Disrespecting Alec Baldwin: Shame on You East Hampton
We need to respect our East End assets, human and otherwise.
On July 16, 2012, Will James wrote a piece in the Wall Street Journal about Alec Baldwin’s proposal to build a wind turbine on his East Hampton property. It was to be located on the corner of his property and was projected to generate up to 10,000 kilowatts of electricity per year. Despite the fact that LIPA was actually encouraging this and other types of alternative energy development at the time, Mr. Baldwin’s request was denied.
So now let’s fast forward to May 20, 2014. As recently reported by Judy S. Klinghoffer on DansPapers.com, “The Town Board of East Hampton voted unanimously to accomplish an extremely ambitious goal—to meet 100 percent of the town’s community-wide power needs with renewable energy. The board plans to accomplish this by 2020, which would make East Hampton the first municipality in New York State to do so.”
In my opinion, this is a slap in the face to Mr. Baldwin.
Let’s take a minute and reflect on who is being disrespected here—Alec Baldwin has won two Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards and seven Screen Actors Guild Awards. He was born and raised on Long Island. He represents his Town and the entire East End by routinely giving back with both his money and his time. Hilaria and baby Carmen Gabriela are also warm and friendly additions to the community.
The entire family is an asset to East Hampton.
I propose that The Town Board of East Hampton immediately rescind their previous denial of Mr. Baldwin’s request and also issue a public apology.
Just in case there is no one on the Town Board with any experience in public apologies, I have taken the liberty of providing a draft:
Alec, Hilaria and Baby Carmen Gabriela,
We the Town Board of East Hampton, on behalf of the citizenry we represent, wish to apologize for our shortsightedness with regards to not supporting your proposal for renewable energy at your East Hampton residence. The Baldwins are an integral part of the fabric of East Hampton and we appreciate your kindness, generosity and assistance in representing our community to the world. After careful consideration, we now agree that sustainable energy should be a part of our town. Please accept this as official notification that you may start building your windmill whenever you desire.
That’s the right thing to do. Who shares my opinion?