I’m thinking about these things:
- Sag Harbor’s new mayor
- Southampton’s botched reassessment
- The condos are coming (and I’m scared)
- Affordable housing (Why not in the condos?)
- Church for sale
- The two-building plan for the John Jermain Library
- Getting control of the school budget
- The proposed renovations for the Pierson H.S. auditorium
- Historic preservation in Sag Harbor
- Sag Harbor’s changing demographics
- Why land use and transportation issues are interconnected (Re: the SEEDS report)
I want to write about them all, and will…eventually. If there’s a topic in this list that is of particular interest to you, let me know by adding a comment to this post. If any of the topics gets a comment, or *gasp* two or more comments, I’ll move it/them to the head of the list.
It amazes me how you seem to capture the things on my mind too–with the exception maybe of Sag Harbor’s new mayor. For some reason that doesn’t seem to matter to me. I guess if it’s the first thing on your list, maybe it’s something I should be thinking about.
Anyway, I want to hear more about all the things you mentioned. And I’m curious about Bay Street Theatre as well. Is it going to remain in Sag Harbor? I hope so.
I don’t know who’s thinking of buying the church, but I’d be interested in seeing it purchased by the school district and used as an early learning center with a pre-K, Kindergarten and maybe first grade there. The only down side I see is the parking problem. How to juxtapose that with the rising school taxes is another issue altogether and I’m not sure what the answer to that is, but there’s no getting around the fact that the schools do need more space and that costs money.
Speaking of space and the schools. The proposed renovations of the Pierson auditorium are exciting. I think we should get full input from the community and see which version they want to support.
I’m very interested in the library and want to see the plans for the new building. Although I love the current building and am excited to see it restored, I question the fiscal wisdom of maintaining both buildings as a library. Why not restore it and turn it into a museum/archive collection and have it be a source of revenue?
Affordable housing is another topic on my mind. Something has to be done to keep young families here and maintain the nature of our community (and hopefully recapture some of what has been lost). I heard something on the radio the other day about a community (I forget where) that made affordable housing available by having people purchase only the house and the municipality maintaining ownership of the land. That way the people could make a decent profit on the house if they ever wanted to sell it, but the land, which would stay at below-market value, would not skyrocket, thereby keeping the neighborhood in the affordable range. It seemed like a pretty good idea.
Anyway, I want to hear more of your thoughts on these issues. Don’t get lazy and just make lists.
Well, clearly making a list didn’t get me anywhere since you are interested in almost everything on the list! However, you have given me a place to start: I’ll bump up the possible sale of the Methodist church, the Pierson auditorium renovation and affordable housing on my list, and add the Bay Street Theater’s possible relocation too; another interesting topic.
By the way, my interest in the mayor is strictly in how he will manage to fit the extra work into his already crowded schedule. In addition to being mayor, he is also chairman of the library’s Board of Trustees, co-chair of the Library Development Committee and partner in an accounting firm. And, those are just the jobs I know about. What will happen during tax season?
As an out of town reader but resident when it was more Sag and less Hampton, the last three. Of course dish on the mayor, if snarky enough might be good too, for no other reason than he’s one of that brave and safe-to-criticize-without-fear-of-being-sued breed, a public figure.
Any help?
Absolutely, but no snarky dish on the mayor, as he’s also my boss (indirectly).