Have It In Writing

It was a longtime South Fork resident, the late Joseph Heller, who said it best in his novel “Catch-22”: “Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t after you.”

In Hampton Bays, as red-faced town officials scrambled to stamp out the brush fire, a lot of men and women were just happy to finally see, in black and white, something they’ve suspected all along but were told was nonsense: Despite the trappings, regardless of all the talk of “public input,” a contractor had mistakenly said the quiet part out loud — the fix was in. Until a vote last week, “neutralizing” opposition to a major project was official town policy, in writing. The community was not a partner; it was an opponent to obliterate.

Reasonable people can debate whether this was willful arrogance, a kind of municipal Freudian slip, a monumental lapse of oversight, or just the use of language better suited to a private development client than town government.

No matter how it happened, the public trust has taken a body blow. It feels as though the scales have fallen from our eyes, and we see something that’s been in plain view all along — and it’s not just Southampton Town officials who are implicated. It’s like finding black mold in your house: You might have spotted a small patch, but it means there’s so much more you can’t see.

There’s nothing particularly unique about the Hampton Bays Downtown Overlay District, and the contract the town struck with Nelson Pope Voorhis. In fact, NPV itself has been, for a quarter century, a ubiquitous presence in land use discussions on the entire East End. It’s hard to find a major project, current or former, that doesn’t involve the environmental planning consultant.

It’s a project the town wants, for whatever reason, and it has hired NPV to help facilitate the process. But, with these projects, there’s always a nagging feeling that it’s to facilitate not consideration but approval — to grease the skids. The disavowed phrase in the contract, pledging to “seek to neutralize this by having [critics] appear as traditional NIMBYs who consistently present misinformation to promote their own limited agenda,” gives away the game, and the game is played all over the East End.

It’s a horrid misread of the contractor’s role, and of the town’s responsibility to field criticism. Was it put in by mistake? Maybe. That leaves two possibilities. Town officials read it, shrugged, and inked the $200,000 deal with NPV with it in place. Or both elected officials and legal representatives of both sides failed to catch it — or failed to read it at all. Which is worse?

Public trust is precious, and once it’s lost it’s difficult to regain. In Hampton Bays, the town has lost all credibility. The stakes are so high, and the possibilities favorable for the town’s biggest, and arguably most neglected, hamlet. But the well has been poisoned. The plan to remake the downtown of Hampton Bays probably needs to be scrapped. Supervisor Jay Schneiderman is in his last term, and it’s going to fall to his successor to decide whether to take it up, and to do a better job of convincing Hampton Bays residents it’s something being done with them, not to them.

Elsewhere, you will find hundreds of words from readers and others responding to this shocking story, making the point that it has resonance far beyond Hampton Bays and Southampton Town. They speak volumes, eloquently, as always.

In fact, it was a reader, Elizabeth Hook, who spotted the clause in the NPV contract and wrote a Letter to the Editor last week, calling the newsroom’s attention to the matter. That was community activism at its best: Taxpayers taking responsibility for what their government does in their name, on their behalf.

This entire region is remarkable for its citizenry’s involvement in local affairs. That means friction and fireworks at times, but it’s a sign of a healthy community that refuses to be hoodwinked. That frisky spirit is what would be “neutralized” if many contractors, and municipal officials, had their way. It’s inconvenient.

A lesson to take away from this: It’s up to the community to stay alert and watch closely. Because that paranoia you feel? Sometimes they really are out to get you. We have it in writing.