DAN'S PAPERS, August 29, 2008 Page 48 www.danshamptons.com
Ocean
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municate the results widely. It will be working on sharks — whose population has plummeted 90 percent, and are threatened by the demand for fins. Pikitch said that 73 million sharks are killed each year. She will also be leading research on the sturgeon population, which has been heavily fished due to the high demand for caviar, particularly Beluga. “The time for them to recover is expected to be 40 years,” she said. “Our work will show how to speed their recovery.” She said the US consumed about 80 percent of the world supply of Beluga caviar, and that there was finally a ban on imports. “We also work with corals, whose very impor-
tant habitats are under the threat of global warming,” she said. “They are also suffering from bleaching, which causes a loss of color.” The other area of research at Stony Brook Southampton will be on the depletion of small schooling fish, such as anchovies, sardines and menhaden, which are a food source for larger fish. “They are being overfished, and we hope to develop advice for managing these systems,” said Pikitch. At the gathering, Congressman Tim Bishop, a former provost at the Southampton campus, said “it is great to see this investment made in our Marine Science Division.” He said he was grateful for the $6.9 million state grant to replace the aging Marine Science building with a new, state-
of-the-art facility, which will be built in the next two years. NYS Assemblyman Fred Thiele of Sag Harbor emphasized the problems facing our local fishermen. “Our state’s two largest fishing ports are Montauk and Shinnecock, and our fishermen are in crisis, with depleting stocks. Having this institute and marine science center are crucial to our well-being,” he said. Pikitch, who starts her new job on September 1, said she will be staffing her department with more scientists, faculty, graduate students and interns. “Most students will spend time on both campuses,” she explained. The new marine science center will break ground in about a year, and take about a year to construct. It will eventually house classrooms and space for public functions. Following the meeting of college and government officials, everyone enjoyed a ride along the Shinnecock Bay aboard the college research pontoon boat, “Peconic,” to experience the beauty of the sea they all are dedicated to preserving.
SH Budget
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Now she must unite the board to face tough decisions about raising revenues in a tough economic environment. According to Horn, her plan is simple. “Over the next several weeks, Supervisor Kabot will meet with department heads to review the 2007 audited figures released last week and examine the current status of the 2008 budget. They are going to do this in preparation for the 2009 budget, which will seek to restrict expenses and improve the efficiency of town operations…state law requires the Town Supervisor to file the 2009 budget by September 30. The Town Board will then hold hearings during October and adopt the 2009 budget by November 20.” Town Comptroller Steve Brautigam has reportedly gone on record as calling the existing deficits “red flags” that will have to be paid off over time. With a balance of $4.5 million in the bank, and overspending of $7.2 million already done, perhaps Horn should also be concerned about his paycheck with the town technically overdrawn. The process used by both the Towns of East Hampton and Southampton of using surpluses from better times to finance overspending and trying to keep tax rates lower than they should be may be over. In fact, Kabot herself believes this, reportedly saying, “We need to wean ourselves off the use of budgetary surplus to fund government operations.” Horn put it another way — “Southampton’s financial condition is a world of difference from what has happened in East Hampton Town — both in terms of degree, kind, and number.” That may be true, but what is also true is that if the Town of Southampton goes on doing what it has been doing, that can change — as it did for East Hampton. Brautigam has done his job and pointed out the red flags. Now the board must do its job and start raising revenues and making prudent cuts to end deficit spending before the Town of Southampton goes broke. First order of business is, at least, get out of the red. 1194239