the political landscape may change without their cooperation.

In Manhattan, there is more subtlety. But, change in Manhattan will come in the form of alternative political structures. The fact that Democrats control the agenda in a liberal or progressive city, may be challenged. As the economy tanks in Manhattan, politicians may find that they do not have guarantee of a sinecure in office.
Fundraising will change. The money will not be there.

As the budget decreases, as tax revenues dry up, and the City and private workforce decreases – and as deflation takes hold, politicians will have to work harder to retain the trust of voters. The Obama win will comfort many but change is the message – not status quo.

Politics and The Mundane Media

2008-11-12T12:44:00.004-05:00

Politicians are like diapers. They both need changing regularly and for the same reason.
-- Unknown

There used to be a point in criticizing the media in the Hamptons.
There was the drunk who was rumored to have abortions in his own family pontificating to the general public about his support of “Right to Life” candidates, like virtually all local Republicans. Fortunately, Suffolk Life went the way of his abusive “whiskey ideology” which crucified any and all free speech that his politician friends wanted targeted. Wilmot was a guy whose best characteristics were his Stalinist methods at the “news.”
He and his reporters routinely serviced Republicans in the County, Town of Southampton and Villages like Westhampton Beach when they needed to even the score with anyone who disagreed with them. He and his publication were an extension of the police state.

Further down the food chain is the Southampton Press, whose advertising base is supported by the Republican Party as well. Having sucked off the ruling party elite for decades, news reports of DWI’s that went missing from police reports and evaporated from the “Police Blotter” that exposes anyone and everyone whom they want to embarrass – they too, have begun to read the tea leaves. No longer are the glowing reports of “Skip Heaney's” bouts with the Town Board such important press. But, the sycophantic need to report trivia and utter failure to check facts in their articles remains.

Currently the Press is pandering to the Village of Westhampton Beach’s Mayor Conrad Teller, a former cop who is scorned for his anti-business attitude, irresponsible handling of Village crime, and inability to govern without a gun. The Village Board and every appointment in this anti-Semitic and racist government grasps at straws in its attempt to silence opposition and free speech. Business it merely tolerated and no help is on the way.
So, who to call?
Well, the Southampton Press, of course.
When the glowing reports of the latest fundraising maneuver, like Highway Superintendent Bill Masterson who is one of the bagmen for the Republicans – by virtue of cash for highway contracts -- are losing interest – what to do?
Enter Conrad Teller.

Recently, finding that a critical point of view of the Democrats is dicey after Dan Russo was canned, a favorite of the Republicans, it seemed a better ploy was to fish around for less problematical stories. What better than do some favors for the Master of Disinformation in Westhampton Beach, Conrad Teller. Actually, Bugs Bunny would be better at hiding the fact that he is not only anti-Semitic but also anti-Latino and anti-business. He never saw nightlife that he didn’t like. Of course, when you fall asleep at Village meetings, there’s hardly a conflict.

So, Teller, who leaks policy through his appointees, like Barbara Ramsay of the Planning Committee (a local anti-Latino with direct control of the police) and Paul Houlihan of the Building Department, as well as Bridget Napoli, the NKVD-styled Code Enforcer who takes orders from the “insiders.” (Ramsay and Houlihan among them) -- and then denies or disagrees with these positions – manipulates the Press coverage of his dictatorship. Of course, only a newspaper, which is seeking to fulfill its mission as the Republican Party organ, would follow that ploy.

Tellers most recent manipulations have been the Eruv, which pits local residents against Marc Schneier of the Hamptons Synagogue and Jews – whereby he supports a fictitious separation of church and state movement (about black plastic on telephone poles), while voting for the issue in order to attempt to confuse his opponents. No one buys it.

The Southampton Press, of course, primes its reporters to follow the phony independent reporting mantra. The slant of stories is careful not to give away the farm. But, what they cannot control is the planned intent of their writing – which comes through by is massive ignorance of facts as well as its complete lack of fact checking. That was one of Wilmot’s major tools.
So, now that Teller and his racist-anti-Semitic bureaucracy have pulled some strings, a few “news” stories have started to focus on Westhampton Beach.
There is the major piece about “Silly String” which Teller planted for a friend in the Chamber of Commerce to create problems for a local business owner – and there is the Sunset Café story, which gained traction because it has the only Spanish Night in the area.
Barbara Ramsay and her husband, who live in the back rooms of two businesses on Sunset Avenue –a bureaucrat and insider in the Village –, managed to kill the application of the Sunset Café for outdoor music. The Village Attorney played along with the charade and, of course, no proof was necessary. No written complaints were ever produced. Only the words of the Secret Police. One local resident describes Ramsay is “tense.” Another way of saying that is “wrapped too tight.”
Of course, the no music, no nightlife, no fun – and certainly no Jews or Latinos – thrust of Teller and all of his bureaucrats – which is against public policy and racist – is also phony. Predictably, Teller followed up what he must have considered a devious press ploy – to kill the rest of the nightlife in his little Village. What better than to use this carefully crafted news story cooked up by Teller and Ramsay, of complaints about loud music one night a week INSIDE of the building 100 feet away from their back bedroom at 11 pm? In normal circumstances – if you don’t control the police – you knock on the door and ask people to turn down the volume.

Of course, that does not stop the Southampton Press. Because, it is the mission of the Southampton Press to interfere with any social trends that do not serve the Republican Party. In this case, no interviews were sought that would completely counter the news impression fostered by the Village.
While only Suffolk Life would give interviews to people like Joe Lombardo (Southampton Town Attorney), who trashed people that he was prosecuting -- the Southampton Press panders to Republican Party Chairman Marcus Stinchi (who lives and works in Westhampton Beach) in the guise of reporting news. And, Stinchi, of course, was acting on orders to create a problem for those who have sued the Town of Southampton for the same racism that works for Teller and Ramsay.

Don’t buy the media ploy.

And, don’t buy the one-sided news stories reported in the Press.
Silly String is a fun toy and the Sunset Café makes great coffee. Their Obama party was a success. And, it serves everyone, even Village bureaucrats. The fact that the owners of many year round businesses serve the Village at a loss most of the year, providing employment and life to the community – is never part of the news story.
Debates and healthy Free press are what made America great. More of it is on the way.

Hamptons Election Notes

2008-11-08T23:28:00.024-05:00

The great masses of the people... will more easily fall victims to a great lie than to a small one.
--Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)

What most people don’t realize about the Hamptons is that it was one of the few locations that voted for Herbert Hoover. Residents of Villages and Towns were upset over what they percieved as Democrats who are infiltrating the Republican bastions. There has been much Republican hand-wringing over the incursion made by what they perceived as candidates riding Obama’s coattails to victory. The fact that Obama signs were being stolen or destroyed apparently didn’t help to change the election. A Democrat, Sally Pope, ran for Town Board in Southampton Town and edged out a hand-picked Republican incumbent. Linda Kabot selected Dan Russo, on the instructions of the Republican Party after a real Primary, which ejected Skip Heaney as Supervisor last year. And, Andrea Schiavoni forced out Tom DeMayo in the Justice Court. His penchant for signing stacks of search warrants for the Town Attorneys and the Code Enforcement police will not be missed by many civil libertarians.

above photo of Sally Pope (Town Board winner) & Dan Russo

Although Anna Throne-Holst is a Democrat, holding hands with Russo was more than a romantic problem. The supposed changes after Throne-Holst became the lone Democrat on the Town Board amounted to more than misinformed press pieces given to that stellar media source Hamptons.com. And, Throne-Holst's misguided attempt at a “Green Law” was just another sub rosa route for the Code Enforcement Police to get into your bedroom ostensibly to check for illegal immigrants. Russo, of course, simply lied to reporters of the mislabeled entities known as "news" organizations on many occasions and both Hamptons.com and the Southampton Press currently are scrambling to appear a little less right of center these days. Reporters like part-time real estate agent Andrea Aurichio must be looking for better sources after sychophantically writing what some of the Republicans handed out as facts -- which fact-checking normally would have identified as pure fantasy. Of course, most of what the Town Board, Town Attorney's Office and Code Enforcement do is actually geared towards investigating people rather than correcting problems. If that were not the case, there would be a system in place to notify owners of problems needing to be corrected. And, laws would be discussed with property owners, like New Yorkers -- who cannot vote in local elections -- yet.

Contrary to popular belief, having a search warrant issued by the Justice Court and breaking into property at 5 a.m. to check for smoke detectors is more reminiscent of the NKVD in the Soviet Union than a building inspection ordered to protect people. But, under the rules initiated by former Supervisor Skip Heaney and carried out by Fire Marshal Cheryl Kraft – the overlord of Code Enforcement – this is how Latinos, Blacks, New Yorkers and political enemies are targeted in the Town. Tom DeMayo played a big part in helping those particular wheels receive enough grease.

Thus it is useful to understand that the Razzle Dazzle was a card game made famous in Cuba when Fidel was still in the Sierra Maestra Mountains and Fulgencio Batista was still hobnobbing with Santo Trafficante and Meyer Lansky in Havana. It is a game that counts on suckers who believe that they are facing a dealer with a full deck and ever-increasing chances of winning. It’s a lot like the game played on the voters facing Republican ideology in the Hamptons. It’s rarely overtly racist or anti-Semitic – but the ante is constantly being raised when things don’t go according to plan.
The real name of the game in places like Southampton Town, Southampton Village and Westhampton Beach Village is corruption. This corruption, under the guise of a Republican ideological agenda and its sympathizers who ostensibly want to protect residents – is a form of political corruption that is anti-New Yorker, anti-landlord, anti-Black, anti-Latino, and anti-Semitic.
It also is the big threat of political targeting for those who don’t fall in line and buy the Big Lie. The police and prosecutors, the Town Attorneys, the Village Attorneys, the Suffolk County D.A. -- are the enforcers. It’s the political Razzle-Dazzle with teeth. And, in this last Town election, many people were watching what the Obama-effect would be after many years of trying to make voters believe that the anti-immigration policies that brought us the Code Enforcement “Terror” was just. These early dawn raids on immigrant women and children under the guise of searching for missing smoke detectors, replete with warrants and guns drawn, were reminiscent of the 1930's Stalinism during which even Americans were "disappeared." That we were to believe these raids were really instituted by politicians trying to protect visiting workers from faulty smoke detectors – and, that the objections to the Eruv in Westhampton Beach Village is really a “separation of Church and State issue” -- belies the corruption of these governments. None of us are stupid as they believe we are.

Donald Kauth, the head Code Enforcement cop, along with Southampton Town Fire Marshal Cheryl Kraft and Town Attorney Joe Lombardo were recently in court over one of these early morning anti-Latino raids. It was clear that they had been instructed to find a phony basis for their illegal and unconstitutional acts. The chain of command is Skip Heaney, the Republican Party, Linda Kabot, Dan Russo, Chris Nuzzi, Cheryl Kraft, Kauth and all of the boys and girls who blindly and obediently break the law to target opponents, Latinos, Jews, New Yorkers and the Democrats. Only now, with a Democrat in the White House and control of Albany, it’s not the Suffolk County D.A. but the U.S. Attorney’s Office that may have an interest in their activities.

Hamptons Crime Wave Redux

2008-10-31T09:57:00.006-04:00

As repressed sadists are supposed to become policemen or butchers so those with irrational fear of life become publishers.
--Cyril Connolly (1903 - 1974)

At the risk of seeming repetitive, Westhampton Beach Village was hit with another break-in at a local business October 30th. Wearing hoods, the perpetrators climbed up on the roof of a building on Main Street after casing Magic’s Pub for roughly 45 minutes. Apparently, no police patrols saw anything wrong going on as the break in crew climbed through a second floor window. Only the security system alerted management.
A few thousand dollars worth of building damage makes this "thwarted" break-in more than just a little inconvenient.

Comments about the last robbery, during which armed robbers held up the Post Stop Café and confronted the owner just down the block, were criticized as “intellectually dishonest” by a local blogger. Apparently, the fact that a local resident is living among business people who are fearful that they may end up on the wrong end of a gun is in some way “dishonest.” That’s, no doubt, part of the problem when you live in a Police state like Suffolk County. This is not the Soviet Union and the NKVD is not going to visit you in the middle of the night – but the thieves might.
Let’s hope that there’s a better way of dealing with this problem. With four major break-ins and robberies (that we know about) in less than a year at Magic’s Pub and Sunset Café alone, thieves have targeted this Village. Criticizing what is written about it is, at the very least, missing the point. Instead, how about constant evening patrols by the police in a Village that is only a few square blocks – and electing a Mayor who knows what’s going on before we have a ghost town where business used to thrive.

Apparently, the former police chief (Mayor Conrad Teller) was not even aware that there had been a robbery at the Post Stop when he was told about the business owner’s meeting to discuss security. There’s no excuse for that. That’s incompetence. And, the current Chief, Ray Dean, needs to reevaluate his manpower strategy while he’s planning his retirement – without resorting to the old “we need more money and men” ploy. Pay attention to what’s going on and get to work!
The Hamptons has more than enough police at salaries that would make New York City cops red in the face. What we need are leaders who give a damn and can direct the ample forces already in place – before someone is seriously hurt or killed

The Hamptons Crime Wave

2008-10-19T18:25:00.006-04:00

In our civilization, and under our republican form of government, intelligence is so highly honored that it is rewarded by exemption from the cares of office.
-- Ambrose Bierce (1842 - 1914)

Last year on Martin Luther King’s birthday, a local landmark, Magic’s Pub, was hit by an armed robbery in Westhampton Beach. The accomplished job was handled replete with ski masks and a casual pace that involved removing the safe and a few wide screen T.V's. There is no doubt that the significance of the holiday was part of the motivation for the robbery.
While it took place on Main Street in the Village of Westhampton Beach, with numerous lights on in front and behind the establishment, not a police officer could be found. Even the tapes of the entire event provided no useful clue to the Village government – which in a Police-happy location like the Hamptons is even more interesting – given the fact that the Mayor is the former Chief of Police. He was voted in on a law and order platform. Other establishments have been hit as well.
No follow up or leads have ever been developed and all has been forgotten. The Mayor has made no effort to solve the crime. No attempt was ever made to make businesses feel as if they are appreciated and the event was regrettable, if not avoidable. Business has gone on as usual since. Although, as one business owner has confided, this is no longer the little Village that I moved to twenty years ago.

And, then it happened again last night.

Scary or not, Halloween has not even arrived yet. Or, has it?
The Post Stop café on Main Street was hit again in Westhampton Beach at 12:30 a.m. early this morning. Two sources confirm that Sandy, the owner, was confronted by three men wearing ski masks – carrying guns. Apparently, they not only took the money but her purse as well. She survived but it took a toll on her emotionally.
This time it was armed robbery.
Thieves are emboldened when a Village is unable to, or unwilling to solve crimes. It is also an unofficial way of telling businesses to leave.

Makes you wonder why the Mayor, Conrad Teller, is so concerned with the Eruv controversy when he can’t even keep the Village safe from crime. While Rabbi Schneier has been perceived as being a little too heavy in his campaign, the real objection to the Eruv is the fear that Westhampton Village will become another 5 Towns – with all business closed by the Orthodox Jews on Saturdays.
But, it’s no wonder that businesses close down on Saturday – and every other day -- after Labor Day. It’s not just the lack of attendance by tourists. And, this year it will be worse – a lot worse. Between the fear of crime and the severe recession we are about to enter, there will be heavy layoffs in the Hamptons and businesses that close because it is simply not safe. The free-flowing property tax money and the disposable income from New Yorkers will also not be the same. Wall Street has taken care of that.

Speaking of the the spector of anti-Semitism in the air, the close relative of racism – apparently Spanish Night at a local café in Westhampton Beach, which has become a popular part of the Village one night a week, has at least one or two detractors.

While Village government is busy fighting the Jews, Barbara Ramsay, former Planning Board member and local realtor has decided that Latino music is far too loud for her -- at any decibel level.
Despite the fact that this occurs in a commercial zone, she objects. Instead of speaking to the staff about her opinion that the music played INSIDE the café a few hundred feet away from her office/home on Sunset Avenue is too loud, she goes directly to the police. She knows all of the government people very well.
But, is this a good neighbor problem, or is it just that those pesky Latinos – along with the Jews – are upsetting one of the “insiders” in Westhampton Village government -- by their very existence?
The local gossip is that business owners are getting tired of the do-nothing Mayor who nods off at meetings and who does not want to promote business. And, the word is that they are offended by the fact that the entire Village is being operated by the small time, small-minded and racist proclivities of people like Ramsay, Building Inspector Houlihan and Code Enforcer Bridget Napoli – supported by the Mayor. In a Village where it takes a year to get a sign approved for a new business unless it’s a friend of the Mayor or Ramsay, or Houlihan or Napoli – or someone else at Town Hall.
While Ramsay was an official deciding variance applications, her husband was taking orders on local building contracts. James Zizzi comes to mind in the Town of Southampton, on that score.

The fact that neither the police nor the government have sought to assure local business owners -- or have ever asked for their opinions on how to make local government more business friendly – is telling.
More and more businesses close up in the winter due to the lack of interest by elected officials or the harassment by building inspectors and code enforcement – and now the safety issue will compound that perception of an official anti-business agenda (except for compliant friends).

The times are apparently a-changin’ – and Mayberry is an old series whose time has passed along with Gomer Pyle. Apparently, Westhampton Beach Village government needs a top to bottom change itself. Like entering the 21st century.

If not, keep driving when you reach the Westhampton Beach exit on the Sunrise. Your life may depend upon it.

Equal Rights in the Hamptons

2008-10-15T11:49:00.007-04:00

Usually, terrible things that are done with the excuse that progress requires them are not really progress at all, but just terrible things.
-- Russell Baker (1925 - )

Many of those who emigrated to the East End in the 60’s and 70’s now are the political cognoscenti who play out the moral and ethical tapes running the Hamptons government. In other words, while some headed for the Berkshires, as some might run to Burning Man now, artists, activists and reactionaries moved to the Hamptons for solace and escape.
Blacks, Asians, Gays, Latinos, need not apply. It was strictly lily-white, non-Jewish, and mostly Protestant.

Little has changed with regard to those sensibilities. Although, the police force and local governments have gotten a shot in the arm from eight years of “W” since he’s been off the bottle. The Republican Party, the party of Senator Craig, has managed nicely to co-opt the Democrats with the help of Rich Schaeffer, the County Democratic Chairman – and both Republican and Democratic politicians are “with the program.” Tim Bishop, a Democrat, regularly works with Assembly member Fred Thiele, who is Schaeffer’s relative.

As an aside, Schaeffer’s sabotaging of Democrats when they face Republicans he favors has become notorious. In the current Town Justice election (DeMayo vs. Schiavoni), for example, the balloting has been arranged so that a blank space appears in such a way that the voters eyes will drop – veering the voter away from Andrea Schiavoni towards Tom DeMayo. It’s an old Tammany Hall trick, which may cost Schiavoni the race.

The control of politics and the Hamptons culture inures to the Police and those politicians who trample upon the rights of anyone who gets in their way. The escapee mentality is less obvious in the summer when the money is to be made, but, in winter, all bets are off. Even local residents become targets when there are no New Yorkers to prey upon. Having worked in the South Bronx during the 70’s when death reigned in an area that resembled Berlin after WWII, the police at Fort Apache in the Bronx earned their money. Local law enforcement in the Hamptons, carrying Glock automatics, face about as much danger at their jobs as a bumblebee facing a hostile rose bush.

Consider the case of a young local woman, for example, who was pulled over for a missing license plate. Bear in mind, now, that only one plate was missing. This was not a renegade hijacking. But, police have little to do in Southampton. Being a cop in Southampton is slightly more intellectually challenging than being on the Town Board. Decisions are made carefully.
It takes a great deal of thought to decide how to deal with an attractive young woman who can’t open her car window and has some weed debris in the vehicle.
As Lewis Black, the comedian, recently opined, “The failure of our generation was that we never got pot legalized.”
That fact, and the fact that having a few seeds, a few butts or a twig of weed, was never considered more than an “appearance ticket” violation.

So, Stacy Hartline, was confronted with a situation Nancy Botwin (Weeds) would have played by embarrassing the cop into taking a walk.
Even Officer Gallo, who had just returned to the job after beating a record of 18 job-related complaints, decided to call in the situation to his superior, Darren Gagnon. But, what Gallo may or may not have realized until then was that Gagnon had put the make on Hartline the week before at the Public House and had been rejected. Cops with big guns don’t like to be turned down, or else. So Gagnon arrives at the scene and Hartline is cuffed and dragged to the precinct.

Gagnon, Gallo and their female compatriot, Maria Donovan – described as having been the Village Police force’s personal paramour in a prior life – prepared the homecoming. For having some weed debris, Hartline is strip-searched in full view of a video camera that beamed the unwilling sex party for the boys throughout the station house.
Apparently, Donovan, having had her day, was willing to violate not only the rights of Ms. Hartline – but also the rights of women – to regain her usefulness to the boys.

Keep in mind that it’s taken five years to get to the point where a jury will hear this case – or, it will be settled? For big money.

Makes you wonder when the local residents will get sick enough of the increase in taxes resulting from an avalanche of lawsuits hitting the Hamptons over civil rights violations and unconstitutional behavior that will make a change in behavior among police and government officials more appealing.

Watch for Nuzzi to use the current “Green” issue to help “Skip” Heaney rear his ugly head in local Hamptons politics. Nuzzi was always a Heaney plant --- from Crookhaven where the mob gained a footing in local politics – and who was taken on Board for the purposes of running for Supervisor after Heaney. There is little doubt that Nuzzi, who has been described as someone who has never had an original thought in his life – is being propped up by Heaney. This is Heaney’s ploy in an attempt to parlay the pork-barrel job thrown to him by County Executive Steve Levy – into a surreptitious control of the Town of Southampton where he was thrown out by Linda Kabot.
Levy, of course, like Rich Schaeffer, is a Republican in all but party designation. All of the typical bias, anti-Latino, anti-Civil Rights and anti-New Yorker rhetoric as well as sentiment are well controlled by Levy as well.
But, the legislative facts are the proof in the pudding.

Currently, in an attempt to appear forward-looking, Anna Throne-Holst, the current Board member who is doing Dan Russo (puppy eyes), came up with the idea of making all new construction energy-efficient.
While the thought is nice, the Town Board has not had an original practical idea for the last half-century and is currently coping with the fact that 2009 will be the year that police and civil servants get pink slips. And, that the party held with wheelbarrows of cash from New Yorkers -- is over -- and that the newer wheelbarrows of cash will more likely hold currency from the Weimar Republic: both Devalued and scarce.

Doom and Gloom Part II

2008-09-21T11:59:00.013-04:00

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.
--Abraham Lincoln

As the Town of Southampton with its visionary government contemplates the permanent arrival of Dan Russo to complete the rejuvenated Republican control of the Town Board, a few things have become clearer.

