The Town Trustees are elected by the residents of Southampton to be the guardians of our common lands and waters - the natural resources which have been central to our quality of life and local economy for hundreds of years. Yet, few residents know what the Trustees do, the responsibilities bestowed on them, or the powerful history of the Dongan Patent they are trusted to uphold. As a result, our Trustees past and present have rarely been held accountable for their actions, or absence of action, for too long.
Over the past several decades the residents have watched the quality of our waters decline and the bounties of our sea life diminish. The brown and red tides have ravaged our bays and remain a phenomenon we do not fully understand and have been unable to prevent. Pollutants in the forms of fertilizers, pesticides and toxic stormwater runoff have closed shellfish beds, caused fish kills and contaminated our once-clear waters. And overdevelopment along our shores has destroyed our natural filtration systems by eliminating precious wetlands, leaving our waters even more vulnerable to contaminants that leach from the land.
But our waters are resilient, and something can and must be done to ensure that our children and grandchildren will be able to enjoy the natural beauty and bounties of Southampton just as we have.
Chris Garvey and Bill Pell are committed to elevating public awareness about the importance of protecting our lands and waterways and working to implement more protective programs and legislation that will help to revitalize our local waters.
If elected, they will light-up the office new energy and ideas that fully respect the historic Dongan Patent and the commitment to put the best interests of the people first. It all starts with a plan . . . |
