WHERE THE BLUE MEETS THE GREEN: What is your view of the importance of the Southold Town’s waterfront to the economy of our community and how do you propose to protect it?
(Candidate responses appear in the order in which they were received)
Bill Edwards: 
I feel that our waterfront is as critical to the town’s economy as agriculture, since both support tourism, second homes, and our traditional way of life. During my term on the Town Board we have done a great deal:
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Enacted a new drainage code to deal with runoff problems from new construction.
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Passed Local Waterfront Revitalization Plan after 20 years of dithering.
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Fixed drainage and road runoff problems from Laurel to Fishers Island.
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Purchased and put to work pump-out boats for use in Peconic Bay and around Fishers Island
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Permanently preserved the pipes Cove estuary
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Preserved the 58 acre Bittner property on the Sound in Peconic to protect it from development forever.
If re-elected I plan to maintain this process.
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Jim King: 
- Healthy wetlands and clean waters are crucial to our economy. Visitors come here because of our pristine shoreline areas, fishing and bathing at our beaches.
- I have been a creekfront property owner on Mattituck Creek since 1968. We can utilize our waterfront without degrading it. All that’s needed is a sincere effort and common sense.
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Bill Ruland: 
- The waterfront is extremely important to our economy because it provides a livelihood for many of our town residents. It also is an important part of our town’s tourism. If elected, I will support the protection of all publicly owned waterfronts and will work with private landowners to do the same, without infringing on their ownership rights.
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Bob Ghosio: 
- I ran for Trustee originally on the platform that I believe that Southold’s wetlands and waterfront is the most important economic resource we have. Our tourist trade is based on the waterfront. Therefore our hotels, resorts, restaurants, bars, charter boats, real estate offices, bait shops, etc. are all only as successful as our wetland’s ability to attract people to live, visit and play here. As such, I believe we have a moral obligation to our children to protect our wetlands for the benefit of future generations and to continue our economic way of life. That means maintaining our beaches, ensuring public access is available, ensuring our waters are clean, doing what we can to bolster our fisheries, and conserving our natural resources. Sometimes that means making tough decisions and no decision makes everyone happy, but it is important to do. I think that so long as I make decisions based on my core values, what I believe to be right, I can do a good job as Trustee.
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Chris Baiz: 
- The North Fork is where earth, wind, and water meet as heaven’s foot print on earth. The waterfront interface of these elements is critical to our local economy.
(How do you propose to protect it?).
- My seven point environmental policy and additionally greater effort on Eel-grass and shellfish restoration.
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Scott Russell:
- The health and viability of the town’s waterfront is vital not only to the economic well-being of our town but to Southold Town’s cultural and historic value. We are a marine community with rich ties to the waters that border us and fuel our tourist industry and provide substantial tax revenues from waterfront property owners. Waterfront property owners could benefit from a more coordinated permit review process, better communication among the departments involved in a single application, and a keener understanding and regard by town departments for the financial costs borne by the applicant in the permitting process. These are goals that I have worked for and will continue to work for if I am re-elected supervisor.
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Dan Ross
- The protection of the waterfront is vital to our commercial fishing and marina interests, to the businesses that rely on our tourist economy since tourists are drawn to the North Fork largely because of the water, and to the people who live in the Town of Southold who want to enjoy the beaches, boating or just the view.Access to the waterfront is important for everybody. Recently, because of changing federal and state dredging regulations some creek front homeowners became landlocked. To address the problem I drafted a town board resolution to form a Dredge Committee. The resolution was adopted, the Committee was formed and now there is a group of interested citizens that operate under the auspicious of the town to insure the dredge issue does not sneak up on us again as it did last Spring.Access to the waterfront should be the right of inland residents, as well as waterfront homeowners. The town, when permitting the subdivision of property, has historically and intelligently required access to the waterfront for inland lot owners. Neighborhood waterfront access is important to us all. Beginning in the late 80s in my private law practice, I began representing groups of neighbors whose access to the water via easements to the waterfront had been threatened. These are right-of-way disputes. On the town level I am working on keeping these rights of way open by encouraging the town to receive title to tax lots that are subject to these easements.Addressing the economy: The failure to address the shoaling in and around the Mattituck Inlet is threatening the commercial fishing and marina interests that rely on the Inlet. At a recent Mattituck Park District meeting the hazard to boats created by the shoaling was described. As a community, we have been aware of the problem for over ten years. The Mattituck Park District has limited resources to deal with this issue and I intend to get further involved in finding a solution, whether or not I am re-elected.
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The following candidates were invited to respond to this question also, but chose not to do so by publication deadline: Vincent Orlando, Anne Trimble, Frank Wills. Everyone is encouraged to add their own comments and questions below, including all candidates.
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