One of the first acts of nouveau thought on the Board has come from Anna Throne-Holst, ostensibly a Democrat, who in the midst of a meltdown in the real estate and financial markets, has introduced legislation pushing “green” building for all new construction. The implications for this law were never thought through and while we would all like wind and solar power to take us off the grid – making all new construction more expensive and more difficult to accomplish – is like stabbing the EMS worker trying to save his victim on the gurney. Neither she nor the Town Board appears to know, or care about, the technical requirements that allow homeowners to recover the cost of solar installations through tax credits and rebates. Environmental consultants will tell you that there are serious limitations which prevent solar panels, geothermal pumps, wind generators or other “green” installations. The cost for the average person is prohibitive. Solar systems, which do not even eliminate electrical dependence upon LIPA, can cost $30,000 to $50,000. Then, there’s the heating system.

Wind generators, for example, are not permitted in many areas in the Hamptons. Solar panels will not work adequately in shaded locations and as a result, will not qualify for rebates and tax credits.

In some cases, where roof installations do not capture sunlight, the degree of exposure will not qualify for rebates and those mechanicals and panels would require sprawling installations that can encroach upon entire sections of one’s property.

And, a myriad of problems accompany the new law regarding pool heaters.

This law appears to have been conceived with no thought and certainly no consideration of the volatile economic environment in which we all live.

The proposed initiative threatens to cost homeowners more money and negatively affect local businesses while it will hinder the applications for new construction, except for the rich. This, as the housing implosion struggles on – and, as a 26 year low in new building permits dogs the economy.

That’s without even considering the meltdown in the financial markets.

For local homeowners, especially seniors, this is a kick in the head.
Why, then, is this new initiative being forced upon everyone in a disastrous economy?
Because, the Town Board, is a train out of control.

AND, this is a further attempt to continue the intrusive, unconstitutional tactics being used to target New Yorkers and landlords with “legal” codes.

It is a license to renew the Spanish Inquisition.

The local Hamptons economy is headed for a brick wall, as it is in Manhattan. In the Hamptons, finances are now a very serious problem. The Supervisors have been dipping into the Community Preservation Fund (the fund intended for purchases of open land), which is now being used to pay salaries. Property tax collections are down, transfer taxes are non-existent and fees are way off. Mortgages, the grease for the economy, which allows New Yorkers to buy in the Hamptons, are virtually non-existent.
And, yet, the Town of Southampton continues to target landlords as the anti-Latino immigrant Code Enforcement posse (initiated by “Skip” Heaney) continues to kill the rental market. The sales market (except for housing in the $500,000 range) is already dead. They want to bury it.

It won’t be long before local businesses will be wishing for more customers – whether they’re legal or speak English and hang out in front of 7-11. The Minutemen, the anti-immigrant group that has been harassing people and encouraging politicians, are not going to pick up the slack in business.
So, in order to keep beating the dead horse of New Yorker investments in housing, the real reason for the “green” laws -- may be more of an effort to provide yet another excuse for Building Inspectors, Fire Marshals and Code Enforcement police to enter your property with, or without, a warrant. And, with or without your permission.

Every time a new building permit is issued, every time that a new law is passed regarding housing modifications is passed – it becomes INSPECTION TIME. Let’s all go into your house and see what you’ve got.

Maybe, if we’re not looking to target you for something right now, we can keep a record (and some photos), so we can use it later if you’re not compliant. And, we’ll charge you for it so that the idiots who the Town needs to keep employing can get paid.

Further, the Town of Southampton is now desperately trying to bring in new fees and fines to support the economy. It won’t work.

The engine driving Hamptons economics is running out of steam.

Manhattan condo sales are starting to collapse. Coop and condo fee defaults will further stress the remaining owners who are not in default. And, the nearly 100,000 ADDITIONAL employees on Wall Street about to lose their jobs this coming year (yes, the ones that buy Hamptons properties and rent summer houses) will devastate the Hamptons. Some see this mini-Depression taking from 5 to 15 years to play out. Remember, it took housing 20 years to recover during the last Great Depression.

While Linda Kabot, the new Supervisor, is a local and a Republican – perhaps its time for the government to sit down with the enemy (New Yorkers who are landlords) and start talking cooperation.

If she continues to leave policy and planning to the likes of the clerical appointees, the racist Code Enforcement Police and the rest of the clueless Town Board, the flunkies in the Town Attorney’s office and the Building Department – they’ll all soon be out of a job, or broke.

Winds of Change in the Hamptons

2008-08-27T21:35:00.012-04:00

One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.
--Plato (427 BC - 347 BC)

Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote.
--George Jean Nathan (1882 - 1958)

As the summer season winds down in the Hamptons, the local government is beginning to become aware of the errors of its ways. Uncontrolled spending, like the $3 million off-budget for outside legal fees, has finally come home to roost and has pickled the pork. No longer able to siphon money off from the New Yorker gravy train as real estate sinks into the muck and mire, it becomes clear that the Republicans – from Southampton Town Hall to Washington – have truly bankrupted this nation. As Latinos have been forced to leave town due to the selective enforcement of zoning laws by Code Enforcement Police, New Yorkers have followed suit by escaping with their cash. Political hostility towards those who pay the bills is simply stupid.

The Town of Southampton, which withholds the vote from New Yorkers and allows no representation for those who support the local economy, is finally feeling the pinch. The political winds of change may be in store for the nation but not in the Hamptons; the inbred Republicans do whatever is necessary to maintain a reactionary grip on the remaining purse strings – even if it means dipping into whatever money is left. The Community Preservation Fund is one of the favorites.

As local politicians fiddle while awaiting their economic fate, others enjoy of the camaraderie of New Yorkers who have similar views and still summer in the Hamptons before the lights go off. Despite the inhospitable local political environment, the natural beauty of the seashore and the excitement of a Manhattan campaign bring out the voters on their way back to the City for the September Primary. Westhampton Beach is a perfect stopping off point for Democrats either on their way back to New York or on their way out East for the balance of the summer.

Just such a crowd stopped in at the Sunset Café in Westhampton Beach where candidate Nancy Bannon met with supporters recently at her “Meet and Greet.” She’s running for Manhattan Civil Court and has received endorsements from all of the important Downtown politicians and recently was chosen as the best candidate by the New York Times.
At the Café, those who represent activism and judicial fairness in the courts surrounded her and she spoke about her upcoming contest on September 9th.

Speaking of a Democrat in our future, the best Obama Convention Party in the Hamptons will be held at the Sunset Café in Westhampton Beach on Thursday evening, August 28th. A wide-screen T.V. will broadcast the Democratic Convention and the festivities will begin at 8:30 p.m. Fellow Obama supporters will have the opportunity to express their views and visitors may order a “Barack Rocks” or a “McCain Straight” at the cash bar. Republicans as well as Democrats are welcome and it starts at 8:30.
There’s no cover or minimum, just great food and drinks available at reasonable prices.

Keep your eyes on Bloomberg. Apparently, he has no suitable options once he leaves office next year. Of course, since that would be an inconvenience for him – he and his Harvard boys in City Hall have decided that he should change the term-limits law and run again.
To this end, he’s met with Murdoch (NY Post) and Zuckerman (Daily News) who he hopes will lend their support in convincing us that they all know best.
Murdoch is known to not be happy with the contenders for the mayoral race, perhaps because William Thompson is the leading candidate – and according to the press (what’s left of it), Murdoch and Bloomberg left dinner in a jovial mood.

Get ready to be told by the press how much we really like Hi-rise Mike. And, how good he’s been as he eats up Manhattan or hands the developers a free ride – at our expense.

Turkeys Come Home to Roost

2008-07-20T13:33:00.012-04:00

When a whole nation is roaring Patriotism at the top of its voice, I am fain to explore the cleanness of its hands and purity of its heart.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882)

Why are we surprised when politicians play politics? It's not like they are supposed to be real adults... they are, after all, politicians and don't have real jobs and aren't playing around with their money.
--Max

As the real estate market continues to tank, the Town of Southampton in its infinite wisdom is beginning to get the message that the gravy train has pulled to a sudden stop. There are signs that many properties will have dropped by 50% in value before the carnage is over. Recently, several developers have gone out of business, bailed out of land contracts or given properties back to lenders -- quietly. The statistics are sub Rosa but nonetheless real.
Less than six months ago, however, Linda Kabot the new Supervisor was naively clucking about the fact that there was more money in the last Community Preservation Fund paycheck than expected. It was a swan song.
Recently, after dipping into the Preservation fund illegally, in order to pay local Civil Service salaries and other expenses, the East Hampton Supervisor apparently uncovered the brutal reality of the local New Yorker/real estate economy. The cash from Wall Street and Manhattan, in particular, greases the wheels of the local economy. Everyone feeds off of this. Investment properties, summer homes, rental properties, all support the cost of the local government by way of transfer taxes, property taxes, real estate fees and a variety of fines.

Kabot's recent giddy statement, was dutifully printed by the Southampton Town Republican organ, The Southampton Press – despite the fact that signs abounded which clearly indicated that the local economy is not only not a speedboat heading for a joyride, but is beginning to look more like the Titanic grasping for a rubber duck.
If you know anyone in the mortgage business, real estate business, title business, or legal business – you know how bad it really is.
Summer rentals have been severely affected, sales on any properties over $500,000 are few and far between, gas prices are pushing $5 per gallon and food increases are serious. The combined affect of credit card and mortgage debt, Wall Street layoffs about to hit, and increases in fuel and food – will not really hit this economy in full force until the fall.
That’s when the cost of food and fuel for transportation and heating force people to make a choice. Should we eat, drive to work, heat the house or pay the mortgage? There are many people who haven’t had to turn on the heating system for 4 months now and who will not be able to afford all of those necessities. Of course, many New Yorkers will certainly have an easier time deciding whether to buy that second home or pay for the one they already have. Spending the weekends in Southampton becomes more doubtful when staying warm costs $1500 per month. Selling the house becomes another viable option when choosing between a second set of utilities and gas to get to the Hamptons.
The fiction that PR firms would have you believe, that the preponderance of vacation and investment homes in the Hamptons are owned by rich Wall Streeters, is little more than hype.

Despite the reality that we may have at least another two years of severe contraction to face as the banks fail and Wall Street dives, however, Hamptons politicians continue to play out a doomsday scenario. Civil Service employees so far are insulated from the necessary downsizing while fines and penalties continue to be levied against the very people who bring cash to the economy. And, the virulent racism against those who treat Latinos as human beings, continues.

It has been nearly two years since Skip Heaney announced in Suffolk Life, a pennysaver publication operated by Dave Wilmot, a right wing drunk who arrogantly dictated his version of Christian morality to its readers, that the Republican plan was to attack employers, business owners and landlords. Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy, a Republican in all but title has apparently rewarded Heaney for this with a job that ostensibly seeks to find affordable housing. It's nothing more than a payoff for his racist views which Levy shares.
Heaney's plan, with running mates Linda Kabot and Chris Nuzzi was always clear. In order to terrorize the Latinos out of town, they would put business owners out of business and criminalize landlords. The emotional and financial cost of supporting these people who were hated by many local residents -- would be made so onerous, that these underpaid Latino workers would be forced to leave. The Constitution be damned.

The plan worked. Aided by the Southampton Justice Court and search warrants issued by Judge Thomas DeMayo, Code Enforcement clowns would break in to homes at 5 a.m. looking for smoke detectors that had no batteries.
Many illegal AND legal workers left town. Not because of the discrimination, though. They left because the economy is sliding into a mild Depression – which leaves Mexico and Costa Rica looking like it has better fiscal management.

What also worked is that the organized efforts on the part of the Town Attorney’s Office, the Town Board, the Fire Marshal and Code Enforcement, the Town Investigator and the Supervisor herself – in conjunction with the Republican Party and local media (Southampton Press, Hamptons.com and Suffolk Life).
All worked in tandem to force business owners and landlords to submit to the policy of institutional racism. It was no longer simply the anti-Semitic, anti-Gay and anti-Black policy that runs deeply through local politics. They had a new enemy: Latinos. People who were passive, worked hard, didn’t complain and were law-abiding. A perfect target, along with business owners and landlords. Since landlords simply own and rent property and rarely have any contact with tenants (brokers and management companies do) – and since business owners simply serve the customers who patronize them – the Town had perfect targets.

The Town Investigator (David Betts) was instructed to find out where the Latinos lived and which political enemies of the Republican administration had rental properties to target; Cheryl Kraft (Fire Marshal and head of Code Enforcement) sent her boys and girls to find housing violations; the Town Attorney’s Office (Michael Sendlenski, Joe Lombardo,) drew up the criminal complaints; and, the Justice Court (Tom DeMayo) issued search warrants.
And, they have all worked together to create targets. The Hamptons Bays Diner, for example, became a target simply for serving Latino customers. In response to queries as to why Code Enforcement Police blocked the entrance to the Diner with guns drawn to prevent Latino's from entering, Town Attorney Daniel Adams responded that claims of racism was "absurd."
Makes you wonder what law school he comes out of -- or, perhaps, what rock he crawled out from under.
As Jamie Lee Curtis says about Kevin Kline's character in "A Fish Called Wanda," -- calling him stupid would be an insult to stupid people.

Working in tandem, in Westhampton Beach, local businesses have been targeted by robberies that resemble the work of Nixon’s Plumbers. Heaney's hand, along with that of the Republican Party Chairman Marcus Stinchi and retired Code Enforcement police is palpable.
A close working relationship between Mayor Teller, a former cop, and Code Enforcement in the Town of Southampton is clearly emerging. Former top Code Enforcement employee, Steve Frano, for example, known as Code Enforcement One, himself a defendant in a Federal lawsuit for discriminatory behavior, is now a court officer in Westhampton Beach. Can you say, close knit Police State?

Local politicians are big on retaliation and silencing political criticism in the Hamptons.

Thousands of criminal summonses have been issued by Cheryl Kraft’s minions for minor, petty violations that exist in every house on the East End of Long Island. Only houses rented to or inhabited by Latinos have been hit.
This has been institutional racism and unconstitutional behavior at its worst and, unfortunately, for those who engaged in this little play -- the eventual cost to local taxpayer's will be high. The lawsuits are only just beginning.
The outside legal costs for the Town will start to skyrocket just as the income from those who have been targeted will diminish – rapidly. Property taxes, transfer taxes, development and purchases of local services and goods will plummet.

Just when local residents and tourists are deciding whether to eat, buy fuel and gas – or, pay their mortgage.

Freedom of the Press?

2008-06-21T15:45:00.008-04:00

As repressed sadists are supposed to become policemen or butchers so those with irrational fear of life become publishers.
--Cyril Connolly (1903 - 1974)

Fires have always been a big story in the Hamptons. In fact, during the 1970's, on the few channels that you could watch (there was no cable and only 3 stations that you could actually watch without going blind from the snow), fires were the main attraction. They still are. Since there weren't that many fires occurring locally, Connecticut channel 8 was a big hit in the 60's and 70's. Entertainment-wise, fires were the Hamptons version of Farmer Gray cartoons, in which mice interminably flowed from a kitchen faucet in television's first cartoon offerings.

But, this was no simple fire. Apparently, this was an attempted murder, suicide and fire that occurred at Len Conway's estate in Westhampton Beach. Conway is a hedge-fund, takeover celebrity with a large residence on Seafield Avenue. The information that could be gleaned has it that the couple living in the Conway estate guest house had a big fight, she was beaten nearly to death, the house was set afire and he ran away only to be found dead by his own hand nearby. Suffolk Police, Westhampton Village Police and even Southampton Town Police were on the scene.

Photos of the crime scene and interviews of the police were refused. No access was permitted and the Police would not allow Press to visit the site. It was so difficult to gain access that a real estate showing was interrupted. Of course, the Police Commissioner, Mayor Conrad Teller, was just re-elected. He's the former Police Chief of Westhampton Beach Village. No doubt he is feeling his oats after his win and residents can expect fewer solved crimes in the Village and less information from his office (if that is possible). There were three major robberies last winter in Westhampton Village that were never solved and the trend is clear. No doubt, he's decided, the best way to avoid any criticism, is to completely prevent any press coverage for any but the most complimentary reports from the non-existent neutral media in the Hamptons.

News anchor John Roland lost his bid for Village Trustee by two votes. Jim Kametler, his opponent, the police officer who nailed a possum in his backyard with five shots from his service revolver apparently still has the support of the local NRA contingent and the Police State mentality continues. Makes you wonder if Kametler knows the Quogue cop who shot a Latino for defending himself with a tree branch. Possums are even less likely to fight back.

Speaking of the Press, Suffolk Life, operated by Dave Wilmot, reportedly is shutting down the publication this coming week. It passed as a media source for decades which Wilmot used as a bully-pulpit for right wing law enforcement Republican enthusiasts. The success of the publication was based upon a Supreme Court ruling that mail recipients could not stop someone from mailing shit to you in the form of a newspaper -- if you didn't want it. While Wilmot, known as a heavy boozer who is arrogant and a little crazy, and who managed to intimidate his way into a level of modest importance, his reporters were basically lackeys who were told what to write. Few of them had any journalistic education but knew how to take orders from a drunk. "News" stories were dictated by people like Joe Lombardo of the Town Attorneys office when the object of a recent interview cooked up by the Town and Suffolk Life by Wilmot's "reporter" -- was created to support the phony propaganda plan to put landlords who rent property to Latinos out of business. Ridding the Town of either legal or illegal Latinos is big business now. With the economy about to go into the dumper, any competition is anathema -- even if no one wants the jobs that are left behind.

Wilmot turned down $4.5 million for a deal for the paper and his plant less than two years ago. The Media source who was interviewed thought Wilmot was nuts but the deal failed anyway. The most recent rumor has been that Lowe's wants the property for $10 million. However, lawsuits for defamation may eat into that substantially. That may not sit will with Wilmot, Jr., who was "Skip" Heaney's campaign manager in a failed bid to win another term as Supervisor of Southampton Town.

Wilmot, in his 70's, is said to be suffering from a heart condition, bleeding intestines, and has been in and out of the hospital. He is known as a right-winger and a right-to-lifer, whose personal predilections have never had anything to do with what was good for the masses or the paid-for political assassinations he promulgated for his politician friends in Suffolk Life. Rumor has it that he badgered and threatened anyone with his "pennysaver" if they were not a supporter; personal abortions had little to do with what was good for everyone else. He did favors for politicians in targeting enemies and in turn got deals on advertising as well as a long-term illegal tax abatement for his plant location in Riverhead -- which he proceeded to sublet for a nice income. No one in the County looked at it twice. No one wanted to screw with him, even while his "newspaper" screwed them.

One of the few news sources in the Hamptons that shows any respect for the truth, if there is such a thing in politics is Dean Spier, whose On the Beach Blog, talks about things that many local politicians would wish would go away. Especially, in Westhampton Beach Village. The other media source, Southampton Press, the newspaper of choice for Republican "News" has improved lately. It does do a little fact checking -- even when Linda Kabot, the Supervisor, Cheryl Kraft and David Betts of Code Enforcement "leaks" information to them after Marcus Stinchi, Chairman of the Republican Party approves it. But, they still do the right spin on any facts so that they are "neutral" on anything that the Republicans are embarrassed by -- gotta keep them ad dollars flowing.

Hamptons.com, a storefront operation out of Southampton which is strictly online has created a presence but is still a succubus. Its prime "writer," right now, Andrea Aurichio, is a real estate agent who passes herself off as a reporter while trying to make a living in real estate. Two professional endeavors that don't pay very well right now. While this online publication provides listings, it is known by residents as a site that will steer you in the wrong direction on news and has a high anti-Latino, anti-landlord stance -- in order to be popular enough to get ad dollars. They follow the Town of Southampton Republican party line -- meaning to not insult the Republicans, Town Attorneys, Town Board members, or Code Enforcement office at Town Hall. The operation is looking a little thin and may not be far behind Suffolk Life. Don't expect them to endorse Obama. Senator Craig or Mike Huckabee is more likely.

Poll Dancing

2008-06-17T23:51:00.012-04:00

The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything.
-- Joseph Stalin (1879 - 1953)

Vote early and vote often.
-- Al Capone (1899 - 1947)

Two of the most contentious Village elections are being held this Friday in the Hamptons. They are the Southampton Village election for two of the Village Trustees – and in the Village of Westhampton Beach where two of the Trustees and the Mayor are up for re-election.
Generally, Village governments have four Trustees and a Mayor. The Town of Southampton, the government that controls the Town, which includes Villages and Hamlets within that township, has a Town Board of four members and a Supervisor. Incorporated Villages like the Village of Southampton and the Village of Westhampton Beach, have their own government and police force within the township but are also responsible to the Town on matters like taxation and political control.
Similarly, East Hampton Town and East Hampton Village have distinct governmental entities.

The election in Southampton Village has been more contentious lately because of the political antagonisms arising from various charges of corruption and pandering to the forces of development leveled at the local government in one of the Hamptons richest locations. To make matters worse, the problems among the rank and file of the Village police department have exacerbated the reputation of law enforcement personnel who rank among the highest paid police officers in the country. Within two years, a novice can top $100 grand if he or she tows the line. Many also have private security companies that augment that income.
Local taxpayers, of course, look askance at the shenanigans, when an on-duty police officer is double dipping – collecting a salary while working his own gig.

Christopher Broich is one of the candidates for the Trustee election this week. Broich is a former Southampton P.D. officer, who was dropped from the force when he blew the whistle on Southampton P.D. Chief Wilson -- who was caught double-dipping and also finding cushy security slots for his girlfriend on duty (like movie sets at $80/hr). Other officers expected the work that Wilson’s girlfriend was getting – because of their legitimate issues over seniority and experience. Of course, the boys weren’t always able to give Wilson the fealty he was getting from his girlfriend.

Contemplating some funny numbers, since the Village Clerk in some of these small villages is a political functionary counts the votes, Broich employed attorney George Guldi to even the playing field. Guldi, a successful attorney, is a former County Legislator who knows where the bones are all buried in local politics.
With close numbers, especially with regard to absentee ballots, the thought was – perhaps, the State Police would make better monitors of the election results than, say, the Southampton Police Department or the Suffolk County Police who are controlled by District Attorney Tom Spota.
There’s no secret that disallowing the dimpled Chad in Florida (not to mention entire groupings of votes) gave the election to George Bush in 2000. A phony count could do the same here.
Supreme Court Judge Whalen agreed and signed an order to show cause forcing the Village to be more circumspect.

In Westhampton Beach Village, former Police Chief and current Mayor Conrad Teller, supported by another police office Dan Kametler, and Toni-Jo Birk are running together against Tim Laube for Mayor and candidates for Village Trustee, John Roland and Elyse Richman.
While there is some mudslinging, the current crowd – Teller, Kametler and Birk have been conveniently hiding behind a thinly disguised two-pronged attempt to both attack the Jews over the eruv and accuse their adversaries of being anti-Semitic. While the lip-service supports the Jews, the planted Letters to the Editor in the media clearly show their real attitudes.

Essentially, the anti-Semitism has been carefully played because, of course, no one wants to be accused of wanting the Jews or the Synagogue out of town. In fact, the distortions that were promulgated over the positioning of a few pieces of black plastic on telephone poles got totally distorted. Issues of “separation of church and state” were disseminated sub Rosa, and rumors were spread that the Jews wanted all business to close on Saturdays.

