With all the meschugas going on in the local Republican Party, it would be easy
to forget that we have a Democratic Party out here, and they're running candidates, too. If I can pull you away
from the Heaney-Kabot-Graboski soap opera for a moment, let's talk about Jim Henry.
Jim Henry is the Democratic candidate for town supervisor. He's also the lawyer
who successfully sued Southampton Village for attempting to bar dissenters from the Independence Day parade. If
that seems like a dubious credential for running for office, when you talk to the man you soon realize that he's
the kind for whom the phrase "the smartest guy in the room" was probably coined. A Minnesota-born, Harvard-educated
economist with significant executive experience (McKenzie & Company, Lotus Development Corporation, General
Electric), Mr. Henry wants to bring Bloomberg-style management to our town. "Local government is a service
industry," he says. "In business, you have to listen to your customers."
The trouble with the Patrick "Skip" Heaney administration is that "to
get a call back from Skip, you have to be on his Rolodex." Whether the issue is property taxes, day laborers
or open space preservation, "government has to be much more responsive to the public," he says. Of course,
in politics being smart doesn't guarantee success, but when I asked him about his vision, he launched into an impressive
dissertation on tax reform, affordable housing, land preservation, day laborer resolutions, carbon dioxide reduction
and improved health services.
Of day laborers: "That's quite simple," he said. "Do we want men
hanging around on street corners, or do we want them in a protected area where they won't bother people? We need
to reach a consensus on that, then act." He agrees with Mark Epley that illegal immigration is a federal problem
but thinks the town should work with the village to find a fair and workable solution. "Many of the issues
can be solved through stricter code enforcement," he says. "No one wants overcrowded rental houses with
cars and litter next to them. But we need to build a consensus about how to handle this new population." A
man who has traveled widely, Mr. Henry cites community programs in Vail, Colorado, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Jupiter,
Florida, and Bennington, Vermont.
Listen to what he has to say about fiscal management: "In 1999, the town
budget was $39 million. Today, it's approaching $75 million. Southampton's taxes are 40 percent above the state
average, which are 49 percent above the national average. The average property owner's tax bill out here has increased
84 percent since 1995. "Vermont has a system that helps people on fixed incomes pay their taxes by delaying
payment until they've died, then taking it out of their estates. Florida is looking at a graduated property tax
in which modest homes get a higher exemption." He believes that the supervisor should work with Albany to
find similar solutions.
Here is Mr. Henry on open space and the environment: "According to a recent
Pine Barrens Society report, in 2006, Southampton bought only 101 acres using CPF money. That puts us far behind
schedule to preserve the 7,000 acres we need to save by 2015." He believes we need to be "greener"
in all ways. "In recent years, Southampton has bought 15 cars for non-emergency personnel, but not one was
a hybrid.
Why?" A tall, balding man whose consulting firm, The Sag Harbor Group, has
done extensive work abroad, Mr. Henry says, "Road standards in the U.S. are far below those in Europe. The
town highway superintendent should be a professional civil engineer who's appointed. We should be looking at what
other communities are doing, like using competitive bidding and collective buying to bring down road costs."
One of his dreams is to build an emergency clinic in Hampton Bays. "There
is a 'golden hour' for patients in severe trauma to get to the hospital," he says. "Last week alone,
two failed to make it. That shouldn't happen." Does all this make Jim Henry an electable candidate? I don't
know.
As Al Gore demonstrated, elections aren't always won on issues or competence.
But one suspects Mr. Henry has that kind of nonpartisan practicality that a man like Fred Thiele could relate to.
In fact, it would be rather interesting to see how those two might work together. Jim Henry is an outsider who's
up against an entrenched, well-funded party that has traditionally convinced voters that it's in their best interests
to "vote local." Mr. Henry is definitely not "local." His "Mission: Impossible,"
which he has obviously decided to accept, is to punch a hole in that mindset and convince voters that it's time
for a change
Southampton Democratic Committee • PO Box 384 • Westhampton • New York
11977