Dan’s Papers September 24, 2010 danshamptons.com P age 24
East Hampton Debates Dark Skies By T.J. Clemente Since winning her election to the East Hampton Town Board, Theresa Quigley believes she hasn’t been treated fairly by the press. Perhaps it’s her style that rubs opponents the wrong way. Hardly a shrinking violet, Quigley is a confident presence on the Board and, as an attorney, she’s trained to never let ‘em see you sweat. Since she handily won her election why shouldn’t she be confident? And her current focus, to narrow the Dark Skies commercial law for the Town of East Hampton, shouldn’t be a surprise—she was clear during the campaign that she did not wholly embrace the concept. The International Association of Dark Skies (IDA) has the following mission: “…to preserve and protect the nighttime environment and our
heritage of dark skies through environmentally responsible outdoor lighting.” In her proposal to remove the “sunsets” for commercial lighting (a deadline when non-conforming lighting that produces glare, “up” light and light trespass must be changed), and her approval of the use of a fixture on commercial properties that produces “up” lighting, Quigley is bucking a national trend of reducing energy usage of commercial lighting after hours, and reducing wattage. Susan Harder, an East Hampton citizen committed to IDA, believes the problem at a recent town board meeting to discuss the issue was filled with misinformation. “The idea is to reduce the light going toward the skies, not toward the ground,” Harder said. “This is not to make parking lots dangerous or create an environment of
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less light, but to use artificial light prudently. After hearing the comments at the meeting, I know I need to do a better job educating.” In a brief phone interview, Quigley declined to say why she did or did not embrace the concept of Dark Skies. What she did say was, “I am as interested in this legislation as any other Board Member,” adding, “It is wrong to say I care less about dark skies than any other board member.” She chuckled when I said that talking to her is like talking to Hillary Clinton in terms of her precise legal phrasing to questions asked. By
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to outspend Bishop, having already spent $2 million of his own money to win the primary. With Bishop voting for the Health Care Reform Bill, and the TARP Reforms, many see him as vulnerable, especially in a district with a majority of registered Republicans. Having covered politics in the last two years, I see in Bishop a local man committed to his constituents who was against the Iraq war and the Bush policies that put the nation and county in their current messes. No matter what you think of his politics, Bishop is a decent, honest, hard-working man. Remember that as you watch the TV attack ads. Altschuler has put his money where his mouth is and fought off the Suffolk County Republican machine in defeating a well-groomed Cox. Altschuler has let it be known that he intends to win and he’ll do what it takes. Political theorist Niccolo Machiavelli, author of The Prince, would no doubt approve of Altschuler’s ruthlessness as a positive. So the questions are, as the Democrats hope to limit their losses nationally, will Democrat Cuomo win the Governorship of New York in double digits? Will Thiele prove that “It doesn’t matter what party you are in on the local level to win?” Or will Blumenthal prove that being a Republican running for the State Assembly does matter? Finally, will LaValle get his nosed bloodied in his first opposition in an election in almost a decade, or will Maertz make history by winning? The political season has just begun. The key will be who will turn out. Will it be the Republican extremists or the Democratic base? No one knows. Just make sure you vote.