Teller was quoted as being in favor of the eruv and attacking mayoral candidate Tim Laube for being anti-Semitic after Village Board meetings clearly showed the reverse -- when Teller was awake. Those who know Teller personally have laughingly appreciated his public "political" attitude toward Jews and his so-called campaign to support their religious rights while commenting that he is rabidly anti-Semitic in private.

What has been left out of all of this is the fact that the Synagogue had withdrawn the application weeks ago so that it is a non-issue.
What has remained of this is the fact that business in Westhampton Beach is evaporating and each Winter fewer and fewer businesses are able to remain open due to the lack of support from its government.
This winter, in addition to the lack of business, several robberies occurred and none of the crimes were ever solved. With a Mayor who was the former Chief of Police, there is also a serious question about his ability to protect its residents -- or, the tourists.

Laube wants to increase business and make Main Street a more viable place to shop. As the closest Hampton, considering the upward spiral of fuel, Westhampton Village is poised for a renaissance and should have leadership for the new century.
Teller wants to roll back the clock and allow more businesses to close and send the Jews packing. Forget the fact that Rabbi Schneier pushed for the Performing Arts Center and fostered the growth of family-oriented changes. Forget that the White House has an eruv. Forget that the utility poles are not public and are owned by Verizon. Forget that this is not a separation of church and state issue and makes the Village of Westhampton Beach look like a bunch of religious bigots and will lose in court if it is challenged – and forget that Mayor Teller voted for it despite his real feelings.

James Kametler, Teller’s Deputy Mayor, another former police officer, who is a trustee, wants to keep shooting his gun at animals in his backyard. He’s already been cited for discharging his weapon at a possum in his backyard and got the officer who was going to arrest him fired for making the report. Kametler shot the animal five times. Can you say “high on life” with a pistol? And, he’s so media savvy that he’s served a “cease and desist” order on a local blogger Dean Spier – someone who has criticized him severely. But, nothing compares to the anonymous reader comments to the Southampton Press website.
Tony-Jo Birk, a current trustee, wanted to help keep a local bar owned by Mayor Teller’s friend out of the line of sight of the East End Drug Task Force. So she and Teller visited D.A. Spota’s office together in order to get them to pull the detail out of Westhampton Beach Village for that reason. Drugs, what drugs?
The fact that a drug dealer was arrested last year selling at the Middle School by local police is one indication of the need for that Task Force.

Elyse Richman, a single mother who works hard and runs three small businesses in the Village, seems to be a threat to the two trustees she is challenging as well. Rather than allow a fair election, they managed to get her knocked off the ballot on an election law technicality.
To her credit she is running as a write-in candidate.
John Roland, the former T.V. anchor, whose wife is currently very ill, is also running against the entrenched anti-business crowd and is someone with a greater vision for this special little village.

As a final note on Hamptons politics, it is worth noting that Sally Pope, an attorney from Remsenburg, is running against Dan Russo, a former prosecutor and Republican appointment to the seat filled by Linda Kabot at the direction of the Republican Party. His moniker is “Puppy Eyes."
While Anna Throne-Holst, now controlled by the Republican thought machine had managed to take one of the seats as a Democrat, she quickly fit in. Apparently, according to sources, she and "Puppy Eyes" are an item -- keeping the Board fully Republican in more than spirit.
While Pope is challenging Russo, Andrea Schiavoni is challenging DeMayo for Justice of the Town Court.
DeMayo is known for his role in signing all of the unconstitutional search warrants that have targeted only Latinos in the Town – as well as landlords who don’t want to wind up in jail or bankruptcy court for simply renting a house to those brown people who he would rather see living in the woods with their children.

Hamptons Doom and Gloom

2008-05-31T22:14:00.007-04:00

It is said that power corrupts, but actually it's more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power.
--David Brin

Money can't buy happiness, but neither can poverty.
--Leo Rosten

Despite the five dollar a gallon gas which has already hit Manhattan and the Hamptons, people still got their Porches, Volvos, Range Rovers and Lexus SUV’s on the road for Memorial Day weekend. In fact, even if gas goes to ten dollars a gallon, those who have a weekend home in the Hamptons will still party. There will be fewer parties and more car-pooling, but a hundred bucks for five people to get to the beach is not a deal killer.
What is a deal killer is $10 dollar gas and a cop hassling you about a rental permit. Or, visiting a gallery to look at a few pieces of art and have a glass of champagne – only to have the police barge in and bust the gallery owner.

The Hamptons IS Long Island. It’s where the money heads and where the money lands – it is the destination for Wall Streeters and their cash. Long Island is otherwise a large collection of communities, which, aside from the moronic ramblings of Dave Wilmot, the publisher of Suffolk Life who writes out of Riverhead and pontificates at the Hamptons (only because people can’t legally stop his pennysaver news from arriving in their mailbox), would sink without the tourist money. Wilmot’s suggestions, which are neither new nor his, are that Long Island becomes its own state. This emulates the ranting of an alcoholic in heat. Senator Craig was more eloquent when they picked him up after soliciting in a Men’s Room.
Even with the Republican Party, which Wilmot falls all over, trying to steal all of the Peconic Preservation Fund money, they still can’t make ends meet.
How would Chairman Stinchi, the Republicans in Southampton Town Hall and their flunkies in Code Enforcement and the Town Attorney’s Office function without their hands in the pockets of the tourists and the New Yorkers who pay their bills? Between fines, property taxes, fees and graft, a more serious downturn in real estate would be a disaster.
And, it’s on its way, guys.

But, the real travesty which is about to occur is the cost to the local men and women and their families who are suffering in the economy right now – and have a long way to go as this “non-recession” moves forward.
As the value of houses continue to fall in the middle-class and affordable range – from $500,000 to $900,000 (having arrived at that level by the double-digit gains of the last few years), the cost of food, fuel and medical costs are skyrocketing.

And, as another expert has stated simply:

“Falling home prices have made an increasing number of U.S. homeowners more vulnerable to default. Nearly a third of subprime borrowers owed more than their home was worth at the end of last year, and that figure will double to 63 percent in 2009, according to Credit Suisse.”

For those local residents who are retired or who are holding on in this dubious economy, no matter how irritating they find New Yorkers, things are about to get much worse while local government is moving forward with policies that assures more pain.
How does a local family with a breadwinner making $40,000 per year, or $800 per week, for example, with take-home pay of less than $600 per week pay for the escalating costs of health care and food – then pay $100 of that for gas just to get back and forth to work or run a business?

As the anti-Latino policy, which has risen to the level of institutional racism in the Town of Southampton, fewer immigrants will be available to do menial work. There will be fewer landscapers, cleaning people, laborers and dishwashers. But, there will also be fewer tenants, customers, workers and staff to keep people in business. The brown kid who did errands cheaply will be gone. Local residents did not have that kind of work in mind when they moved to the Hamptons or when they retired and are having trouble paying their heating bills and gasoline bills.
So, the Michael Sendlenskis and Joe Lombardos of the Town Attorney’s Office as well
as the Code Enforcement officers from Cheryl Kraft’s Office – who have been empowered to use the courts to break into people’s houses to check for smoke detectors in order to terrorize immigrants -- will also have less to do.
Lay-offs will follow. And, lawsuits will follow those who engaged in Town-sanctioned illegal activities.
The right wing residents will have fewer immigrants to rail at. And, they won’t be able to drive their cars or buy food either. Bush has already seen to that.

One would think that the immigrant problem, which will disappear due to the failed economics of the Bush era, is a success story about to happen due to racism driven by the doctrine of Home Rule. Instead, it is the result of the downward spiral in our economy that will also hit the Hamptons very hard. It will hit this fall as gas prices, heating bill prices, food prices and medical expenses reach a crescendo just as the market drops.

People who were here illegally or legally are already leaving a sinking ship. Not because of excessive enforcement – but because there is no work. Businesses are failing and money is tight. It has nothing to do with politics.
Yet the mindless bureaucrats in Southampton Town Hall will think that they have done a good job – just before they get a pink slip.

Two years ago the SoHo Journal wrote about the financial crisis that was about to hit.
Now, what is about to happen is all over the news. It’s no longer a secret.
While the government IS still hiring, it’s highly specific. They need bank examiners to handle the coming wave of bank failures.

Here’s what’s going on.
The price of real estate is continuing to drop. In fact, last month single-family houses dropped unexpectedly during the one and only remaining selling season – the Spring Selling Season – revered by real estate brokers. That’s not happening.
The inventory of unsold homes is now rising again, the sub prime and prime mortgage defaults are increasing, foreclosures are rapidly increasing, and the inventory of unsold homes is at a record level – and INCREASING.

Of course, what this does is further reduce the value of any unsold homes. The merry-go-round continues.

“Wachovia guru: Good-bye progress on housing front
Good-bye progress on housing front! "We had been making some progress over late 2007 and into 2008 on the inventory level," says Adam York at Wachovia, "and we basically erased all of that this month" following the latest existing home sales report. He says mortgage rates are low but tighter lending standards are stopping would-be homeowners from buying. A spike in foreclosures is also adding to the glut of unsold homes on the market, now at a 23-year high. York tells John Wordock he sees no housing bottom until later this year at the earliest.”

In the Hamptons, the upper level of properties is less affected. The middle range of homes is standing still. Sellers still have not budged, buyers are not moving.

And, even if there were some deals, there are no mortgages available. Only the government guaranteed mortgages up to the $400,000 range are available and even those are very difficult to close. Credit of all kinds is continuing to dry up.

In the midst of all of this, the Town of Southampton is engaged in a witch-hunt to punish landlords for having rented to immigrants when it is their job to police. Landlords cannot legally enter a tenant’s home without the fear of being arrested and the courts take months to evict anyone in a “holdover” action – which relates to tenant caused problems that is not related to payment of rent. Yet, the Town uses this to criminalize landlords for conditions beyond their control.
Rather than adopt a sane, logical method in dealing with a housing stock that is inadequate even for local residents, they have resorted to political targeting.

So, as the economic crisis moves forward, Southampton has adopted a Police State mentality. The only method that is known in these, here, parts.
Too lazy and too cheap to employ code inspectors who send out notices to correct violations, they have moved from Village and Town monitors to Enforcers who seek to criminalize every non-resident property owner. Added to this, they have sought to create a Rental Law that is merely a ruse for a new Immigration policy – a way to force landlords to reveal the names, addresses, and the immigration status of every tenant (only Latinos).
This policy will further add to the inventory of unsold homes, exacerbate the housing crisis by creating more foreclosures and vacant homes in what will become a blighted Hamptons.

Political Notes

2008-05-15T22:55:00.004-04:00

The secret of life is to appreciate the pleasure of being terribly, terribly deceived.
--Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900)

The controversy over the eruv in Westhampton Beach Village is a delicate issue, which has been played out over the last several months. While Rabbi Schneier, of the Hamptons Synagogue and the New York Synagogue, was unable to be reached for comment, he is professedly apolitical. In prior discussions he has been clear about his disinterest in politics and political office for himself. Of course, that doesn’t mean that there are no political implications in Westhampton Beach Village for issues that he may embrace.

What is more obvious in this Village election year is that simmering anti-Semitism is on some people’s minds. When the Southampton Press actually editorializes against the possibility of anti-Semitism in this issue, it is tantamount to the right-wing Suffolk Life proposing abortion rights and support of illegal immigrants. Most of the East End “media” has ignored the realities of racism and discrimination and the agenda of the Town of Southampton (in which Westhampton Beach exists). But, even the Southampton Press realizes that New Yorkers, Jews and other minority voices have the capacity to expose the local economy to some unwelcome shocks in the future. Money is a big issue, ergo eruv.

While the radical right press, like Suffolk Life, (Pennysaver News in disguise) is operated by a racist who panders to the political right wing while existing in a closet of unpleasant and contradictory values – the Hamptons will ultimately come of age and join responsible citizens, possibly even Liberals. The raison d’etre for “Such-is-Life” is to lie for the Republicans in order to attack their political enemies in print. That’s what brings in advertising. Wilmot Jr. was Republican “Skip” Heaney’s campaign manager and current “reporters” are routinely used to provide “news” tips by Southampton Town officials who wish to target political enemies, Jews, Gays, Blacks and Latinos in this dubious forum of one-sided puffery.
Personal misadventures by its publisher Dave Wilmot, with current and former politicians, including former D.A. Catterson, a local bar owner, are widely known and discussed among locals in the Hamptons. Tax breaks that make Suffolk Life marginally profitable were not meant to be used by private businesses but have never been fully discussed. The only reason that anyone ever sees the publication is because a court battle waged 20 years ago over free speech forced the publication into everyone’s mailbox along with the other mailer junk that everyone receives on the East End.
There is a large liberal community, however, which is disenfranchised but which carefully watches the hypocritical confabulations of these dinosaurs. Even the media war waged against immigrants and those who would treat them as human beings have been tempered by the claim by some that the very same people who are attacked and reviled, populate the Suffolk Life pressroom. The Republican Party in Southampton also used immigrants to erect campaign signs. Why does Senator Craig keep coming to mind?

The eruv has been described as a black strip of PVC (annoying environmentalists possibly) and stimulating closet anti-Semites.
The gossip was that people were going to have to give up property rights and allow “those people” to cross private property, that stakes would be planted on Village property to create a path, and that the local businesses were being pressured to close on Saturdays, the Sabbath.
One person stated that it was outrageous and that there is a separation of church and state and this is a gross violation of that principal.

Even the Southampton Press, disabused people of the notion that these black plastic strips were an invasion of public property. Verizon owns the telephone poles where these strips would be located.
And, would such reasoning require that the Village stop the practice of placing Christmas ornaments on Village poles during Christmastime? Jewish residents have not suggested such a ban.

It is also not comforting that the current Mayor Teller dispatched police officers to inquire at every business in the Village – investigating whether the owner’s had been asked to closing on Saturdays. It appears to be a politically motivated act pandering to those with, shall we say, less than neutral opinions on the matter. Those who discriminate usually have a hard time hiding their true feelings since it always seems to leak out by their actions.
Considering the fact that within the last 6 months alone, Mayor Teller, a former police chief, has been unable to solve three major robberies in the Village of Westhampton Beach business district, it would seem that his efforts would be better directed at solving a crime wave rather than investigating an anti-Semitic rumor. Even if it were true, one would have to ask, what role would the police play? Unless, of course, the message is that the Mayor wishes to “mould” public opinion by intimidation or the power of suggestion.

While the Westhampton Beach police are neutral players in this matter, a Mayor who was the police chief may be an anachronism in a more modern environment.
Teller’s platform of flipping back the calendar so that nothing but tumbleweed rolls down Main Street is reminiscent of Andy Griffith's reign. That may be attractive so some. But should the time come when residents cannot even buy a cup of coffee or a pastry on Main Street due to a lack of support for businesses or protection from a crime wave – there might be questions. It would be a pity if the Village business district were to be shuttered for all but the summer crowd.

A Hamptons Dog and Pony Show

2008-05-08T11:20:00.007-04:00

There is no safety in numbers, or in anything else.
--James Thurber

Absolute truth is a very rare and dangerous commodity in the context of professional journalism.
--Hunter S. Thompson

Before you consider renting or buying a house in the Hamptons, read this.
It is rather long but is instructive as to the method which the Town of Southampton is intent on using to abrogate your rights, as citizens and as property owners. It should alarm you and foster a decision about taking action. In response to this travesty of justice we are engaged in a new Civil Rights cause. Don’t come out on the wrong side of this injustice.

A few years ago, when Skip Heaney was running the Town of Southampton, a sting operation was arranged between the Police Department, the Code Enforcement’s “rubber-gun squad” and reporters from the Southampton Press. A spontaneous visit was organized, just as a photographer and reporter “happened by” from the Southampton Press to rouse a group of summer renters for creating an unsafe situation – at 6 a.m.
The real reason for the bust, of course, was the fact that Heaney lived in Hampton Bays, a sister community to East Quogue and it is the largest voting block in the Town of Southampton. So, to protect his voting base after they complained to him, Heaney arranged a little show for his constituents in the guise of protecting the Town from unruly rentals. Photos of wild-eyed twenty-something’s from Queens and Brooklyn rousted from their beds for not having proper garbage disposition and who were rumored to have been performing dubious acts of fraternization by the pool --appeared in the Southampton Press.

The show and subsequent press coverage did the trick. Even though there were laws pertaining to proper codes and enforcement were already on the books – this little show gave the Town the opportunity to dampen the real estate market and steer summer rentals away from the Hamptons. No additional money had to be spent to actually enforce laws and no additional enforcement personnel were needed. In effect, enforcing the laws by giving tenants or landlords notice to cure a problem – waiting a reasonable time for those situations to be solved – and taking legal action in due course if the notices were ignored – was completely sidestepped. The rental market was severely and negatively impacted for years after this but Heaney had strengthened his voting base. Neither New Yorkers as tenants or property owners were ever a concern for him or the Town. The fact that there was no real legal process for the tenants or the landlords; the fact that the Town would not enforce its own codes through proper notification and follow-up; and, the fact that it was a case of making landlords, not law enforcement, responsible for the acts of tenants – was irrelevant to the Republican government. That has not changed.

The Town of Southampton discovered the fact that property owners could be made to be responsible for any act of a tenant or even the shortcomings of the government. Most of the investors or landlords who own rental properties (owned by New Yorkers) have no right to affect legislation or operate within the local power grid. Through property taxes, the Community Preservation Fund (which is currently being raided by the local politicians to balance the books), and the infusion of cash from a real estate generated economy – New York interests have been completely ignored even though that money supports the entire economy. It has been a license to steal and give nothing back.
In fact, it has emboldened these politicians to increase pressure and reduce the influence of New Yorkers and others who pay for the existence of the local government. But, the question became: how do we create a palatable political basis for this? How do we deflect rational criticism from New Yorkers who do not have the right to vote; how do we make decisions whereby they pay the taxes and police the tenants while we control the property?

The answer has been -- criminalize the landlord.

And, this bizarre twist of logic and the law has been extremely helpful in advancing the cause of the current anti-Latino policy – the popular local politicians’ response to the lack of a national immigration policy. It has been codified and buried in a new Rental Permit Law.
Skip Heaney, Linda Kabot and Pat Nuzzi advertised this housing ploy, calculated to create a local immigration policy, in Suffolk Life about two years ago when they were political running mates. The political campaign ads clearly explained to the voters that housing, the schools and employers would be the targets – through which they would get immigrants out of town.
The local press is hostage to the Republican Party (no cooperation, no advertising from businesses who are politically connected) and to the conservative voting base. Effectively, there is no independent media coverage. The government is free to create the news as it sees fit and it is free to lie to everyone.

Take the recent show that was broadly advertised by the Town in the local “media.”

A group of houses in the North Sea area of Southampton – a working-class location that was overbuilt – had been rented through management companies for the landlords. The management companies were completely responsible for the properties. Latinos occupied the new, spacious houses. In any other community, like Queens, where multi-family triplexes are legal, these would have been 3 large apartments in each house. But, Southampton has never permitted such properties in its code – whether they were new and safe or not. Affordable housing has always been the “big lie” in the Hamptons.
And, the law prevents landlords or brokers from discriminating against applicants based upon color, gender, race or national origin. Landlords are not the police. Although, the Town would now like to make them responsible for this function. It’s cheaper. And, fines bring in big money.
In this situation, the management companies rented the properties at various different times to individuals who portrayed themselves as families. The tenants themselves, recognizing the large spacious multi-bedroom floors in each new house, recognized its potential use. For people of modest means, the idea that new roomy apartments were somehow not legal defied logic in an area where there is a shortage of housing.
Over the last few years, several evictions took place when it became apparent that occupancy was not what was legally permitted despite the fact that each floor was spacious and very comfortable. In some cases it was discovered that basement areas were being used for living space or that unapproved, illegal construction was being done. Those tenants were asked to leave.

Landlords try to avoid Justice Court for evictions because the Southampton Town Justice Court judges only work one week per month on a rotational basis in Southampton Town. They make $60,000 per year for working less than 3 months a year. It is not uncommon for an attorney to have to wait for a month or two to get the assigned judge – back in court – if there is even one adjournment. That judge has to come back on rotation.
So, in a situation where there is a serious need to remove tenants who turn out to be NOT what they claim to be, there are few alternatives to legal action.
Of course, as landlords wait for the judges, the Town in its infinite wisdom can cite property owners for illegal conditions – while doing nothing to cooperate in removing the offenders. And, that is true whether the offending tenants are destroying the property or setting up an illegal rooming house. Code Enforcement has the luxury of sending notices to cure a problem and holding everyone responsible for their lack of oversight on a regular basis – even while the judges sit on their hands in any attempt to evict, or help a landlord’s management company solve a potentially dangerous situation.

Towards the end of last year, Code Enforcement decided to target these houses in North Sea because they fit the bill for the PR push to eliminate more Latinos, make the landlords responsible for their lack of oversight or enforcement of the laws on the books, and push the political agenda against property-owners by levying huge fines. It also was a good opportunity to reinforce the fact that multi-family housing, affordable housing, is not permitted. Unless, of course, you are local and have “auxiliary” apartments and – VOTE!

There were conditions that had to be remedied – and tenants were warned to rectify them. The tenants ignored these warnings and were evicted by the management company without the help of the court – completely legally.

The Town, however, having been made aware of the problems by neighbors who were less than thrilled with a rooming house -- had a perfect situation. New York landlords and Latinos in one happy PR opportunity. Here was a chance to show how the Town was concerned with tenant safety (especially for Latinos -- who they want out of the country) and set up a plan to criminalize property owners. Even better, they thought, perhaps they could even take the property.

Notices were sent by the Town to alert the management company about problems AFTER warrants were signed and executed in order to break into the properties. Apparently Judge DeMayo signs what is now the routine warrant-method of inspecting someone’s house. A letter requesting access to review possible violations might be the rule in any other Town. In Southampton, they don’t ask you if they can come in to your house at 5 a.m., they just break in, flash badges with guns drawn – and check for missing batteries in carbon monoxide detectors. A really big find is an extension cord. Oh, and by the way, they also take names and check for ZE PAPERZ.
Code Enforcement, police, immigration agents – all rolled into one – to check for smoke detector batteries. All to make sure the tenants are safe!
So, how stupid do they think we are? Are we the new “good Germans?”

No one claims that either the landlords or management were given any notice at all that they wanted to inspect the property.

Having learned about the overcrowding that was improperly occurring –– the landlords’ management company took affirmative actions.
Knowing that the Justice Court was slow and ineffectual, letters were sent to the tenants on the lease, management visited the houses to tell them they had to leave, and a real estate firm was hired to resolve the situation.

What you don’t do is simply force people with children out into the streets because while there is ample space it may not be part of the local codes as multi-family housing. Landlords, through management always have to follow the law. Towns and Code Enforcement don’t. They create the law and interpret it as they see fit.
Especially, in the Town of Southampton.

In this case they interpreted the law and then created the spin on what really happened.

After serving a warrant and conducting a search on the properties – all the while threatening the innocent occupants at 5 a.m. one morning, they went to work on management and landlords.
Paperwork accusing landlords of stacks of ostensible violations, many of which were building details approved by the Town when the builder obtained a certificate of occupancy. Stacks of “violations” were produced in court. They were produced long after the warrant-searches took place.

Then, there was the final coup de grace. A media show reminiscent of the Heaney event that occurred years ago was arranged. A circus was held which was intended to support all of the racism in disguise – as well as giving the Town support in utilizing their criminalizing of landlords-as-policy -- a shot in the arm.

One morning, a few weeks after the “searches” the Southampton Press arrived along with the online wannabe Hamptons.com representing the “media.”
Swarms of photographers, reporters, police, Code Enforcement, Town employees – all descended upon these “criminals” to handle the “eviction-by-intimidation” which was to be a show for voters and supporters of the Gestapo school of national immigration policy. They all were also trespassing, by the way.

But, a funny thing happened on the way to North Sea.

Nothing.

There was no one home. Not one person. Not a white person, not a child, not a Latino, no one. The houses were all totally vacant.
The management companies had arranged their own legal eviction that the courts or the Town had nothing to do with. Or, could not manage. After they became aware of the possible overcrowding – depending upon your view of affordable housing versus multi-family codes in this Towns. Safety violations are one thing. Overcrowding is a different thing. Is two people in each of 3 bedrooms overcrowding or an elitist view of the way everyone else should live?
In conjunction with the church, a nun by the name of Sister Briege who had the interests of these unfortunate immigrants at heart -- whose children are Americans – and who clean toilets and do landscaping for the swells in the Hamptons – resolved the situation. The management representing the landlords donated enough money, over ten thousand dollars, to their cause so that they could afford to move. They weren’t consigned to the streets or subjected to racism. They were treated as human beings and were provided with money to find alternative living circumstances. And, they willingly but reluctantly moved.

Even though these properties were being systematically destroyed by overcrowding which lined the pockets of a couple of their own compatriots, and even though they had caused the potentially dangerous circumstances that they were living in, they were still treated fairly.

After an investigation (not by the Town) it was learned that two Mexican nationals named Carlos and Serafin were unknowingly operating the houses as mini-hotels, but whether upwards of $50,000 per month was being collected by them -- as was being reported by the Town – is impossible to tell. Obviously, the Town Investigator, David Betts, did not bother to find out any of this. Police skills seem to dissipate when real work is needed.
And, the Town was not on mission to protect the landlords – OR the tenants. It was a PR mission.
What is very clear, however, is the fact that each of these $2 million dollar houses was being leased for $3500 and $4500 per month (less than they cost) -- to people who originally represented that they were a family, and then gradually imported more paying tenants were enriching the illegal operators. Since the cost of each house was in excess of $10,000 per month, both the landlords and the management companies were losing money, while the Town was benefiting from subsidized housing. The Town just didn’t want the tenants. They wanted to criminalize the landlords as part of their overall plan.
And, that plan is to deflect property owners away from obtaining the vote while furthering the racist policy by evicting Latinos from the Town of Southampton.

The damage to the property will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The media description of what happened, of course, was altogether another story.

Hamptons.com was clearly the most egregious. This online attempt at newsgathering was not their first failure. They have a reputation for getting the facts wrong.
While the reporter, Andrea Aurichio, a real estate agent-cum-investigative reporter, described the interior of the houses correctly, most of the rest of her piece was false. If she described the property from inside, she was trespassing. If she was given the information, she was not reporting.
She described the fact that:

“Southampton Town officials recently took the property owners to court
seeking an order compelling the landlords to evict a total of 70 tenants, including 20 children, from the four houses.”

Of course, that was fictitious. The Town had nothing to do with getting the tenants out, unless terrorizing them counts. No such action was taken by the Town to get the tenants out – except by breaking and entering in at 5 am and interrogating them. Wouldn’t that make you feel unwanted, if not totally pissed off?

In December, Code Enforcement flunkies broke into the houses with no prior notice to anyone and THEN filed notices of violations.
No order to evict was ever presented to anyone. Not to the tenants, not to the owners, not to management.
But, this little news clip did have the effect of making it look the Town did do SOMETHING.

The article goes on to interview the new board members Russo and Throne-Holst – Dan Russo is reported to take credit for working the whole thing out with the church to protect the tenants from those big, bad, unresponsive landlords who had not even been notified. But, what would he have worked out?
According to Hamptons.com Russo worked with the church to find them a place to live and Throne-Holst makes comments about protecting tenants and how the Town had to do what the Town had to do. Which was nothing but harass everyone.
Linda Kabot, at a Town hearing over this imbroglio, heard testimony from a few local people who complained that the problem had been going on for 3 years. Well, since they ALL LOOK ALIKE, clearly the neighbors did not know that the same people did not live there for 3 years.

Hamptons.com reported falsely and the Town Board members handed out misinformation. Was this lying? Convenient stupidity? Or, perhaps, it was an organized agenda?

In fact, what really happened was that a real estate company was hired to negotiate for the landlords, negotiate with Sister Briege, and negotiate directly with the tenants -- to donate the money to them for their safe exit and they were helped in securing new places to live. Is Russo claiming to have done this?
Dan Russo did nothing, the Town did nothing, and Throne-Holst, it is to be hoped – was merely duped into believing that somebody in the Town was doing something.

She was mistaken.

The reporter was simply incompetent. Not surprisingly, Hamptons.com refused to print comments to that effect on their website after being contacted. They did not respond to requests for an interview either.
The reporter bought the Town’s media play hook-line-and-sinker.
While they photographed some garbage that was left at one of the properties, she made no mention of the fact that a four-day clean-up had already been done prior to that by the management companies at a cost of several thousand dollars and that this was the remnants of the expensive job without any help from the Town. Of course, what remained was what was photographed.

What also was left out in the “news” was the fact that Sister Briege was interrogated by the Town – in an attempt to force her to give over the names of the tenants and where they had relocated to so that they could pursue them out of Town. Does that sound like their safety was of a primary concern? If he had arranged their safe relocation, wouldn’t Dan Russo know where they had moved to?

The reporter from Hamptons.com advertises her credentials as a former New York Times reporter – some 25 years ago – for lifestyle articles. We are reminded of Howell Raines’ demise and the firing of investigative reporter Jayson Blair at the Gray Lady, which occurred a few years ago. The similarities are glaring.

There was no fact checking by either the Southampton Press or Hamptons.com – none of the accusations were verified or reviewed for accuracy – and there was no attempt to contact anyone who might have shed some light on the true details. There was zero journalistic integrity or professionalism, just the following of marching orders from the Town.

The Southampton Press published the same content with a few different quotes but stated “The charges came just days after the Southampton Town Board ordered four houses on North Sea Road shut down after enforcement officers found health and safety code violations.”
Of course, that little report by Brian Bossetta is also false.
Only notices of violations were filed and served only after they broke in with warrants signed by the Justice Tom DeMayo anti-Latino machine.

This was managed by Town Hall. Joe Lombardo, the Town Attorney, in conjunction with Board Member Pat Nuzzi and Dan Russo, under the tutelage of Cheryl Kraft and her rubber gun squad, which handled the entire operation.
Linda Kabot, the new Supervisor, who’s aunt was the subject of one of these recent raids, took a back seat – but, allowed the Republican Party to plan it.
While Marcus Stinchi, the Republican Party Chairman, isn’t organized enough himself to plan this – having himself hired illegal immigrants to erect election signs for the party a few months ago – he has his hand on this in the background.

The name of this game is Targeting – Criminalizing – and Fines. Follow the money.

Anyone with remaining doubts about the primary motivation for
the Town’s recent push to check the safety of all of its housing need only consider some of the following facts:
Aside from the fact that that Heaney and Nuzzi advertised that they would be using housing safety as a method to enforce a local immigration policy, there is the unusual coincidence that only Latino tenants have been affected by the Code Enforcement break-ins a/k/a warrant searches authorized by Justice DeMayo.
We then have the additional curious matter that all local voters, EMS, Fire, Police and government personnel are exempt from having to pass any safety checks. Neither do they pay a fee for the new rental permits now required by anyone else for renting their properties or “illegal” apartments, nor are they targeted by impromptu inspections.

Can you imagine a retired Southampton cop with a rental apartment in his house being rousted at 5 a.m. by Town Code Enforcement for having a missing carbon monoxide alarm battery?

The ability to use the “safety” ploy to target political enemies, Latinos, and New Yorkers, is only in the beginning stages. It will get worse as the Town needs more money. Taxes are down, real estate is down, and foreclosures are up. In fact, The Town hopes to cash in with fines in order to bolster the waning budget. Even dipping into the Community Preservation Fund will not be enough.

If there was even the slightest doubt that Targeting and retaliation is what the safety issue is about consider the recent incident in Hampton Bays – which was NOT reported in the Southampton Press or on Hamptons.com.
A Code Enforcement officer who was drunk recently verbally abused a local woman in front of her house in Hampton Bays and he was screaming at her using derisive language about her national origin. You know, what the Town is claiming is not happening. She was not even a Latino.
The woman called the Town to complain about his abusive behavior and reported the incident, believing that she had rights.

The result: Code Enforcement visited her a few days later and her house was searched and numerous violations were issued – resulting in criminal summonses.
That’s Cheryl Kraft, Joe Lombardo, Michael Sendlenski, Chris Nuzzi, Dan Russo and David Betts and the Code Enforcement boys and girls – the new Storm Troopers. The jury is still out on Linda Kabot.

Latinos, Blacks, Jews, Gays, immigrants (legal or not) and New Yorkers -- beware. This is the new reality in the fabulous Hamptons. It’s not all Billy Joel, Christie Brinkley, Alec Baldwin, Seinfeld and other celebrities.

If the Town persists, under Cheryl Kraft and the new Town Board members, in trying to make landlords the enemy – and, unless they inspect EVERY house in the Town for violations – if they continue to criminalize landlords who merely make their property available for rent – they will all be hit by years of expensive litigation for selective enforcement and civil rights violations. The Town will be sued for the right to vote in local elections.
The local taxpayers will have to foot the bill for this irresponsible and unconstitutional behavior.

The Postscript to this little tale of the Town’s foray into racism and criminality is the fact that Joe Lombardo, the Town Attorney, weeks after the landlords evicted the tenants themselves – is attempting to take the property away from the owners with the aid of the court – to insure that no Latinos can ever occupy them again.

Even the King protected property rights in the Colonies.

Those rights were preserved in our Constitution.

This is America isn’t it?

Well, not quite. Welcome to Southampton.

The Southampton Shuffle

2008-04-16T15:06:00.015-04:00

Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under.
--H. L. Mencken (1880 - 1956)

The intelligentsia of the Southampton Town prosecutor’s office known affectionately as the team of Lombardo and Sendlenski have been busy attempting to extort cash out of the newest class of criminals in the Town -- New York landlords and property owners.
With the advent of the new Rental Law - a thinly disguised set of guidelines intended to rid the area of those pesky Latinos (in the absence of a national immigration policy) and at the same time, transfer responsibility for enforcing laws from the police to landlords – a whole new situation, what a normal person would think is a con job, has evolved.

Take the recent scenarios that have erupted in the Town Justice Court.

The Code Enforcement boys arrange a complaint from a neighbor who is just thrilled about having a Latino living next door with their extended family.
An anonymous phone call to the local gendarmes complaining of, say, garbage, becomes the excuse (probably cause) for a full-blown investigation. As was popular with Hitler Youth, that garbage complaint becomes the ticket to arrive at the front door with guns drawn and badges flashing.
Who could refuse a visit from your friendly, local, law enforcement officer? Tell Sally to put her robe on and invite the boys in for a beer.

Of course, this humor pales when confronted with the new realities of the Justice Court. Joe Lombardo and his pal Michael Sendlenski, looking to make a name for themselves with the locals, have started to hone the good-cop, bad-cop routine to a level where Abbott and Costello would be envious.

What has been happening folks, are a few of the following realities. For one thing, the Town needs money. Mostly for more salaries to enforce the laws against New Yorkers and other riff-raff. Too many people seem to have gotten the idea that investments are welcome in the Town and that they, therefore, should have some say in who rules and how the game is played. So, taxes have been jacked up – just in time, it seems. The tax revenues were about to decrease, so while values drop, tax rates go up. As the values continue to drop, don’t look for the taxes to drop. This year’s increase in the Community Preservation Fund, the transfer tax paid on big-ticket purchases of real estate, may be a very serious disappointment next year. There was enough money to go around this year, and for the politicians to “borrow” from – but this may not be possible next year. This year’s take was based heavily upon the performance of real estate for the first two-thirds of 2007. That was when financing did exist.

But, what the Town has traditionally fallen back on for money is the good old formula of ripping off the New Yorkers. You know, that elephant in the room that pays for everyone to have a job in Town government but does NOT get to vote, Yet.
Fines, penalties, and criminal summonses do very nicely. It’s the meat and potatoes of the Town Justice Court. It’s gets those white New Yorkers all squirmy when the idea of traveling 100 miles to court with the possibility of being arrested for things like not having a number posted on your house or, say, renting your house to someone the Town doesn’t like.

That brings us to Latinos and Rental permits.

Recently, a couple of landlords were dragged into court by the vaudeville team of Sendlenski and Lombardo because they had rented a couple of properties to tenants that were immigrants. Their “Paperz” were not in order – and by the way, we found numerous violations in your houses and you have not obtained a rental permit with the names of the people living in these houses. And, by the way, are they here legally? Now, that's your job, not our job.
But, we are concerned because they are not safe. But, are they here legally?
How about you give us $5000? No, make that $10,000.
Yes, and what about jail time?
Well, give us the money and maybe we'll just give you Community Service. For renting your house.

Judge Burke, of course, a recently re-elected jurist who is tough on crime adjudicates many of these cases. Perhaps with tongue in cheek. How could you keep a straight face when there are real criminals wandering about and landlords are being arrested and criminalized?

So, how humorous is this situation? How does a New Yorker logically deal with such an obvious sham. The previous Supervisor "Skip" Heaney even published a campaign ad in Suffolk Life describing in detail how he planned to get rid of immigrants. The plan, when Heaney, Kabot and Nuzzi were running on a Republican ticket (before Heaney and Kabot broke up) was to intensively inspect houses that the Latinos were living in and use the safety issue as a means to criminalize landlords -- disguised as concern for the very people the Town wanted to vanish. Of course, no house can survive a safety inspection if the inspector is instructed to find problems.

While Sendlenski and Lombardo are busy shaking down the landlords, and while Supervisor Kabot is clucking over the extra $4 million sucked out of New Yorkers pockets from real estate transactions, Judge Burke’s kid is creating a new business.

Ed Burke, Jr. is advertising in the Republican Town organ, the Southampton Press, which passes as a newspaper, for his services – to advise those pesky landlords on how to get those Rental Permits. Whether the Rental Law is constitutional or not is immaterial.

In "House of Games," Joe Montegna described a "Tell" as the most successful way to figure out what was going on. You have to watch these characters in operation. Sit in on a Justice Court session. All of the players have their game down with each other.

And, just as John Cusack mistrusted Annette Benning and Angelica Huston in "The Grifters," watch the Town play out this "Long Con." In addition to the entire corrupt process from Town Investigator David Betts, to Fire Marshall Cheryl Kraft and her Code Enforcement boys and girls, to the Town Attorneys in Justice Court in front of Ed Burke and Tom DeMayo (who signs most of the anti-Latino search warrants) – there will now be a charade played out with beleaguered landlords represented by Burke, Jr., in front of his father. It is a system of corruption poorly disguised as a campaign to enforce safe housing that is feeding upon your wallet. Can you imagine that they want you to believe that they want safe housing for people that they really want to kill? Visit Quogue if you doubt that. The police shot an unarmed immigrant to death.
Where’s the U.S. Attorney when you really need him?

The South Bronx during the Civil Rights Movement was a safer place for New Yorkers.

The Other Shoe

2008-04-04T14:34:00.008-04:00

Lack of money is the root of all evil.
-- George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950)

Now that Manhattan real estate has started to drop – both the number of sales and the dollar amounts – it is abundantly clear to all those who enjoy reading the tea leaves that we are in for a difficult few years. Real Estate Intel is that the condo market has already seen 15 to 20 percent drops in prices and that 30 percent reductions are in the future.
And, Hamptons brokers who tell you the truth describe the one remaining selling season that is left (there used to be spring and fall) as “quiet.” Some brokers have used the word “spooky.”

For the last few years, the SoHo Journal has been describing what was about to take place and we have now arrived at that point. But, the conflicting information emanating from Wall Street columnists leads some to believe that we are arriving near the bottom – both in stocks and bonds and real estate.
Don’t believe it. We are just at the beginning.
The people to listen to are not the gurus or the reporters or the brokers involved in the marketplace.
The people to listen to are the money guys. They’re scared.

What they know, they learn from talking to hedge fund managers, underwriters, investors, and banks. They know that there is a lot more pain to come in the real estate debacle – from write-downs and foreclosures – to massive layoffs on Wall Street. The workers who are laid off, incidentally, would be the people who buy condos in Manhattan and summer houses in the Hamptons.
And, the money guys also know that Europe is about to be hit as well.
How many people know, for example, that buyers in London typically could buy that Townhouse in the right neighborhood with 100% financing?
Germany is now having trouble – Deutche Bank just wrote off $7 Billion.
Switzerland’s UBS just wrote off $19 Billion. The Eastern bloc is not far behind and less well capitalized.
So much for the much-vaunted cheap dollar theory behind real estate sales in Manhattan and the Hamptons.

The most realistic prediction about where we are headed is a serious recession that could take 5 years to play out. The most pessimistic approaches a meltdown of 1929 proportions.
If there is not another MUB (monster under the bed) similar to the Bear Sterns bailout, the next 5 years may only be a severe recessionary period during which lots of people lose their jobs and their homes and cash is hard to come by.
If the economy becomes unhinged by a serious lack of cash worldwide, which could be precipitated by a bad bet in the shadow economy, which has a total leveraged debt of $516 Trillion dollars, – all bets are off.
Essentially, derivatives are bets whose ultimate payday is guaranteed only by the party holding the paper -- if you can figure it out.

So, as the party winds down, a few things will change substantially. There will be a severe shortage of cash, even the weakened dollar. There will be little mortgage money outside of Fanny Mae government paper with a limit of $550,000 (which gets you nothing in the Hamptons or Manhattan), and will replace the “liar loans” with the kind of loan application that the Feds can prosecute you for.
There will be substantially less in tax receipts. This will cause some Village, Town and County coffers to dry up to the tune of a Chapter 11 filing – lest you were thinking of buying some municipal bonds.

Prices for real estate will continue drop fueled by the lack of cash, the lack of mortgages and the lack of qualified buyers. Foreclosures will soar and vacant houses will grow, along with the number of properties on the remaining real estate broker’s listings.
While Towns and Villages in the Hamptons will continue to dip into the Community Preservation Fund, the tax base will continue to dry up. Even East Hampton Supervisor McGinty’s “loan” from that Fund, currently being investigated by D.A. Spota, will be looked upon as a necessary evil as municipalities start to go under.

The fact that the Town of Southampton has chosen to operate their racist immigrant witch hunt at this point in time – criminalizing landlords for renting houses to Guatemalans, Mexicans, Ecuadorians – will only exacerbate the problem in the Hamptons.
It will accelerate the rate of foreclosures, hasten a landscape of boarded up houses and force even more properties on an already bloated market. The Conservative Republicans will bring down an already damaged economy to satisfy a racist agenda.
The “Prime” borrowers who have been holding on in this real estate market will be pushed over the edge.
This has already been reported by brokers who complain that houses which were formerly only on the market for sale – are now also on the market for rent. And, the rental prices reflect the numbers needed to pay a mortgage -- not the realities of what people in the marketplace will pay. The new rental law, which is unconstitutional and racist, will fix the rest because the only tenants who can afford to rent (or who will actually pay once in the door) are the targets of the Town. They want Latinos gone and they want young people to go to New Jersey. The line of politicians dipping into the Preservation Fund will grow quickly.

For those of you who do not get any news in the Hamptons from the local media, there are a few election notes worthy of reporting.

George Motz is described as a Mayor running for re-election in Quogue.
What is left out of the crib notes by the Southampton Press reporter who did the original story when it was mistakenly covered and almost got him fired – is the fact that Mayor Motz was indicted for playing games with client money at his investment firm. According to the S.E.C. complaint, a little ploy called “ticket-switching,” was alleged. His wife is still the Quogue Justice Court Judge but they are rumored to be holding on to each other by a thread – partly due to the fact that he has a girlfriend.

Conrad Teller, Mayor of Westhampton Beach, known for wanting to keep the Village like a set for Mayberry RFD – replete with tumbleweed rolling down the street during the winter – is being challenged after his first term.
Currently one of the hottest issues defining his time in office is whether the religious people will be allowed to have markers in the Village allowing Orthodox Jews to benefit from placements that guide the path to the synagogue. Some Villagers have described the Mayor as someone who is anti-Semitic and during a recent Village Board meeting, derogatory comments were tolerated from the audience.
Some of the members of the audience decried the fact that allowing these ervuls would bring more Jews to the Village.
Well, hello, for a Village that is anti-business, wouldn’t that be a godsend?

The challengers are reportedly former newscaster John Roland, who lost by only 6 votes in the last election – and Mark Raynor, a retired police officer who is business friendly. One will run for Mayor and the other will run for a Trustee position.

Hamptons Economics 101

2008-03-05T22:00:00.012-05:00

Do you mean to tell me, Katie Scarlett O'Hara, that Tara, that land doesn't mean anything to you? Why, land is the only thing in the world worth workin' for, worth fightin' for, worth dyin' for, because it's the only thing that lasts.
-- Gerald O’Hara (Gone with the Wind, 1939)

Do not pursue what is illusory - property and position: all that is gained at the expense of your nerves decade after decade and can be confiscated in one fell night.
--Alexander Solzhenitsyn (1918 - )

Only the most optimistic of real estate agents who is still paying off the new Range Rover purchased a year ago, would tell you that real estate is selling well in the Hamptons.
In fact, even at the height of the market as the bubble was forming, East End property agents bemoaned the disappearance of the historical two selling seasons – fall and spring.

No longer.

While not all areas have been affected similarly, East Hampton was an exception last year and Quogue to some extent this year. For the most part, there is now one season (March to May) during which some buying activity is really expected. Properties priced at up to $600,000 and listed for over $10,000,000 have buyers. Mortgages are as scarce as true Democratic politicians on the East End.

Most real estate brokers have a phrase to describe the current market: “It’s very quiet.”
There are lookers but the bidders automatically come in anywhere from 20 to 50 percent under the asking price. And, sellers are not budging. Yet.

Considering the fact that the Hamptons is a wealthy resort whose primary source of income is real estate, one would expect the local government to be supportive of that industry. It would be natural to expect that since property taxes from non-residents, transfer tax fees for property purchases, local durable goods orders, hard and soft costs involving the building and construction industry, and the thousands of small businesses that employ local labor – support the economy – that local government would do anything possible to create a net during what appears to be a long and difficult recession about to arrive. Not to mention the Community Preservation Fund – that big kitty where New Yorkers pay $60 to $100 million per year so that the local politicians can raid the piggy bank whenever they can’t find the money anywhere else. Recently, a meeting was held deciding whether the Fund needed to be raided again to buy a bowling alley or support some local salaries that they Villages and Towns can’t afford to pay for – with the local money they collect. It’s hit the Fund again – and Thank God for real estate.

It was in the 1970’s that the invincibility theory of Hamptons real estate first raised its freckled head. A charming, waspy broker by the name of Tilman Match actually carried around printed cards which he gave to prospective buyers that described the year upon year of consistent appreciation in home values. As most investment-oriented sales people, he described with clear certainty how real estate would appreciate while rentals would pay the cost of the financing. It was an investment that could not lose. With plenty of young families, students who rented in the winter months and young single people who rented houses in the summer, it was an investor’s haven. Even the local government counted on investment property so that they did not have to provide affordable housing for local people.

It was a mantra that was adopted by many brokers from Remsenburg to Southampton, from Water Mill to East Hampton and beyond.

In the late 1960’s, there were artists, professors and students in the winter, and families and single share houses in the summer. The Hamptons was an exciting, fun place all year long for different reasons. Sometimes desolate in winter, rarely crowded in the summer, it was part bohemian, part elegant, and part local character. In those years, the divide between local residents and the out of town population was more real. The locals were making lots of money and they put up with the annoyance from the summer people who arrived in May and left by September. Hence, Tumbleweed Tuesday – after the summer people left town.

As the values of property increased, so did the exclusivity pitch from brokers. As local people made more and more money – there were more and more local people. And, there were many more local builders who migrated from up the Island and developed cozy relationships with the Town government. Meaning – that a trend began which started the migration from New York City’s outer boroughs, Nassau County and New Jersey – to the Hamptons. The new local people, the new residents, were now many of the same people who spent vacation time and summers in the Hamptons because they saw the flow of money. And, that is where the change in essential Hamptons character started to change.

By the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, the Hamptons was no longer an enclave of farmers who considered someone a “local” if they hadn’t lived there for more than 70 years. The farmers sold their development rights to either a developer or the Land Trust and were now taking it easy. The big box stores had moved in – from Hampton Bays to Bridgehampton – and émigrés from up the island and the outer boroughs had made their way into local politics to try to wrest away some of the wealth. And, they succeeded.
Skip Heaney, the recent 3-term Supervisor of the Town of Southampton was brought in by his father who had a hardware store in Hampton Bays when he first ran for Town Board. Ask many of the civil service employees and local politicians how long they’ve lived in the Hamptons or when did their families move into town. Interesting confabulations will follow.

But, what this new crowd brought with them was not a love of the land. What they brought with them was a sense of entitlement, greed and a sense of escape. Greed for the money and greed for power. And many were escaping from scrutiny to an area of natural beauty and avoidance of accountability. They also brought the attitude of the “last one in” mentality – “Now that I’m here, I can do that but you’re not one of us, so you can’t do that!” That is the essence of Hamptons Politics. We were here first.

And, that leads directly to the current state of neo-conservative thinking, which has given rise to racism, conservative Republicanism, and an anti-“outsider” mentality.
It worked well when the investment came in and left without asserting any property or voting rights. But, as those who invested money started to stay for longer than a few months a year – asking for voting rights and demanding participation in the economic and political decisions – the government started to move even further to the right.
The question is, what will happen now that the flow of money starts to only trickle in.

The financial instruments of the real estate age have started to unwind. Whether they are CDO’s, SIV’s, credit-default swaps, short-term municipal paper auctions, bundled mortgage securities, or hedge funds trading in derivatives – trillions, not just billions are about to be lost. And, they will continue to be lost as The Great Real Estate bubble blows up. We are still only at the beginning of this slide.
This has affected investors, homebuyers, and local governments. Many expect some County governments to declare bankruptcy due to the fact that they cannot renegotiate debt at manageable rates while their tax receipts slow. California is borrowing heavily, New York is under water, and New York City is starting to tighten its belt. The Hamptons are raiding the Community Preservation Fund with the help of Fred Thiele.

As all of this is taking place, the Town of Southampton has increased its residential tax rate and is contemplating raising the commercial tax rate. The government has also embarked upon a much-hyped “Safety” program – using Code Enforcement under the direction of Cheryl Kraft and Michael Sendlenski of the Town Attorneys office – intended to rid the Town of Latinos. This Final Solution to rid the Town of Latinos is in progress under the guise of a new rental law and it is expected that the temporary “affordable housing program” which for decades has been left to private investors to solve for the Town -- will now be eliminated. What was sanctioned by the Town, so that the government did not have to make any investment, is now being dismantled to satisfy the neo-Con “last-in” mentality population of the Hamptons. Within two years, investment property and rental housing will be reduced as the need for affordable housing increases.

Most of the investment property in Southampton will now likely be sold – during a recession and during a severe housing shortage. Here are some of the numbers.

With about 6000 properties for sale on the South Fork of Long Island, during the last quarter, only a handful of properties have sold in East Hampton. In Southampton, the average sale price between the end of 2006 and 2007 has dropped from $2.3 million to $753,000 – a drop of 67.7%.

The effect upon those who are just now considering selling their houses in the Hamptons is simple. With investment property about to be dumped on the market due to the racist policy being implemented by the Town of Southampton, with the independent downward spiral occurring in the real estate business, and with the reduction in tax receipts from the lack of sales (also severely reducing the Community Preservation tax income) – we are about to witness a perfect storm of financial distress.
Those who must sell will not be able to sell. Those who are unable to sell will have property whose value is less than the underlying mortgage – as has already happened to roughly 10% of all homes in America.
And, as that happens, more and more houses will sit on the market, vacant and unused.
The “safety” policy, used to evict Latinos under the guise of a local anti-immigrant policy will destroy investors, seniors, second homeowners and all other local homeowners that need to extract themselves from financial ruin.

Entire neighborhoods will be for sale and there will be no buyers.

This is the new Hamptons Economics.

So, if you are considering buying in the Hamptons, wait. Prices will be much better in another year or two. And, by that time the prices in Manhattan will have started to drop.

Hampton Tidbits

2008-02-20T23:03:00.003-05:00

The illegal we do immediately. The unconstitutional takes a little longer.
-- Henry Kissinger, New York Times, Oct. 28, 1973

Republicans understand the importance of bondage between a mother and child.
-- Dan Quayle

While Cheryl Kraft’s Code Enforcement boys and girls are busy breaking and entering into local houses with a Justice Court warrant, guns drawn and badges flashing at 5 a.m. to check for smoke detectors, the Southampton Village Police department is conducting its own version of the Spanish Inquisition.
The criminalization of landlords marches forward along with the search for immigrants who would rather sleep in a bed rather than in the woods with their children. The Republicans have shown their humanistic side once again. They would like to institutionalize the Hamptons Witch Hunt to satisfy the bigoted faction of the local electorate and the Conservative wing of the party. Town Investigator David Betts (placed on probation by Supervisor Linda Kabot for the raid against her aunt) aided by Town Attorney Sendlenski have given Public Safety Chief Cheryl Kraft the shot in the arm she needed to give all 5 Code Enforcement officers that carte blanche to terrorize landlords and Latinos like Dirty Harry in a spaghetti western. The new rental law is widely known as the Hamptons Anti-Latino law. It is recognized as pure racism, sanctioned by the Republicans and supported by the Town Board. In addition to racism it is extortion.
All property owners in the Hamptons are now subjected to huge fines unless they rent to those people whom the Town wants. Otherwise, they find violations in your home and try to arrest you. It’s Pay, or we arrest you.

That’s the message to New Yorkers.

And, this week a few more Village police officers were forced to bite the dust in Southampton. That story is still unwinding and it’s not a pretty one.
The favors and corruption go deeper than people want to believe.
Officer Gallo was suspended as was dispatcher Ottati.
Aside from the tickets-to-ride – or, rather 1900 tickets to walk away from – there was also the issue of a D.A.’s investigation about the fact that Wilson was working security at Polo while on the books doing police work for the Village. All those recordings of people asking for tickets to disappear are starting to irritate people in Archives.
Apparently, the retaliation is still virulent.

It’s been an interesting week in this best of all possible world resorts.

We understand that Nancy Graboski is living up to her reputation as a reformer – or, is still so pissed off at her treatment by the Republican Party during the last election – that she is calling for an audit of the Town’s books. With the reportedly serious amounts of cash lying around – still available from the last budget – she’s wondering why this year’s budget needs to be increased. All kinds of rumors about Masterson’s Highway Department solicitations for contracts and Republican Party coffers have been making the rounds. An audit sounds like a really good idea.

The Quogue dynasty, with Chief Judge Kitrick Motz who is married to Mayor George Motz, there is a rumor that a Mr. Traeger is interested in challenging the indicted Mayor in the next election.
There is also word that there will be a separation of powers once the court proceedings get underway.
Makes you wonder why Linda Kabot, the new Supervisor of the Town of Southampton lives in Quogue. Although, we hear that while she is “local,” not many of the small businesses in that village see her in their shops.

There may be a challenge to Westhampton Beach Mayor Conrad Teller in the next election. The Village Board may also see some changes. The business community has been less than pleased with the fact that while many other Villages and Hamlets in the Hamptons have seen a surge in activity even during the winter months – Westhampton Beach looks like the Dust Bowl during the 1930’s. There is no plan to aid or increase business with people-friendly events and the current level of government stimulation towards progress is likely to include little more than sweeping the Tumbleweed off Main Street. The fake bricks edging the sidewalk don’t give visitors the sense that Tiffany will be opening up there soon either. That problem, the fake bricks, supposedly was brought in to the Village because a prior contractor did such a bad job that there were too many “trip and fall” lawsuits. So much for the concept of beautification.

The most expensive high-end rentals have already been taken in Easthampton while in this Village, 45 minutes closer to Manhattan, most of the businesses close up during the Winter due to lack of any activity. The real estate brokers have been able to count the number of transactions on one hand.
And, crime is up. The Police Department has been grappling with a series of masked-men breaking into local businesses. The burglars have been successfully robbing the businesses, which have chosen to remain open during the winter for the benefit of the Village – and the thieves, who have never been caught, have managed to carry away a substantial portion of what little income that the Village sees. It’s not a good combination. Is it Mayberry, here we come, minus the law enforcement? This is with a Mayor who was the Chief of Police before he was elected. What does that tell you?

Hot Buttons in the Hamptons

2008-02-05T22:41:00.000-05:00

But thus do I counsel you, my friends: distrust all in whom the impulse to punish is powerful!
--Friedrich Nietzsche

A few issues in Southampton politics affect local residents as well as New Yorkers. A few of these issues will actually affect the quality of everyone’s lives. Like Immigration reform, the political makeover on the Town Board, and the face and quality of local law enforcement, several trends are underway that we need to know about.

Take some of the inside dope on law enforcement.
There have been ongoing mini-scandals in the Village of Southampton that would make the original series “Peyton Place” seem like a high school drama. Rumors about the “1900 tickets” that disappeared is not news – but certainly raises questions about how business as usual is done at the station house.
William Masterson, Highway Superintendent for the Town, for example is rumored to have been pissed off at having been given a speeding ticket at one point and made it a badge of honor that the ticket disappear. It disappeared. The Chief of Police at that time gave an order to turn that ticket over to him, or else. Masterson’s not the only character who wanted his way. it seems the Village Police became a virtual sieve for those who had connections within the department.
The tradition of making the department one’s little piggybank, especially for the Chief (currently Wilson) started to annoy some of the rank and file. The fact that Chief Wilson’s girlfriend, rumored to be Kimberly McMahon, was hired and paid $80/hour overtime – ahead of some of the other foot soldiers with rank and seniority – has not been appreciated. If the Chief is going to “work it” on the payroll, they at least want some of the others to get a better break.
Apparently, there was a lot of grief during a Jack Nicholson film when there was more than enough overtime for everyone.

One of the Sergeant’s, Christopher Broich, in fact, has file several charges with the EEOC over his treatment by Wilson over the parking tickets and other dubious behavior such as improper moonlighting. And, there are rumors regarding an officer named Cummings and PBA attorney Losquadro, both of whom reportedly have a mutual business relationship, and Chief Wilson. Is retaliation against a cop who is a whistleblower possible? Ask Broich, who apparently was asked to fix a few tickets – and wouldn’t.

The question is, with all of this special treatment for Police Department “friends” whose tickets disappear, $80/hour overtime with a base pay of $100 grand – exactly what kind of monster is Southampton Village cultivating?
Many of the Village Police have their own private security companies in addition to their regular police jobs so that the badge and gun are interchangeable depending upon whether you are on duty or not. There’s plenty of work in the Village of Southampton and apparently plenty of money around. Why corruption on top of that?
Or, as Gordon Gekko said in “Wall Street” – greed is good.

In Westhampton Beach Village, where a mini-crime wave has erupted, questions about the effectiveness of local government have been raised. One local establishment, Magic’s Pub, has been hit twice by robberies in less than three months. Security on the streets are so lacking that the thief walked out the front door with the safe in his arms and out another door with a couple of 40 inch widescreen TV’s like he was invisible. Another local pub, Kara’s, has also been hit. The Mayor, Conrad Teller, who was the former Police Chief, and the Village Board have been characterized as being disinterested in helping develop local businesses during the winter months – and if some improvement is not forthcoming – he and the Board will definitely get their way. Most businesses shut down in the winter due to lack of sales. If the crime doesn’t drop, the Big Chill will set in and no businesses at all will remain open. As it is, rumors abound that certain Village Trustees are acting like ex-officio Police Commissioners due to the lack of interest on the part of Mayor Teller. One resident commented that the Mayor would like to push Westhampton Beach back to the days of 'Mayberry RFD.'
Even in the South Bronx of the 1960’s when Fort Apache and the surrounding landscape resembled Berlin after World War II, at least some crimes got solved.

The riddle of the new Southampton Town Board is expected to be solved this week. With one open Board seat, after Linda Kabot was bumped up to Supervisor, the question is twofold. Who will the fourth Board member be? And, how will that Board member be chosen?
Fans of three-dimensional chess will learn to appreciate Southampton Town politics. In addition to the myriad number of “lines” on the ballot, there are variations in the way in which the selection process can go forward.

Currently, the Board is comprised of four slots for Board members and one for Supervisor. At the moment, Linda Kabot (Republican) is the Supervisor and there are three Board members (Chris Nuzzi, a Republican; Nancy Graboski, a Republican; Anna Throne-Holst, a Democrat).
While Jim Henry, the Democrat who challenged Kabot and lost by 57 votes, is expected to run for Supervisor in two years, the balance on the Board is still controlled by the Town Republican Committee – a conservative group of local people who are closely allied with the same graft and corruption attributed to the former Supervisor Skip Heaney and associates like Bill Masterson (the Highway Supervisor who hands out construction contracts in return for contributions to the party).

This brings us to the problem at hand.

The current dilemma for reformers like Throne-Holst, who faces three Republicans on the Board – is that there are few candidates to choose from.
Alex Gregor, who is an Independent and widely admired by the electorate – who almost single-handedly destroyed Skip Heaney’s career by depriving him of the Independent line – is a favorite among voters. However, the heat is on when he approaches the current members of the Board. He is a leader who likes to lead. The Board is looking for a team player – for their team.

It seems likely that the overwhelming majority of the Republican Board will hand the Board seat to Dan Russo – one of Heaney’s former running mates.
He is being pushed by the Republican Committee and this will likely be the kiss of death for reform in Southampton Town.

There is also the issue of appointment vs. special election.
Russo is likely to be appointed – a fact that the Republican Committee is counting on. Or, along with other candidates, a special election could be held. And, while there have been comments about the cost of such an election – the Board of Elections has basically said that there is no charge.
So, while the Republican Board is looking for an excuse to appoint – there should be no mistake about the fact that it is not going to save anyone any money.

If Russo is appointed, he must run this November.
If he were to win a special election, he would not have to run for election again until Kabot’s old term has expired. They are not the same dates. The implications in this, a heavily favored Democratic year, are clear. Still, there is the incumbency factor.
The warring parties can figure out the implications of that scenario.

Finally, on the immigration front little has happened. The new rental law, which was concocted in order to push the safety issue, has been debunked by one of the East End’s most influential publications – Suffolk Life. If a publication whose publisher, Dave Willmott, loaned his son to run Heaney’s election campaign isn’t plugged into the law, no one is.
Heaney ran on the anti-immigration, anti-Latino plank. He and Chris Nuzzi set the strategy and implemented it, using Garrett Swenson and Michael Sendlenski of the Town Attorney’s office – along with Cheryl Kraft (Head of Public Safety and Code Enforcement) and the “investigative” work of David Betts, in the newly created Town Investigator position.
One of their first targets, of course, was Linda Kabot’s aunt. The New York Times investigated the matter and as a result of Kabot's win, Swenson was fired and Betts is hanging by a thread. They haven’t gotten to Sendlenski yet – a kid who is trying to make a name for himself by threatening to jail landlords.

Remember that when you think about Southampton as a liberal resort area.
While New Yorkers pay for the government, the politicians have been using the money to try to hang them with it.

So, in a recent editorial in the catchy-titled opinion piece “Willmott and Why Not” the focus was the new rental law. He opines in his editorial that everyone is scratching their heads trying to figure out why the 6000 or so rental property owners have not filed for their permits.

Well, Hello?

Start by asking people (whose property you are demanding virtual control over) why they do not have the right to vote.

Ask why a law that is unconstitutional – prompting the ACLU to join the current Federal litigation against the Town over this usurping of property ownership -- was ever implemented.

Or, perhaps, should we mention that the rental applications are USED TO TARGET OWNERS for renting to summer people or Latinos.
Just ask Supervisor Kabot’s aunt.

Willmott goes on to say that, of course, local people who have apartments or additional rental units should be excluded from this law. After all, you have to keep them voting for the Republicans who fostered this law. No need to have the law apply to everyone.
It’s all about those nasty New Yorkers who make a fortune from real estate. AND, WHO ARE FILLING THE NEED FOR RENTALS IN THE ABSENCE OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING!

The essence of the editorial is the smoking gun of the Republican Party. There is absolutely no mention in this editorial about safety. The basis for this rental law, which is badly disguised discrimination against Latinos and property owners, was supposedly about safety. There is not a word in this editorial about housing safety.

It really about the money.
And, about political control – pandering to the local electorate while trying to control your property.

Southampton’s Final Solution

2008-01-22T13:01:00.001-05:00

We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.
-- Martin Luther King Jr (1929 - 1968)

Over the past several weeks, the Town of Southampton, the new Supervisor Linda Kabot, the judges in the local Justice Court, the Town Board, Cheryl Kraft’s Code Enforcement boys, Michael Sendlenski of the Town Attorney’s Office and David Betts, the “Detective” who searches for illegal rental housing – have come under some unwanted and unexpected scrutiny by none other than the New York Times.
While inquiries were made by others of the press – none have gotten a response. The New York Times reporter Corey Kilgannon, however, did manage to interview some of the people who were victims of the Heaney/Nuzzi primary election targeting against Kabot. Among others, Kilgannon interviewed some of the tenants of the new Supervisor Linda Kabot’s aunt whose rental cottages were the subject of a raid by Code Enforcement – police who now appear to have assigned themselves the right to check the immigration status of tenants along with the condition of smoke detectors and electrical extension cords.

The Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, Telemundo, the NYCLU, all appear to have interest in a law that in various degrees has copied what other villages and towns have discovered. They were interested in the fact that Southampton now appears to have a new solution to the problem of immigration that the Bush boys were either unwilling or unable to solve.

In the Town of Southampton, the solution to getting rid of “illegals” has become – let’s make them so safe that they want to leave.
While code enforcement is a usual function of the Building Department or Public Safety, it has now become the Storm Troopers of the political right wing.
How else would you explain the fact that:
A. White residents who have auxiliary apartments in “mother-daughter” houses such as are favorites of retirees, police, firefighters, EMS, and local teachers – are exempt from the law and never have inspections.
B. Codes that are referenced in the new rental law are already on the books and were not enforced – but now carry fines of up to $15,000 per day per violation.
C. Inspections are carried out at 5 a.m. with groups of officers carrying guns and badges who force themselves into houses to wake its occupants, require identification, check immigration status, glance at smoke detectors, extension cords and plumbing fixtures – and then notify the owner that a criminal summons is about to be issued.
D. “Skip” Heaney, from Hampton Bays – where the largest voting bloc in the Town of Southampton is located – and Chris Nuzzi, Town Board member from “Crookhaven” were the force behind the rental law and in their campaign they publicized the fact that they would rid the town of “illegal immigrants” if they were elected.
E. The local press which consists of Suffolk Life, a newspaper whose publisher’s son ran the Heaney campaign – and the Southampton Press, whose editor was placed in her position by Skip Heaney, have been silent on the issue of racism and the real reason for the new law. Both publications have given voice to the right wing "Minutemen" mentality who support the law as a disguised way of evicting tenants through fear and intimidation.

The supporters of this law – which replaces the former Summer Rental law – are people who are ill informed and who persist in lying about their real motivation. And, that is, the racism behind it all. It is not simply anti-illegal immigrant. It is anti-Latino.
Why else would people who have fully legal immigration status be swept up in these raids as well?
Why would only the properties occupied by Latinos, some of them living in million dollar residences – be the only ones visited and inspected at 5 am? Do the Codes require visitations before dawn to check for plumbing malfunctions -- to "PROTECT" the tenants?

What none of them considered was the fact that this Town is not the same as many other villages and towns across Long Island. In this town, the bills are paid by New Yorkers who don’t, as of yet, have the ability to vote on the laws that are passed which affect them directly. Most of the rental housing is owned by New Yorkers who have invested in this resort area.
In Southampton Town, the lack of affordable housing has been seriously supplemented by investment property owned by non-resident property owners – NOT absentee landlords living in some foreign country or distant state. They are right here, among us, in business -- PAYING TAXES. The taxes that pay the salaries of the local government workers seeking to put the property owners in jail if they rent to Latinos.
That was Heaney’s big mistake. He counted on the silence of the “Good Jews” who would accept more of the same treatment. No rights, no vote, no voice.
That is about to change.

Why haven't ALL of the properties in the Town been inspected for safety violations?
Why was there no concern for everyone’s safety 10 years ago when the same codes existed?

The answers are simple as well as obvious.

If the illegal and unsafe housing that pervades the Town were reviewed via 5 am interventions by the Storm Troopers from the rubber gun squad, most of the cops, firemen, senior citizens as well as the largest voting bloc in Hampton Bays – would be crawling up the asses of everyone in Town government. Because, none of them could withstand the scrutiny of even a minor code or safety inspection.

In defense of this law, a Mr. Sacco was widely quoted by both the Southampton Press and Suffolk Life. At a meeting with the Town in which a decision to delay the implementation of this law was being considered, he pointed out that a refrigerator was thrown out in the street four years ago in front of the house next to him. This refrigerator, which apparently still had a door on it, he pointed out, posed a risk to small children. “The landlords were living in Pennsylvania,” he was quoted as saying.
Okay, a tenant threw out a refrigerator and was a danger to small children.

Fine. This sounds like a code violation. Call the police and Code Enforcement arrives (if they were doing their jobs then), and they get it out of there. No Code Enforcement shows up --and it’s the Town not doing its job. Does this mean that all tenants always do what is safe, smart, or even legal? There is an existing law to deal with such a violation. Or, Mr. Sacco, protector of small children, whether it was a tenant or an owner (who are sometimes equally stupid) – if you saw a dangerous situation – wouldn't you take the door off yourself? Unless, of course, you want to watch a tragedy unfold for the sake of being right.
Southampton Town’s Chief Building Inspector, Mr. Benincasa, also spoke about safety issues. He talked about a violation where there was gas involved.
He said it could have resulted in the situation being like “a bomb.”
From all reports that have remained unspoken – a thorough inspection of the corruption in that department (from payoffs, to inside deals involving delays and overlooked defects) might save a lot more lives than the sudden awareness of safety in the housing stock.
One if that department’s more notorious employees, for example, one who is now the Building Inspector of Westhampton Beach (in a political deal), a Mr. Houlihan, was the subject of numerous lawsuits. Favored applicants had (and still do have) an easy time of it while enemies of the administration or those whom he personally disliked were given a very hard time. This is only the lowest level of corruption. One would imagine, however, that Mr. Benincasa would want to keep his pension intact and it is unlikely we will hear much more about it unless a Federal investigation is again unleashed in the Town.

There is no affordable housing because the local government has been asleep at the switch for decades and now that need has been filled by private housing as a result of that lack of planning and corruption on the part of Town officials. And, the Town doesn’t like it because they cannot constitutionally control it. Therefore, they have learned to attack those who have filled the void -- non-resident, tax-paying landlords.
The Heaney government, along with the Building Department, Town Attorney’s office and the favored local law firms – all operated on a graft level that kept any project that did not have a serious level of “green” under the table – years away from reality. The local young people who need affordable apartments or houses should look to the real source of the housing problem -- the Republicans who formerly ran Town Hall. Linda Kabot, the new Supervisor, and the new Town Board need to address these political facts.
The Latinos, legal as well as illegal, many of whom have large extended families who work hard – were just better able to afford the private housing stock by living together. They also paid their rent on time because they respect the law and are fearful of local law enforcement. They’re not crazy. They understand a police state when they see it. But, with the hue and cry for civil rights in America, they did not expect Fascism.

Since the Town of Southampton has long been an “old boy’s network” the new Town Board that includes Nancy Graboski, Anna Throne-Holst and Linda Kabot is a new government of women who understand the issues.
Let’s see how they tackle the problems of real and perceived racism and the rights of those who pay the bills but don’t get to vote.

Barely Legal in the Hamptons

2007-12-30T13:32:00.001-05:00

The truth is rarely pure and never simple.
-- Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900)

Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.
-- Ronald Reagan (1911 - 2004)

Once again, the system of justice is being questioned in Suffolk County and in the Hamptons. While it is easy to hurl invectives and make wild claims of police misconduct and prosecutorial immunity in the face of grave injustices, no area harbors the huge amounts of investment for a resort community compared to the property tax influx experienced by the Town of Southampton and its host Suffolk County – and seems to care so little about civil rights.
This week, the New York State Investigation Commission, an agency that reviewed the Suffolk County Police and issued a scathing report of misconduct and actual criminal activity on the part of police and prosecutors, acknowledged that the Marty Tankleff case was under review.
From the inception of this heinous crime and wrongful prosecution to the recent attempts to prevent its re-trial, the Commission has advised that they will conduct in investigation.
Whatever the smarmy facts are that will be uncovered; the fact that D.A. Spota appears to have some personal interest in the case will be an interesting study.
Certainly, review of prosecutorial conduct and clearly unconstitutional behavior will come under more scrutiny if a Special Prosecutor is appointed.

This comes on the heels of the Cicciaro/White case, which will bring Al Sharpton to Riverhead on January 5th. The cast of characters involved in the trial, given the Tankleff fiasco, is just short of amazing for political junkies. Every church and religious group in the Tri-state area (not just African-American) will sign on and make their presence known. This, in an area that has seen very little in the way of demonstrations for the neglect of civil rights.

This sentiment will hopefully reach into the Town of Southampton, where business-as-usual indicates that those attorneys who do business in Justice Court need to be on the same “approved” list as the list which exists in the County’s “Halls of Justice” when it comes to dishing out sentences or dismissals for clients. The Town Attorney, the recently resigned Garrett Swenson, has been backed up by a cast of characters and a specially appointed Assistant D.A., -- who represents Spota's office in the Town court.
Lest we not be naïve, “approved” lists are also a fact of life in the Hamptons, where garnering zoning variances, contracts for Town construction, and, most egregiously, for plea deals or dismissals in criminal cases – for “special” friends of the D.A.’s office or the Town Attorney’s office – are well known but not spoken of in the Press.
Corruption, as NOT reported by the Southampton Press or Suffolk Life, is alive and well in Southampton.

This brings us to the Storm Troopers, known benevolently as Code Enforcement. With a rental law that is about to take effect January 1st, written hastily and unconstitutionally by Garrett Swenson, that brilliant legal mind who was reverently referred to by women in local government as “Heaney’s Neanderthal,” we have years of illegal break-ins (using badges and guns to implement the new disguised anti-Latino policy) to look forward to in our little nirvana – know as the Hamptons.

Whether Code Enforcement, a group of police who focus on housing violations – and who are allowed to carry badges and guns – are more like the Imperial Storm Troopers of Star Wars or the Sturm Abteilung of Hitler’s Third Reich, remains to be seen. The level of intelligence in this “rubber gun squad” (no responsibility for policing real crime) is hardly an issue. When you break into a house at 5 a.m., roust the tenants with “GIF US YOUR PAPERZ” the difference is moot. Can the rousting of Jews be far behind?
For police to break into a house, write up a code violation report about how many people are sleeping there and write a report about which smoke detectors are missing batteries -- in a million dollar house in a resort community -- AT 5:00 IN THE MORNING – can Kristalnacht cannot be far off. Jews, Blacks, Latinos, gays, New Yorkers, Democrats – lock your doors!

The Hamptons, for the last several decades, has been about who has been here longer. The potato farmers who had lived here since the 30’s resented the artists and summer people, until they sold their development rights for millions. The émigrés who moved to Southampton in the 50’s and 60’s had children who now have conveniently forgotten that Black people were being burned out of their houses in Hampton Bays in the 60’s and forced to move to Riverhead for safety.
Even summer people who bought homes in the 70’s have adopted an “I’ve been here since…” attitude.
Lots of cops and firemen from the city moved to Hampton Bays, lived in cheap houses and commuted to Manhattan.
Many in law enforcement and several prosecutors in the Hamptons are from somewhere else. It wasn’t the right wing politics. It was the power and the money. Don’t let anyone kid you about that. And, it was easy money.
While cops were being shot at in the South Bronx, in the 70’s, near where some of us involved with the courts at Probation and Parole on 163rd and River Avenue, linked euphemistically to Fort Apache (the police station) – Southampton Town police were arresting summer people for D.W.I’s – at two and three times the money.
While a drug arrest in the Hamptons consisted of the danger in taking an ounce from a blonde on the beach with her top off, Serpico was being shot in the head by corrupt cops on a Manhattan drug bust. The blonde-bust made lots more for his dangerous assignment.

The focus on civil rights, constitutionality and legality – not to mention prosecutorial misconduct – will now come under further scrutiny. The investigations by the State Commission will be thorough and extensive and there may be a Special Prosecutor, as there should be. But, the lessons from the last investigations that occurred in the 1980’s are that the same people are still involved in law enforcement. The same patterns have emerged.

When the investigators finish their work this time, the cleaners have to come in to do their work. If the investigators work from the “approved” lists and compare pleas, dismissals, contract awards, and special variances – things will change.

And, then they will move on to prosecutorial misjudgments and targets – and, those who implemented the illegal searches and seizures.
Only then, will the real lawsuits begin and spur the interest of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Hamptons Tidbits:

The Inn at Quogue recently sold for $8 million and one of the “principals”[who was the old man’s mistress] is being pursued – not for her charms, but for accusations of dipping into funds.

A rumor has surfaced that the Village of Westhampton Beach is seriously considering the purchase of the Dune Deck parcel on Dune Road for $12 million – carrying with it a tax arrears liability of $7 million – to expand its beaches. That's a total tune of $20 million.

One of the Integrity Party’s principals, Bob Olson, is an activist who was a moving force in the Marty Tankleff victory. Not only have he and Darren Johnson been successful in providing Linda Kabot with the margin that gave her victory in the Supervisor election, but also they now have established this new party as a major force for reform in local government.

Snow may be on hold in Riverhead, as the Riverhead Resorts vote is postponed until Jan. 2. In addition to residents objecting to the 350 foot refrigerated mountain, Mr. Sater, of Bayrock is once again a cause for concern.

Resident and
A.D.A. Leonard Lato, ensconced in the Tankleff case as well as the Nursing home matter which has been plaguing Spota’s office, has been “philosophical” about the recent release of Marty Tankleff, according to locals. It should be noted that Schumer and his bloated campaign fund is also suffering the after burn.

A Christmas Story – Schmucks ‘R Us

2007-12-24T23:31:00.000-05:00

Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself.
-- Charlie Chaplin (1889 - 1977)

Christmas shopping was much more interesting this year.

To instill some sense of responsibility in our children it is sometimes necessary to teach the young ones a lesson. Instead of using a toy for an hour and discarding it, this year we provided an interesting twist.

The racing car actually stopped working an hour after buying it at the toy store. There was no lack of interest in using it – it was just defective. So, instead of putting it in the closet and taking the loss, we drove to the store to replace it.
Granted, it was a week later before we managed to get there, but everyone was feeling proud that we were not just going to accept it and forget about it in the pile of other unused or broken toys. It was a remote-control car that was actually fun to play with. And, we were going to turn over a new leaf.

The fact that the sales receipt was missing, of course, made it much more interesting. But, hey, it’s almost Christmas! Surely, a famous chain of stores catering to children would be accommodating.

Dan, the manager who had no last name – since it’s Corporate Policy not to give out last names (giving you that warm, personal feeling) – looked at the remote control race car which was packed neatly in its original box and with a completely straight face asked for the receipt. There was none.
It was at that moment that we ceased to exist as humans.

Well, then, Dan explained, he could not help us. He walked away.
Expecting this, but not happy about it, we called out again to him and reasoned that the identification from the optical scan on the box, the identification of the exact date it was purchased, and the information about the amount that was paid – should be enough for him to at least be able to check his records and identify this sale. Was it not?

“Sorry” he said. “If you don’t have a receipt, I can’t help you.
“We have no records of cash sales. We only have records of credit card sales.” There is no record of cash. I was incredulous. This was now a learning experience.

“Do you mean that even though you charge sales tax and you collect cash, you have absolutely no record of this transaction? How is that possible?”
He looked directly at us, with an emotionless face that one could see he may have put on a thousand times.
Whoa, we thought. How many defective toys sold for cash could that generate income for? How many customers who pay cash have been down this road before?

This was really getting interesting. We have a batched out tape with – maybe, hopefully, some sales tax – that cannot be located or identified – for a toy that may or may not work – and no way to recover your money or get a replacement. There was no sign over the register that said, “We keep no record of cash transactions” or “Hold on to your receipt since cash transactions don’t exist.” Even better, “Sales Tax is reported only on credit card transactions.” And, I like the one that would say, “Please advise clerk if you’re going to pay cash. Her college fund is dwindling.”

“So, does that mean that we have to sue you to get money back or a replacement??” We thought, well even in Riverhead Small Claims court it would have to cost more than the toy just to get in front of a judge. But, he already had his answer: “You can do whatever you have to do,” said Dan and he walked away. He was well trained in “Corporate Policy.”

“Well, how do we speak to management about this,” we said – and he came back and pointed to two white phones (Khrushchev preferred red for hot lines. Hopefully, those had worked.)
One phone did not work and the other had a weird Verizon recording telling us that the number the manager had actually dialed for us, which was for “Corporate” was a non-working number. Apparently, “Corporate” phone lines were not often used.
Things were starting to get a little frustrating. Not unexpectedly, of course.
This was corporate America at its best.

“Riverhead Police” came the answer on the line.
The officer was actually helpful and said he would come right over – and then, he did. In less than 10 minutes. It was like we were on a movie set. People on the Customer Service line were starting to look at us like we were Alien Humbugs. Voices were raised, blood pressure was bubbling, faces got flushed, and there were uncomfortable stares. Some actually smiled sympathetically as if they had been there, done that, and had gotten the same results. What in the world were we doing, expecting to get satisfaction from minimum-wage workers who had been trained in “Corporate Policy.”

Except, that I was pissed. We had paid good money – in real U.S. Dollars – even if they are nearly worthless compared to the Euro now – and we had gotten bad merchandise. The value of those dollars had not depreciated THAT much in one week. The store probably had no idea that the toy was defective – but they DID know that the toy came from their store. They admitted that in front of the Riverhead Police Officer. I was eager to operate the racing car and show them how it stopped working. The battery was even charged, ready to demonstrate.

By the time the police arrived, everybody was staring at us and many were hoping that the offending ex-customers would be taken out of the store in cuffs for asserting their rights – or, at least the rights that one reads about in political novellas describing America’s freedoms.
It just wasn’t right. You pay cash, they know you bought something at their store and then they refused to acknowledge that they took your money.
And, they were condescending about it as well. Bet you that they would find a video of the transaction if I had lifted a $50 from the till, or tickled the clerk.

The “Store Manager” finally arrived and he told the police that the store had been threatened with a State Sales Tax audit for claiming that they had no record of transaction and that they had a “Corporate Policy.” After all, how did they know whether we really bought the truck?

At that point I was reminded of Jamie Lee Curtis in “A Fish Called Wanda.”
In her scene with Kevin Kline, Curtis is being attacked by Kline’s character – a second story man dressed in black – for calling him stupid – apparently a phrase he had heard before and was very sensitive about.
Curtis says to him: “Oh, I’m sorry. Calling you stupid would be an insult to stupid people.”

I thought, yes, this store manager is right. We could have been lying.
We could have tracked the purchase of people that bought that toy – followed them home and watched to see that it didn’t work and purloined the broken toy – all the while taking note of the day that it was purchased, or even better, stole the receipt for cash. Then, we waited a week and made a lot of noise about the fact that we paid cash, pointed out that the store could check the optical scanner information on the toy – and then called the Police over.
Or, we could have bought it Downtown on Canal Street from an Asian gang for $5 and had it completely re-packaged, and THEN drove to Riverhead to make $39.95 for our troubles. All the while planning to obtain the help of the Riverhead Police.
The possibilities were endless.

The absurdity of the situation was starting to dawn on Mr. Store Manager and he finally said, “Well if I had been asked nicely whether I would make an exception to ‘Corporate Policy’ I might have considered giving store credit.”

Without genuflecting, in my best supplicant’s voice, I repeated his words verbatim back to him. He was obviously thrilled by the lengths that I would go to in order to obtain satisfaction.
The Police Officer was satisfied and we were satisfied. Mr. Toy Store Manager was, well, resigned to making an adjustment to “Corporate Policy.”

Somehow, it seemed, it shouldn’t be so difficult to deal with a giant corporation whose real customers are just kids.

The Raid Redux

2007-12-22T17:27:00.000-05:00

It is the spirit and not the form of law that keeps justice alive.

Earl Warren 1891 – 1974) )

But thus do I counsel you, my friends: distrust all in whom the impulse to punish is powerful!

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 - 1900)

As many of us sleep, with visions of sugar plums dancing in our heads, the Storm Troopers are busy preparing to burn the Constitution in Southampton. They are, and will be, breaking into homes under the guise of protecting its occupants.
Several homes in Southampton have recently suffered the same fate as Supervisor-elect Linda Kabot and her aunt - visited by the Heaney-directed Police – on orders emanating from the Town Attorney’s office. While Kabot’s aunt’s experience was mostly political retaliation from a Primary election point of view, the current plan is both a holdover of Heaney (who is still Supervisor until January 1st) and a last gasp of Garrett Swenson the Town Attorney and one of his underlings Michael Sendlenski – neither of whom would answer any questions about the lawfulness or wisdom of their illegal actions. The Storm Troopers are politically motivated by the need to silence any opposition to this new Town policy which is clearly unconstitutional.

It’s breaking and entering with a badge and a gun – to check for smoke detectors. With an order signed by a judge. Can you believe this?

Overall, what is going on is the bureaucratization of institutionalized racism.

It is driven initially by those local residents who have both fallen for the politically motivated hype of those seeking political capital (Heaney, Nuzzi and Republican Conservatives) – as well as driven by the belief that they are supporting “the law.” If we can’t send them back to Mexico, let’s arrest them and whomever harbors them.
Law-enforcement in the Hamptons is a cross between being “moral and right” and having the ability to punish those who don’t agree with you.
That’s the Heaney/Nuzzi way.

So, last week, another group -- Code Enforcement Officer Kauth, Southampton Fire Marshal John Rankin, and a few other characters (after investigation by private Detective David Betts working in the Town Attorney's office) – armed with a Warrant signed by a Southampton Justice Court Judge – broke in to a house on North Sea Road at 5 a.m., handed a Latino woman the papers and then proceeded to roam through the house looking for code violations. This well-coordinated effort found numerous violations, including faulty smoke-detectors and more people in the house than the code enforcers deemed suitable. Then they left. This modus operandi has been repeated numerous times recently.
Would it be safe to say that local residents and Town employees who supported Heaney have not had their homes invaded in the same manner at 5 a.m. with search warrants? To check for smoke detectors?
None of the conspirators in these raids would discuss who ordered them and what their real objectives were. If any of these conspirators named are misspelled, keep in mind that no Town website identifies them or places them out in the light of day. Nixon's "plumbers" acted in the same manner. When you consider the fact that
Marty Tankleff fought for many years to shine the light on Police and D.A. misdeeds, these characters understandably don't want to have to look over their shoulders in years to come as Federal lawsuits bring them to light.

Apparently, by their actions, they would have us all believe that the Building Department is either too busy, too understaffed or too corrupt to be trusted in visiting any property to double-check the certificates of occupancy that have already been issued which permits legal occupancy. Could the Town simply not send a letter to the property owner to arrange for an inspection of any property that had not been inspected within the last 5 or 10 years? And, then, apply the same standard and requirement to EVERY house in Southampton. Not just properties that are rented.
Are they not just as concerned with seniors who live alone and whose carbon monoxide detector may not work properly? The answer is simple – they would all be voted out of office if they treated others this way. And, would they do the inspections at 5 a.m. with badges and guns?
Of course not. That is because they’re not looking to make properties safer or protect immigrants – they’re intending to make the lives of simple hard-working immigrants even more difficult – in the hope that they will leave the Town. Or, they hope to intimidate owners into evicting the people.

Now, folks, let us remember that this did not happen in Venezuela, nor in Chechnya, nor in the good old Soviet Union, nor did it happen in Burma or Indonesia.
No, this happened and is continuing to happen in the Town of Southampton, right here in the good old U.S. of A. And, it could happen to you – if we let it continue. As a matter of fact, count on it. Remember, these guys don’t like New Yorkers, they don’t like Summer people, they don’t like people who share a summer house – and they don’t like the people who currently cannot vote but DO pay all of the bills. That would be YOU. They don’t like YOU. They only want your money. It's not pay-as-you-go, it's you pay --and then -- you please go.
Think about that before you plan on spending some time in the Hamptons next summer. Atlantic City, New Jersey may be a better choice. Come to think of it, so would Coney Island.

As a result of the fact that millions of undocumented Latinos have arrived in our country to work in jobs that Americans do not want to do, and the fact that the national government does not want to deal with the issue – our nation of immigrants wants to force the new immigrants out of their homes.
They want to put children out of schools, deny them medical attention and push people out into the streets or into the woods –- and harass them and harass property owners so that they will refuse to rent property to Latino people. Thereby, the plan goes, to force them back to their countries of origin – whether that be Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Ecuador or Panama.

In fact, Congressman Tim Bishop, not a popular figure among Democrats (although he ran as and is identified as a Democrat) met with some local residents recently and cited some interesting bits of information for those who were listening to him.
He pointed out to the local audience at a senior citizen’s center in Hampton Bays that 70 percent of this country’s agricultural workers are illegal immigrants – and that businesses have failed for lack of workers. Americans do not want to do the menial labor that the immigrants are willing to do.
At this meeting, which was intended to hear the grievances of local people, the issue of immigration was discussed.

“They have taken away the jobs of the American people, and we should be going after the people that hire them. I watch Lou Dobbs every night…” said Sara Jeanne Stephani. Another resident, Paul Forthmuller, complained that “My teeth are falling out and I’m a disabled veteran and they get more help than I do.”

Lewis Black would have a field day with those lines – and then perhaps remind these people that this country is entirely populated by legal AND illegal immigrants.
Lou Dobbs and Ms. Stephani should take a few lessons from Jesus Christ, and Mr. Forthmuller should write to Mr. Bush about his shoddy treatment of Veterans.

The answer for many is simply to end illegal immigration, put up a wall between Mexico and the United States (they are actually planning to do this at a cost of $6 million per mile -- no one seems to remember Berlin) – and, most important, round up everyone who is here illegally and send them home.

All fifteen million.

While we cannot solve the problem right here, right now – the answer is not to cut our noses off to spite our own faces. Or, as they say, let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater.

But, here are a few realities:

We are either in or going into a recession.
Don’t believe that?
Okay, how about this, then.

Fact: The number of foreclosure auctions in Suffolk County are up 276% over the same period last year – and there is a nearly 50% drop in the number of properties that have sold in that same period. The Hamptons are part of Suffolk County and share these numbers but lag in the severity of what is going on. But, these problems are on the way, big time.
Even high end properties – the multi-million dollar ones that are selling – are automatically receiving offers 20% BELOW the asking price. That’s just for starters.

The current market in the Hamptons, according to many local brokers, is, to put it mildly, dead in the water. Where there used to be a two or three season sales market, there is now only one: from late February to April for rentals and March through May for sales.
It is a shortened real estate market. And it is a smaller real estate market.
Multi-million dollar mansions sell in certain locations like Dune Road in Southampton or the Estate section of East Hampton; $400,000 to $600,000 houses sell in Hampton Bays; and $200,000 houses sell in Flanders. Everything else is a hard sell and may not move for a year or two of difficult, active, open-house marketing. Finding a buyer for a million dollar 5 bedroom house with a pool on a three-quarter acre lot in Southampton is harder than finding a rent-controlled three bedroom apartment for $1000 a month in Manhattan. Brokers are laying off people and contemplating closing offices. Several have gone out of business or have been billed as mergers. The cell phone wielding, blue-tooth ear-pieced, Hollywood Star of the realty world -- driving a new Land Rover to her appointments with clients – is now selling soap in Woodstock. And, these agents left the Hamptons even before the sub-prime meltdown hit. The current situation is not pretty.

Speaking of which, the sub-prime meltdown has made home equity loans, refinances and new second home purchases practically non-existent. LTV’s have dropped, appraisal values have dropped, rates have gone up and some banks have pulled out of the mortgage market altogether. Citibank, WaMu, IndyMac, JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America have all pulled back substantially. This has forced some builders to walk away from land contracts and default on hard money loans. It’s not a pretty picture. And, strangely, no one is talking about it yet in the Hamptons. That's partly due to the fact that they do not focus on the bigger picture of where we are headed.

To put it bluntly, the Hamptons market is dead except for the very big money and the small money. Everyone in between is screwed.
There is no liquidity and the adjustable mortgages are forcing up the cost of financing. Houses are now starting to be dumped on the market because they are not affordable even in a normal market.
The fiction about European buyers flocking to New York to buy with cheap dollars versus the Euro – is only temporarily true for Manhattan property. The European banks are stuck with our SIV’s and their banks and hedge funds are on their way into the basement as well. There is fear in the financial markets and clearly they have no answers as to how to deal with this crisis.

So, with this “normal” inventory balloon of unmarketable houses as we enter a serious downtown in the market -- what does the Town of Southampton do to help matters?
It creates an even more onerous market for sales.

To this flooding of real estate, the Town adds pressure on property owners by telling them that they will now not be able to rent properties. A new, draconian rental law takes effect on January 1st.
By harassing owners and threatening them with huge fines and arrest for renting to Latinos – under the guise of a rental law to “protect” tenants from unscrupulous landlords – they are now forcing more properties on the market for sale. If you cannot rent an investment property you have to sell it.
If the purpsose of a law is to make it impossible to rent a property, it must be sold or abandoned.

Since there is no affordable housing to speak of in the Hamptons and no multi-family housing, investment property had been he only form of reliable rentals. It became the affordable housing that the government would not or could not provide.
That too will now evaporate.

As the Constitutionality of the new rental law is challenged while those who object to racism and McCarthyism raise their voices, we must stand by and watch civil rights be trampled. Police operatives and its government seems intent on contributing to the demise of the Hamptons as a desirable resort community.
Jerry Seinfeld needs gardeners, landscapers and cleaning people. So does his architect and builder.

Does Cheryl Kraft of Public Safety do windows? Does David Betts do toilets as well as sell his private detective services to the Town in order to catch these serious criminals? Is Heaney planning to move his fence company to Texas?

And, more important, does Linda Kabot plan on cleaning house?

The Main Event

2007-12-03T15:07:00.001-05:00

The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything.
Joseph Stalin (1879 - 1953)

In America you can go on the air and kid the politicians, and the politicians can go on the air and kid the people.
Groucho Marx (1890 - 1977)

Predictability in politics is neither a good thing nor is it a rational expectation.
After the Kabot win in the Town Supervisor’s race – edging out Jim Henry by a few votes and putting Skip Heaney away with a few hundred votes – the Town Board will now be the focus of the political noise. Despite the calming effective attempted in the Southampton Press description of everyone making nice, things are not simply smooth sailing at the moment. Heaney's public temper tantrums during Board meetings and behind the scenes maneuvering are dragging Nuzzi along and making everyone just a little nervous. Sweet smiles and voices of cooperation are, in part, window-dressing, as they ready for the Main Event come January 2008.

Since Kabot won the race and moves over from Town Board member to Supervisor, there will now be only 3 Board members aside from her – instead of the 4 slots that exist on the Board in addition to Supervisor. Board members have a 4-year term while Supervisor is only a 2-year term.
So there are a few options that have some interesting ramifications.

First, Kabot could do nothing. That’s an attractive option because it appears to not be a political move. Of course, anything that a politician does is a political move – it just doesn’t always appear to be calculated.
Not appointing a replacement leaves the Board with Kabot, Throne-Holst and Graboski – and on the other side of the political fence is former Heaney shill, Chris Nuzzi.
Since Heaney lost the Primary to Kabot, and then the General election, that particular game is not over. Heaney has been giving Kabot a very difficult time at Board meetings while he is still Supervisor and she, still a Board member. Heaney is a sore loser; a petulant child in the parlor game of manners and, more importantly, the plan is to create enough trouble so that he is not out of power. The roots of corruption go deeply into local Republican politics -- and the possibility that the friendly law firms, political connections, job appointments, financial quid pro quos, and outright control of the money – including all of those New York property tax dollars and transfer tax multi-millions (Peconic Preservation Fund) -- which might now be out of Heaney’s grasp – is upsetting to him as well as the Old Boy network. Heaney and Thiele managed to finesse money into the PILOT program and now the schools also get to divvy up some of that Transfer Tax money -- with some cooperation from Spitzer.

Some of the Heaney bureaucracy is already being dismantled. Garrett Swenson, the Town Attorney, one of the architects (at least as far as its public face is concerned) of the Draconian and unconstitutional rental law that takes effect on January 1st – has already started circulating his resume.

The Code Enforcement bureau of the Police Department may have some new members on the rubber gun squad (the fictional squad whose members have been relieved of any authority) – and the Police Chief may be having a fireside chat soon with the new government after “The Raid” that targeted Kabot and her aunt. Too many Southampton Town officials complied with the order from Heaney and Nuzzi to break Kabot's shoes with that little arrangement – which the Southampton Press dutifully reported – in terms that were none too sympathetic. (Republican controlled advertisers intimidated for years by the Republicans were on the mind of the Loucheims, no doubt. And, the fact that Heaney had his hand into their editorial department also didn’t help Kabot.)

The same political targeting that made Kabot the brunt of the only real purpose of the new rental law – political targeting using the immigrants in Southampton as its raison d’etre – remains on the books. It certainly brought home to Kabot and other Board members what the real purpose was of that law which was enacted with her help. Heaney played upon everyone’s basest fears and retaliative fantasies and slipped the law in so that he could buy more votes and use the law to target adversaries.

So, by doing nothing, Kabot would preserve control of the government process with a reformer (Throne-Holst), a Republican with a sense of ethics (Graboski), and Nuzzi – the Crookhaven leftover from the Heaney days whose only current function is to disrupt on orders from Heaney. Nuzzi is likely to be spy and a quisling whose job will be to lay low and then to disrupt, not advance the needs of Southampton residents or non-resident property owners. But, temporarily he will appear to be a team player in order to confuse his adversaries and be ready to support Heaney's hidden agenda.

It may be a pleasant change to have a Board primarily composed of women who have, for years, suffered from the misogyny of the Heaney administration that was memorialized in the behavior of his right hand man, Garrett Swenson – known among female politicians as “The Neanderthal.”
This negative treatment of women has been a familiar strain among law enforcement – from court officers and Code Enforcement, to Police, and to clerical staff – for decades. The off-color jokes have barely been contained even after the election.

Well boys, time to knock it off. Unless you want to leave your equipment hanging on the door on your way out.

The second option is a little dicier.

The Heaney forces would salivate over an opportunity to see Russo appointed.
That mistake would put Kabot right back into the open arms of the old-boy Republicans and would be the nail in the coffin for reform. While it would appease the Party regulars and have Heaney dancing on Main Street, the Town voters would be screwed. While no one knows what Kabot plans to do, that would be a signal that Heaney is still calling the shots and Kabot is trying to buy peace. In other words, nothing will have changed – the whole election imbroglio would simply have been smoke and mirrors, a dog and pony show for the voters.

The third option would entail some new entrant, once speculated to be Ann Nowak, a close associate of Kabot’s and a Water Mill attorney who worked on her campaign. While that may seem to be a neutral decision, it is widely considered to be unlikely, given that Novak has stated openly that she has no interest in the appointment. Since she hasn’t run for office, the political, non-political denial is more believable than usual.

The fourth option is more interesting. Alex Gregor.
Gregor destroyed Heaney’s chance for a fourth term. He not only took out Heaney in the third party run for Supervisor by a few votes, he arguably made it impossible for Heaney to win the General Election by taking some of the Republican votes in Hampton Bays– a location that was strongly pro-Heaney. Gregor has a long memory and his treatment by Town government under Heaney was unforgivable. He was a whistle-blower whose only reason for making complaints was the health of the residents.
He is an environmentalist and an ethical politician who took on Heaney after being defamed over his challenge of Bill Masterson. Masterson is the Highway Department Chief who thus far has escaped the fate of the Crookhaven Federal inquiries, which brought indictments against other bid-rigging paving contract suspects. The well-known habits of bureaucratic functionaries, which brought heavy money into the coffers of the Republicans in Town Hall, was something that Gregor wanted to change. Obviously, Heaney could not let him screw with the money source -- and spread nasty rumors that prevented Gregor from winning.

So, appointing Gregor to the empty slot would be the right thing to do for the Town. He is well respected and neutral. He’s a local that wants balance. He is also someone that returns calls and answers questions. The people like him.

The last option involves calling a Special Election. She could do it with 90 days notice or she could wait until next November’s General Election. While Kabot may or may not know this, she cannot call the election herself but must petitiion the Governor to do this.
Delaying the decision brings criticism; not delaying the decision brings criticism. No matter what she does, she will be criticized.
However, the loudest criticism will come from the Heaney boys who will criticize anything other than Russo’s appointment.
And, then, they will criticize anything and everything she does – until Heaney and his allies’ gain control of the Board again.

Any way possible.

Unless Kabot does what any shrewd politician who takes control of power does.

When New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn first took office she fired everyone and started over with her own people.

Politics is serious business.

The Shell Game

2007-11-17T22:48:00.000-05:00

Once in the racket you're always in it.
--Al Capone

Politics is the only game for adults.
--John F. Kennedy

Next week the results of the Southampton Town election will be announced to the public. Of course, those of you who read this blog will already know what happened. And, you will also understand what to expect going forward.
First, Kabot managed to squeak through to the finish with 53 votes to win the Supervisor’s race.
Second, Throne-Holst won with roughly 200 votes; second only to Graboski’s winning “Independent” run.

All of the Republican Trustees were elected.

This is where it gets interesting.

This electoral process, a little dirtier than usual this time, leaves a lot of unanswered questions.
The first question is “Who controls the government?”

Well, Kabot presumably will find the three votes necessary to appoint her own successor so that when she moves up a notch to Supervisor there will still be four Board members.
Graboski will vote with her and then the trail grows cold.
While Nuzzi is a Republican, he’s a Heaney Republican, not a Kabot Republican. Heaney may actually have something to say about it, playing his hand from the grave, as it were.
Or, Throne-Holst, a Democrat, may decide to begin her career on the Board by being a team player. The decision, of course, depends somewhat upon who the appointment will be. The rumor mill has a woman who has reportedly been Kabot’s consigliere, as being her selection for that seat. This has not been confirmed.

Henry’s viability, of course, going forward, faces some questions. Those who know him knew from the beginning that he intended to win – and intended to run again even if he lost.
In truth, many veteran politicians had serious doubts about his ability this time around and greater expectations for the next round.
In fact, he did much better than expected in this election and only missed the gold ring by a handful of votes.
Republicans argue that if it weren’t for Heaney and Gregor, Kabot would have creamed Henry.
Democrats point out the fact that Gregor took votes away from Henry as well as Heaney; Kabot took votes away from Henry by challenging Heaney; and that residents would have defected from the Republicans en masse, had Kabot not been on the scene.
The truth probably is that Henry and Gregor deprived Heaney of a victory and that Kabot owes Henry as well as Gregor simply for running – and providing the voters with a choice.
Had there been a credible New York vote, had the voter registration and absentee ballots for such a move really been mobilized – Henry would be polishing his shoes for the swearing in ceremony.
But if you are really sick and a political junky, and are fan of Rubik’s Cube, here are some further confusing facts:

Gregor beat Heaney by two votes and Gregor took about 800 votes on the Independent line;
If they had gone to Heaney instead he would have beaten Kabot by over 200 votes;
Gregor beat Heaney but lost in the election;
Heaney would also have beaten Henry;
Kabot would have lost with only 32 percent of the vote but, instead, actually finished first. In any banana republic there would have been a runoff but here she gets to name her own successor and ends up with two votes on the board.
By running, Gregor won the election for Kabot, or more precisely lost the election for Heaney. Someone needs to reward Gregor for a great public service.

The Parties need to learn a lesson from this little joust.

In previous elections, the Democrats were dysfunctional. Now, some believe that the parties are equally dysfunctional.
Democratic candidates helped to support the negative rumors against Henry – which turned some of the Democratic women’s vote against him.
There was a split in the Republican Party caused by the Graboski fiasco (initiated by Zizzigate).
And, there was a plethora of dirty tricks initiated by Heaney and carried out by the Town Attorney Garrett Swenson (rumored to have been fired already by Kabot), the Chief of Police and the Code Enforcement’s rubber gun squad in targeting Kabot’s family.

Only the Integrity Party – the little known, but well-organized group of irregulars who focused upon the talent in this election – came out smelling like a rose.
In fact, with a margin of 53 votes, the official tally of 176 votes from the Integrity Party line, ignoring the Gregor factor – they won the election for Kabot. That fact will not be lost on the new Supervisor.

There’s a long way to go before consensus can be reached and real issues can be addressed.
We have the issue of outrageous taxes for homeowners, reform of the Town agencies to root out corruption and political favoritism to local attorneys and political cronies, and then there is the new Racism Law – also known as the new Heaney/Nuzzi Illegal Immigrant Campaign Law. Otherwise, known as the Rental Law -- taking effect January 1st.
Perhaps the issue of affordable housing will be high on the list of political actions taken. Now is the time for a hard look at small multi-family developments that will provide relatively inexpensive housing for local families, single parents, seniors and young workers.
And, when everyone settles down to business as usual, the new government will have to start dealing with the issue that may decide future elections:

That is the role of tax-paying property owners in Southampton Town government who, for the moment, cannot vote in local elections.

Stay-tuned Rangers.

The Raid

2007-11-13T22:56:00.000-05:00

A man cannot be too careful in the choice of his enemies.
--Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900)

The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, 'I'm from
the government and I'm here to help.'
--Ronald Reagan (1911 - 2004)

While the counters are counting, enabling New Yorkers and Hamptonites alike to know who will be the new Supervisor of Southampton, along with the Board Members who assist that person – it is instructive to review some of the tactics that have been used to sway the voters.
As the current numbers line up, without the paper ballots, Linda Kabot, the Republican has 70 votes more than Jim Henry, the Democrat. The incumbent, Patrick “Skip” Heaney follows both of them by between 350 and 400 votes and is unlikely to be able to win regardless of how strong he pulls with the 777 paper ballots remaining.
Rumors have Henry pulling closer to Kabot and despite the predictions by veteran politicians, someone will probably be heading to court to challenge the official results no matter who is awarded the victory.
Rumors that former Legislator, Attorney George Guldi will “steal” the election for Jim Henry have been debunked by the Republicans but both the Southampton Press and the Easthampton Star have, by the form of their questions, implied that he is controlling the vote counting process along with Neil Tiger. When queried about this, their only response was that together they have over 50 years of combined experience in the process of certifying election ballots.
So, it appears that we will definitely know who the winner is by the New Year.

However, “The Raid,” the shameless attack on Linda Kabot in this election is most instructive as to the level of corruption exhibited by the Heaney regime – along with the complicity of the Town Attorney, Garrett Swenson, the Public Safety office (Ms. Kraft), the Building Department, the Town Police, and the Code Enforcement officers – which shows all of us how seriously the almost comical incompetence of these agencies has been corrupted. While they could not enforce the laws on the books properly before, they managed to coordinate a clearly politically motivated attack fairly well.

Essentially, during the final days of the campaign, after Kabot beat Heaney in the Republican Primary, the Town Supervisor called upon almost every level of Town government to coordinate an attack on his opponent – for political gain.
The Town Attorney, Garrett Swenson, Heaney’s “Neanderthal,” as he is known mainly by the female politicians, had a Town investigator visit Kabot’s aunt’s property, Senior Building Inspector Fred Lang issued violations, and the Code Enforcement Police staged a raid supported by a warrant issued by Justice Kooperstein and instigated by Police Officer Badagliacca, who was unable to be reached because he was on vacation.
Now bear in mind that these people worked together to gather evidence and pull this stunt – in order to get a bunch of Guatemalans our of a few rentals units on the Wilkins property that they had known about for almost 10 years. It seems that what set this major machinery in motion was a report that someone set off a firecracker at some point in time.
So, get this, the entire machinery of government, such as it is, coordinated a Putsch – because there were too many beds in a couple of rental cottages.
And, for this, in a Town that talks incessantly about affordable housing but does nothing at all to alleviate the problem, they want to put the owner in jail for a year on each of 12 counts.
The fact of the matter is that we should all thank her for alleviating the shortage of cheap housing so that these people (who clean toilets and rake leaves) don’t have to live in the woods.

The wonder of all of this is that the Southampton Press reported this raid in an article whose headline says “Questions Raised Over Raid” and “Heaney says charges were not politically motivated.”
This is the same newspaper that showed its readers a front page photo of Heaney with a $1.5 million dollar check made out to “Hampton Bays Taxpayers” compliments of the 2 percent transfer tax paid by buyers of real estate in the Hamptons. It was a front-page ad for Heaney that was free.

Well, hello? Let go of Heaney, guys. He lost!
Time to move on with your “news” reports.

Heads need to roll at the bunker. Der Fuhrer is out and it’s time to request some resignations and reassign some of the good old’ boys, give the Chief of Police a loyalty test, move some Code Enforcement officers to the rubber gun squad, demote the Chief Building Inspector, and suggest that Officer Badagliacca go on another vacation.
Justice Kooperstein should reconsider the use of warrants to settle civil matters like evictions that are really part of the hidden agenda of racism.
Perhaps she was simply the Judge on rotation that particular week and may have been threatened by the Police State mentality that Heaney played to so well.

High Noon

2007-11-04T15:32:00.001-05:00

The United States is a nation of laws: badly written and randomly enforced.
--Frank Zappa

While you're saving your face, you're losing your ass.
--Lyndon Johnson

Now that there are only a few days left before the showdown at O.K. Corral, the voters in the Southampton Town election on November 6th are having to weigh their options.

With four major candidates vying for Supervisor in this race, it requires a calculator and a thinking cap to weigh the options and evaluate the risks. Those of you from New York who have switched your residence to vote legally in the Southampton Town election, those residents who follow this blog and read the SoHo Journal, and even those who disagree but want to know what the loyal opposition thinks - read on.

Everyone else can hide in the corner and read the Southampton Press and Suffolk Life for their "news."

Independent and reliable calculations have the numbers on the election running like this:

Henry 32%, Kabot 29%, Heaney 15% and Gregor 12% with the rest undecided.

This goes a long way in explaining why the following unpleasant information has just begun to surface - and why it has not been reported in the local media. With the Southampton Press begrudgingly supporting Kabot (they actually support Heaney but have to show a good face to the Republican rank-and-file because she did, after all, win the Primary.) - Suffolk Life supporting Heaney (unsurprisingly, since Wilmot's kid runs the Heaney campaign) - with Gregor not getting any reliable media support (which bodes VERY well for him in the next election) - and Henry only getting support from news stories and other sources that tell an unpleasant story about Southampton politics under the current Republican control.

The wild card in this election is not Heaney any more, it's Gregor. He has been promised the Independent Party Chair by Frank McKay in Suffolk and his block of votes matters. His comment on all of this is that he is in it to win it. While many believe that his Nader-like position takes votes away from Henry, there is also just as cogent an argument that he steals the Hampton Bays vote, where he comes from, away from the Heaney territory and actually steals from Kabot. While Heaney can't be ruled out with a quarter million dollar campaign war chest, he is unlikely to buy his way out of the bad taste in people's mouths.

The most recent developments are Mike Anthony's (Democratic Committee) $25 million dollar lawsuit served on Kabot two days ago for her negative statements in the Press, causing her to pull a YouTube video considered defamatory and obviously actionable.

Of course, the Press dutifully reported Kabot's remarks and came just before the election. It resembled the million-dollar check ploy on the front cover of the Press when Heaney was seeking to buy the Hampton Bays votes.

But, the real issues for the Southampton voters are not this small town verbal ping-pong. What really is at stake is the level of potential criminality and corruption that has become part of the status quo. That's the Heaney status quo. And, only the voters can decide with the bathwater should go with the baby in this case.

Here you have a Republican Party with ties to a possible bid-rigging scandal involving Sandpebble, the largest construction company in Southampton Town - which has landed a string of building contracts including the Sag Harbor jail, the Southampton Animal shelter, the Westhampton Community Center, the Westhampton Library, the Southampton Village DPW, the Quogue Community Center, the Southampton Tax Assessor's Annex, and the Hampton Bays Community Center.

Sandpebble not only exhausted it campaign contributions in 2005 and 2007, but it has been reported that the owner, Victor Diaz-Conseco, required his workers to contribute to the Republican Party, who were compensated for their $500 contribution efforts. The question is whether this company is just another adjunct funding source to William Masterson's (Highway Department head) -- to award building contracts and paving jobs in return for huge contributions to the Republican Party.

Rumors of bid rigging by subs on some of the biggest construction jobs in Southampton have also surfaced.

Not the least interesting in the local hysteria over illegal immigrants has been the rumor that Marcus Stinchi, the Republican Party Chairman and owner of a local landscaping company has been a supplier of undocumented workers to Sandpebble on some of these building projects - that clearly have the smell of campaign contribution kickbacks.

Heaney knows, but does Kabot not know what Stinchi appears to either not know or does not want to know - where the money has been coming from?

This is an interesting question when we ponder the fact that we have a 51-acre cement plant and waste dump, Westhampton Mining Aggregates, Inc., located in the middle of a "core preservation area" in the Central Pine Barrens. The Town has known about this since 2003 and the leading law firm in Southampton Town represents this company -- and, surprise, surprise, are the biggest contributors to the Town Republican Party.

Has Heaney or Stinchi, or any of the Republicans discussed this issue.

And, has the Southampton Press asked about these issues and any of its debates, which were sponsored by them?

Does the fact that campaign contributions have also been coming in the back door from Feher, Sr. and Jr., Haney, and the Montecalvos, -- indicted donors who have been associated with bid rigging in Brookhaven. Have these donations had any significance for all of the Republicans now running for office - and have they rejected the party's seamy past?

This particular flow of cash is coming from Crookhaven - from whence Mr. Nuzzi, now on the Town Board, has escaped.

Recent articles dealing with the Heaney/Kabot war have focused upon the warrant-raid by the Code Enforcement officers and the Town Attorney's office under the tutelage of, what female politicians have called, "The Neanderthal" (referring to Garret Swenson).

This group of corrupt Heaney worker-bees with guns and badges even hit Kabot's aunt for not having C.O's on a property, which is a preexisting-nonconforming property.

Whatever the significance of suddenly acting on the legal status of zoning on an older property that is common in the Hamptons - it does point out how Heaney works in collusion with the police department and specifically with both the Town Attorney and Code Enforcement to effectively become the Gestapo arm of local government.

Under the circumstances of this Police State infrastructure, the question is -- do any of us want more of the same system that is in place - and whether allowing any of the Republican structure that has been in power for at least 10 years, to continue to rape the residents?

A Police Commissioner that is independent, a neutral Public Advocate that can review resident and non-resident concerns, and a clean sweep of the existing Town government structure may be the only reliable solution.

With campaign contributions coming from corrupt, indicted individuals, a tax reassessment that will now accelerate the flooding of real estate on the market (Summer rental listings are up 100% over last year and foreclosures have doubled) - coupled with the phony illegal immigrant stunts that merely play to local fears with a new rental law - all point to an economy that Heaney and his Republicans have pushed towards recession. Why? Just to get re-elected and keep the cash coming into Heaney and his Republican cohort's pockets. It's that simple.

Even Kabot has found that the local infrastructure is corrupt and responsive to a fascist state mentality.

Jim Henry seems to be the only rational choice for those who want change and who want the corruption bled out of the local government that has its hands in everyone's pockets. From residents with rental units to retirees with an investment property, to minorities and immigrants who need affordable housing - the heavy hand of the existing governmental structure with its corrupt structure of payoffs and campaign contributions needs to be cut off.

In the midst of this campaign mudslinging, as Heaney forces the slide of real estate into the abyss -- raising taxes and instituting a Draconian rental law ensures a new flood of properties will hit the market in the face of criminal charges and huge fines -- augmented by his huge property tax increase. All of this as the stock market is poised to go into freefall.

Boosted by the subprime mess instigated by Wall Street greed and misinformation by mortgage brokers about the products being offered -- the word on the street is that Merrill, Lynch is not simply $10 Billion upside down but that it is more like $50 Billion. Likewise, Citicorp claims that it has written off $3 Billion and hedgefund gurus are saying that it is more likely $75 Billion. Memories of JP Morgan and his bankers who gathered together to forestall a panic by rushing to the floor of the exchange in 1929 to "Buy, Buy, Buy" come to mind. Incidentally, the ploy did not work and the Depression lasted until WWII.

So, the Heaney push to force illegal immigrant workers into the streets by threatening property owners, real estate brokers, retired folks with a rental unit and single moms with an investment house -- like Kabot's aunt --- is just screwing the economy to get re-elected.

The Hamptons is no longer a small town that simply caters to a few rich individuals - it is a rich resort area that has the same microeconomic relevance to large cities with police forces, social service agencies and government accountability. As we head into more difficult economic times, partially due to the incompetence and self-serving financial corruption, it behooves all of us to sweep the office clean, not sweep the debris under the rug.

The Lineup

2007-10-27T21:03:00.000-04:00

Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.
--Ronald Reagan (1911-2004)

As the Hamptons politicians start lining up for the big event on November 6th, it has at least started to resemble a real election. The cross-endorsement ploys of years gone-by are merely a bad memory for democrats.

After Linda Kabot and Nancy Gabroski were rejected by the party regulars who are controlled by Skip Heaney, the three-term incumbent Supervisor, and Marcus Stinchi, the Town Republican Party Chairman – they both returned to win the party Primary. Essentially, that split the Republican Party; and while Stinchi and the NeoCon regulars were bound to support Kabot, Heaney was still trying to pull strings to stay on the ballot, any ballot.

He's still running – hoping that there are enough conflicts to dilute the will of the people: getting him out of office. He’s returned, to the chagrin of many, on the Conservative line simply because he’s been hoarded cash donated by the various slush fund ploys -- compliments of Masterson and a variety of other bagmen with the help of Stinchi and the Republican regulars.

For the Supervisor race this years' election is shaping up with Jim Henry running as the Democrat, Alex Gregor running as the Independent (who beat Heaney by 2 votes), Kabot running on the Republican and Integrity Party lines and Heaney on the Conservative line. While Heaney would like to be the power broker in this race – which appears to be between Henry and Kabot, the truth is that Alex Gregor is more likely to be that person.

Gregor has been treated badly by Heaney and the Town of Southampton. He was a whistleblower who lost his job because was concerned more about residents and the environment than his own job security.

He ran for Masterson's position as Highway Superintendent and was defeated by Heaney's false and highly negative publicity. Since Masterson has used this position to milk the paving industry for cash and votes to support the Republican machine, it was necessary to hold on to that particular cow.

But Gregor, a Hampton Bays native, had a lot of support from residents. He ran against Heaney this year on the Independence line and beat the incumbent, albeit by only a few votes.

In Southampton politics the name of the game is how many lines you can grab in the voting booth. The more lines you have as a candidate, the better your chances are of winning the election.

Gregor, a very personable and straightforward guy to talk to, says that he is in this to win the race for Supervisor.

Although not said by him, even if he does not win he is likely to be the candidate who could be in a position to decide who will win this race. Although it is not certain that he voting block would support any candidate other than Kabot no matter what Gregor decides.

However, no matter what Gregor does, he will continue in Southampton politics and is a voice that both local voters as well as New York property owners can feel comfortable with. He is not a redneck or a racist and respects and supports the environment.

The Town Board race has two major candidates to be considered for the slots available – Anna Throne Holst and Nancy Gabroski. The others, particularly Russo and Drew are Heaney clones and, in fact, are running with him on the Conservative line.

Gabroski rejected the conflict of interest problem (at the very least) involving James Zizzi, a local builder, and was rejected by the Republican rank and file for this position. She's lined up both Republican and Integrity Party lines and is expected to win handily.

Throne-Holst, also a reformer, stands to take another of the Town Board seats – hopefully, helping to change the nearly misogynistic attitude by Southampton Town government "old' boys network." She has come out against corruption and cronyism and has spoken up about the hidden racist agenda adopted in the new rental law slated to take effect in January.

The current Board is comprised of Chris Nuzzi (a Heaney pal from Crookhaven whose term is not up), Linda Kabot (Republican running for Supervisor), Kenny (term-limited out) and Gabroski (likely going to be re-elected). There are two slots up for grabs and, should Kabot be elected Supervisor, there would be another vacancy in January.

If three-card-Monty or the run-of-the-mill Manhattan street corner shell game interests you, this will definitely get your attention.

The likely winners will be Throne-Holst and Gabroski, creating a Board with a new Supervisor, a couple of reformers and a Heaney shill, Nuzzi. If Kabot wins, we have neo-con Board and three reformers (assuming she controls the choice of her replacement). If Henry wins, we have a three way power game with Kabot, Gabroski, Throne-Holst and Nuzzi. Of course, it could be none of the above or exactly as described. Pick your horse and go to the race.

If Heaney buys the control of this scenario with the reported quarter million dollar war chest and the two newspapers he “owns” (Southampton Press and Suffolk Life), put your seatbelts on and get ready for the Feds to start reviewing Town records again. While they were around during the cell tower controversy, they haven't really visited in the Hamptons since Mayor Motz had his little problem with "ticket-switching."

Speaking of which, the Heaney Republicans have attacked Jews, Blacks, Gays, Asians and Hispanics (do you see any of them in Town government?), but now the Italians have even started to take notice.

Andrea Schiavoni, candidate of Town Justice who is running against Eddy Burke, been accused of NOT being Italian (compliments of Heaney helping elect Burke) -- and a local developer finally figured out that he's one of the un-chosen people in the Hamptons.

Seems that Mayor Motz, a Heaney buddy, is on the wrong end of another legal problem. Developer Rocco Lettieri had the nerve to sue Motz and the Village of Quogue for some unkind comments, such as referring to the Italians as "you people." The $25 million dollar Federal lawsuit is reminiscent of the kinds of comments coming out of Southampton Town Hall – in referring to Blacks with the N work, Latinos as "spics," and many New York Jews as "kikes."

There's no need to speculate as to how the ladies have been categorized – since several elected women have described the Heaney (and his administration's "Neanderthal") Town legal staff – to be disrespectful, misogynistic and crude. Call a female politician working at the Town Hall and they will confirm it, off the record.

It's not the kind of question that the Southampton Press is likely to ask.

In fact, Donna Giaconti, Heaney's Executive Assistant, was a reporter run by Shaw – it was the direct link to control of the Press by the Heaney administration.

The other "news"paper, Suffolk Life, of course, had Heaney's campaign manager plugged into their operation. No one less than Wilmott's son.

Nothing like an independent media in the Hamptons.

So, what does it tell you that with all of this control of the media, that Heaney lost the Republican primary to Kabot, lost the Independent line to Gregor – and is considered toxic dump material to the newly formed Integrity Party? What it does say is that if Heaney does resurrect himself by threatening or buying his way into office, there will be big problems in Town government.

Andrea Schiavoni, running for Justice Court against Ed Burke, is another reform-oriented candidate who deserves attention.

Ed Burke, a competent attorney and judge, has had many casting aspersions at his record of cooperation with the Heaney machine – not his knowledge as a jurist. The remarks about preferential tax treatment for his North Sea property, when compared to the disastrous increase in Town taxes foisted on us all by Heaney and his featherbedding cronyism are a real sore point.

Those who do business with the court speak well of Burke – but, often for the wrong reasons.

Andrea Schiavoni is a highly competent attorney with decades of experience in the courts and is someone who does not do "deals" for the boys. While that may not be good news for the Heaney sycophants and Neo-cons, it will be good news for local residents who need a night court (which has been mandated by the court system but never implemented) which Schiavoni is committed to – and will be good news for attorneys who depend upon the independent integrity of the Justice Court in Southampton – the busiest justice court in the State.

Deals are for politicians, not judges.

To Vote or Not To Vote

2007-09-23T01:36:00.000-04:00

Vote early and vote often.
--Al Capone (1899 - 1947)

Those of you who have been watching from the sidelines as the Heaney/Nuzzi team has been trying to get themselves re-elected may have noticed that a small monkey wrench has been thrown into that particular plan. Nuzzi is not up for re-election this year but his boss, Heaney, is.

Against the backdrop of corruption and favors-for-votes, the local electorate has started to voice their objections to their business-as-usual. While the Southampton Press and Suffolk Life have started to retreat from their almost slobbering support of "Skip" Heaney, there is still some indecision about how to treat either Heaney or Kabot. One reason for that is the fact that while Heaney lost on the Republican line, he still garnered almost half of the vote and still may have Independent Party line. That may translate into "deals."

Knowing Heaney, as many people do, he is busy trying to buy a position with that electorate behind him.

What neither he nor the other Republicans know is -- what the segment of the rest of the local electorate will do come Election Day in November. Many, many people, especially local voters, have had quite enough of the party that Lincoln would throw-up over. He freed the slaves, the Southampton Republicans want to put the immigrants in jail along with property owners.

It is difficult to tell what the rest of the 20,000 or so registered voters will do, as against what the less than 3000 registered Republicans have already done on Primary Day.

With the election nearing in November, the big question is whether the rest of the voters' revulsion of the Republican Party mirrors the revolution in the Republican Party in general.

This is where the candidacy of Jim Henry becomes interesting.

Kabot is a Republican who ran successfully on the Integrity Party line, as did Nancy Graboski - since their own party - which attempted to ditch them in an aborted attempt to support Heaney, rejected them.

Disastrously, that did not work and the Chair of the Republican Party, Marcus Stinchi is starting to circulate his resume. His landscaping business is probably starting to look like a better alternative.

Kabot and Graboski were known to be rejecting the old-boy network and entrenched corruption of the Republican Party. Despite the currently weak musings of the Southampton Press and Suffolk Life (since they practically drooled in lockstop at Heaney's orders), the voters were able to see what was really going on. The fact that the "news" being reported was driven by ad sales that Heaney controlled through the Republican Party, was not lost on readers who have never had much of a choice when it comes to journalism.

The Town Board is currently a muddied waters of candidates at this point.

The Heaney forces, including Drew and Russo are not out but dampened - with Russo having the better chance.

Russo is a local boy in his thirties who is an A.D.A in the Town and who came out of nowhere after hanging his hat with the Party and Heaney. He did respectably well, but ran behind Graboski.

Anna Throne-Holst is entering the fray now and is one of several candidates who will vie for the two slots on the Board.

Although another slot would open up if Kabot were to win as Supervisor -- she could then could appoint another Board member - presumably, of her own liking.

Jim Henry enters the field now as the opposing candidate for Supervisor on the clearly defined Democratic line. While Kabot still has Heaney on her tail, she is now the Republican candidate as well as Integrity candidate.

Henry remains the Democrats choice.

Henry now comes out center stage to permit the voters a clear choice.

That choice appears to be corruption with Heaney, cleaner status quo with Kabot or a different direction with Henry.

The wild card in this election may not be a candidate but a voting block.

New Yorkers have been disenfranchised and have not weighed in on local politics so far. One, because they have not seen a need to do so.

Two, because they don't have the right to vote.

No candidate has seen fit to mention the elephant in the room.

The fact that there are slightly less than 6400 property owners, New Yorkers, who have homes in the Town of Southampton and who could be eligible to vote is a serious reality. This, of course, does not take into consideration the fact that in addition to that there are also many thousands of émigrés from Manhattan who got out of town right after 9/11 who never went back and others who just decided "I'm mad as Hell and I'm not going to take it anymore." One too many parking tickets while dropping your child off at school can do that.

While they are not seasoned locals, they bring New York values and a lot of political baggage. And, they are not happy about many things that have been going on.

And, one of the things that have been going on is the institutional racism that has now spilled over in a codified set of laws.

That, namely, is the new rental law which criminalizes the act of renting your house without a permit. Everyone, except local cops, firemen and other favorite people, faces fines of up to $15,000 PER VIOLATION if they do not register their house with the Town as of January 1st. The Town wants to know who is in your house, where they work, what their names are, personal information about them and wants the landlord to give the Code Enforcement Police free access whenever they feel like doing a search and seizure.

The Constitution has been suspended in Southampton Town.

They also want the right to arrest you if you don't give them this right.

Since national policy eliminating the rights of immigrants was a failure, the Republicans decided to create a law that could, de facto, accomplish what they wanted - with a badge and a gun. Only this time, they set it up so that they not only could they fine the property owners but could arrest the tenants and homeowners as well.

And, in the process they could milk the real estate industry. Brokers, agents, management companies, national real estate companies - anyone, and everyone associated with the possible finding of a home for "illegal immigrants." And, all of this has been done with the money from property taxes paid by YOU - to use against you.

Heaney, the Supervisor, Nuzzi, Town Board member from Crookhaven, were solidly for this bill which they introduced - and, in fact, pushed it down the throats of the Town Board. Heaney managed this by giving out Preservaton Fund money in places like Hampton Bays for school taxes. Money that was garnered from transfer taxes on real estate sales that was earmarked for the buying of land for open spaces to remain un-developed.

Russo is on board with Heaney and supports the rental law.

The question is, where does Kabot stand on this issue. She is quoted in Suffolk Life as saying that she is against "Vigilantism" but supports the law.

Graboski, now a Town Board member who is running for re-election voted for the rental law.

Anna Throne-Holst, candidate for Town Board was one of the few candidates who opposed this law at the hearing where it was passed.

Jim Henry is on record as opposing this law and clearly sees it as a thinly disguised form of discrimination.

It may be time for New Yorkers to register to vote in this election and make themselves heard. We will keep you informed on the candidates and the issues.

But vote. Register and vote. Do it now.

Download a voter registration form from www.countryvote.org and mail it in - and, to make the process easier, request an absentee ballot if you have to which allows you to vote from wherever you are as long as you are outside the limits of Suffolk County.

Show up and be counted.

The Calm Before the Stormtroopers

2007-09-15T00:17:00.000-04:00

What luck for rulers that men do not think.
--Adolf Hitler

Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man's original virtue. It is through disobedience and rebellion that progress has been made.
--Oscar Wilde

The perfect storm brewing in the Town of Southampton has three components that should upset everyone involved in this year's election for Supervisor and Town Board.

The inimitable style of current Supervisor "Skip" Heaney, who has until now escaped the attention of the New York City media - and instead has the attention and fawning fealty of the two major local publications like the Southampton Press and Suffolk Life - is finally managing this year to come into focus.

Why?

Because the combination of huge increases in property taxes; a Draconian rental law that threatens to imprison and fine rental property owners; and threats to the real estate industry in the Hamptons - have culminated in an election that previously would not have been so carefully watched.

The fact that slices of the tax assessed on all real estate transactions, used to fund the Peconic Preservation Fund (set aside to acquire land that will not be developed) - is being used for political purposes by Mr. Heaney -- is only part of the story. That particular ploy, of using money primarily gained from New Yorkers' investment property purchases, is only the tip of the iceberg.

He buys votes from heavily weighted voting communities like Hampton Bays - where bold ploys like promising them big school tax gifts from the Preservation Fund - and then he bites the hand that feeds him by aiming the gun barrel at property owners who pay the bills and the taxes in the first place.

Those whom Heaney has targeted are investors, New Yorkers, rental property owners, non-voting property owners, residents with rental properties, senior citizens with auxiliary apartments, single parents with income apartments or units, and real estate companies who rent or manage real estate for clients. The real estate companies, especially, are being targeted since it is the main business and source of income for the entire Hamptons economy. Sales agents, brokers and national real estate companies will now be the new cow which Heaney and Nuzzi will try to milk using Gestapo tactics.

In the attempt to retain control of the Town of Southampton, an acquiescent Town Board has passed a law that potentially targets everyone having anything to do with local real estate. That includes the Real Estate industry itself.

While companies like Corcoran are not yet feeling the heat, the new rental law is aimed at them just as seriously as it is at small local companies. Clearly Heaney and the Town are targeting smaller companies to test their strength before they work their way up the food chain.

The fees and fines, both civil and criminal, are aimed at milking the industry by making anyone and everyone involved in renting a property - the target of the Code Enforement Police in Southampton Town.

So, the assault on the Hamptons Real Estate industry may be underplayed by Heaney & Co., as the election rolls around but the effects of the new law going into effect on January 1st are unmistakable.

Real Estate agents and brokers, management companies that handle rental properties, individual owners, attorneys representing landlords or owners and other professionals that are associated with real estate will all be affected. Individuals will be targeted by the Storm Troopers - depending upon whether one is a friend of Heaney (a Code Enforcement hands-off) or a foe (no Get Out Of Jail Free card).

This is a law that aims to do two things:

A. to complete a campaign pledge to eliminate the "Latino problem" by fulfilling a promise to certain Conservative Republican supporters from his hometown in Hampton Bays (where he also has promised Peconic Preservation money), and;

B. raise significant amounts of money by taxing the real estate industry with the threat of criminal sanctions if they don't cooperate.

Here's how all of this works.

The illegal immigrants came to the Hamptons because of the need for cheap, pliable labor. Guatamalens, Equadorians, Costa Ricans, Mexicans, and other Latino workers do most of the landscaping and menial chore work in the Hamptons and need education, health care and housing.

But, housing in the Hamptons has never been cheap. For decades there have been discussions by local politicians about how to provide housing for local residents that they can afford.

The expedient political answer has always been simple - slow down multiple family projects until there's enough money under the table; and, make the zoning so difficult that developers throw their up hands and go away if they can't hire the right (nod-nod, wink-wink) local law firm to get the application approved - or pass enough money under the table at Town Hall.

Typically, multi-family housing projects are a three to five year pursuit - and that's just for the approval.

How successful has multi-family housing been? Most professionals don't remember the last apartment house being built in Southampton.

So, affordable housing has never been a realistic objective. If anything, it has been the source of graft -- but, never a source of housing.

The last lottery for inexpensive single family housing that was built -- mysteriously had a high number of winners who were related to the Supervisor.

The solution found by Latinos and other summer workers (as well as many Summer renters) in the expensive Hamptons housing market became the sharing of housing. People would share expenses and shelter and live as a family. It became the solution to the non-existent affordable housing situation in the Hamptons.

Many rented brand new homes or well-kept older homes. A few rented housing that needed work. Some properties actually needed repairs and maintainence work to be considered safe and habitable. Even fewer properties should not have been rented at all because of their condition.

However, there were laws on the books about noise, parking, garbage, illegal property conditions and zoning violations. These laws were selectively enforced but took too much time to rectify because the Code Enforcement Officers were too busy operating on a "Targeting" agenda. Since Code Enforcement was always a political unit, there was never a need to hire enough people to actually check property and issue notices to correct problems. It was always a unit used to target people, not correct problems. Notices were never used -- only criminal summonses were issued. Get the point?

The Code Enforcement Police were mainly used to target political enemies of Heaney and to satisfy people who wanted Latinos or Summer renters removed from their neighborhood. Proper notification of problems legitimately needing to be corrected and enforcement of the laws on the books took too long and was messy. The dubious constitutionality of targeting certain groups like Gays, Jews, Latinos or Blacks was always a contributing agenda. Which brings us to the situation at hand.

The Final Solution became the Heany-Nuzzi plan to additionallly target the Real Estate industry in order to make everyone involved in the housing process a likely target of criminal prosecution - and FINES. Really BIG fines.

Investigations have shown that the initial phase of that plan is already being implemented. Certain small real estate companies in the Hamptons are now being targeted by the Code Enforcement Police as Heany nibbles at the edges of where the money comes from. The new rental law which allows searches and seizures, warrants and arrests and multiple court appearances with heavy fines is the culmination of the assault on Latinos and on the Real Estate industry. Always follow the money.

Real Estate agents and brokers are now being named in criminal summonses and must appear in court under threat of arrest - if Heaney & Co. suspects that Latinos, Summer people, Gays, Jews, or Blacks are gaining access to housing in areas where his political cronies live. Shades of Guantanamo Bay?

These are the initial moves which has now been signed into law -- before they climb up the food chain of the Real Estate world to where the big money is located. With fines of $3,000 to $8,000 and much higher per violation, per property - you can see the handwriting on the wall.

Napoleon used to conquer for the specific purpose of pillaging and expropriating money to shore up the bankrupt French Republic. It's the same plan -- using the Latinos as an excuse to invade and holding property owners as the hostages.

The fact that this law would all but exempt certain kinds of local fire, police and EMS workers - by virtually eliminating fines to them for their rental property violations - only shows who this vote-getting ploy is really aimed at--non-resident property owners, New Yorkers, Real Estate brokers and agents -- and professionals in the Real Estate industry. In other words - where the money comes from that funds the entire East End.

This law is unconstitutional and it is an illegal and disgraceful example of anti-Latino, anti-Gay, anti-Black, anti-New Yorker, anti-Real Estate industry vote-getting. But, Heaney and Nuzzi have manipulated the local media into making people believe that they are concerned with the welfare of the people they are actually attacking. The ploy is that this law is about protecting tenants from unscrupulous landlords -- you know, those people who rent houses below THEIR cost in an area that will not permit multi-family housing to be built.
It is also a poorly kept secret that the Town sanctioned Section 8 program provides below market income for properties, provides no protection to landlords and often leaves the property destroyed by the tenants who had no investment in the property they occupied.

Heaney and Nuzzi claim that this law is meant to protect poor working people who have rented substandard housing. Do you understand this? Let's review this again.
After running on a campaign pledge which screams out that they will rid the Hamptons of Latinos (illegal immigrants is the buzzword)-- he wants to pass a law to PROTECT THEM! How? By attacking landlords who rent to them.

He'd just as soon kill them - as Police already have done in Quogue.

And, how many Blacks, Latinos, Lesbians or Gays (out of the closet) have jobs at Town Hall or in the Republican Party folks?

Remember, Heaney and Nuzzi are no longer of the party of Lincoln - they are from the party of Senator Craig.

And, now folks if you own property in the Hamptons -- they're coming after YOU -- unless you pay them!
Heaney was investigated for an illegal approval on the Town Board for a cell tower a few years ago. The cash was found on the front seat of a car.
Now, in Town Hall, they want it in the form of a check made out to the Republican Party.

That's how business is now done in the Hamptons. And, if you own property, you're involved whether you like it or not.