Arnott G Gooding
(aka Gordon Gooding)
for Town Board
​in the General Election November 5, 2024
or by Absentee Ballot
Early Voting dates October 26 to Nov 3.
MY PLATFORM
STOP TALKING. START GETTING THINGS DONE
I am running for Town Board to make progress on Shelter Island’s three most important issues: Water, Community Character, and Balanced Development.
1. WATER: Protect Our Drinking Water, Bays and Creeks
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Do not further delay: install advanced (I/A) septic systems at Town Hall, Police Station, Justice Hall, Community Center, and the Firehouse to prevent further deterioration of groundwater in and flowing from the Center. The school did it
last summer! -
Provide more help to residents to install I/A systems and require their installation upon the sale of most homes and businesses.
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Study water conditions in different parts of the island and develop appropriate solutions.
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Stop playing games with house size and develop a workable standard or formula
– no exemptions!
2. COMMUNITY CHARACTER: Make Affordable Housing Happen Now
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Make it a TOP priority for the Town Board, by placing an update on the agenda every week.
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Initiate an all-hands-on-deck approach to accelerate the timeline.
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Keep the public informed of the reasons for any delays.
3. BALANCED DEVELOPMENT: Change and Enforce Town Codes—It’s Not
Too Late!
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Stop allowing structures to be built within 100 feet of the wetlands.
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Return wetlands decisions to the Town Board now.
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Obtain independent environmental review of all major projects.
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Enforce the codes!
I have owned a home on Shelter Island for 41 years and became a year-round resident
in 2004.
My mission as a Town Board member is to make government responsive and protect our community character and natural resources.
I will listen to everyone.
I will seek consensus on issues.
And we will find solutions together.
Congratulations to our new
Democratic Committee Elect
SIDemocrats.org
Shelter Island Democrats
WHO WE ARE
Greg Toner and William Mastrogiacomo (Bill Mastro): Greg and Bill have both worked on the SIDC committee, Greg, a member of the Water Advisory Committee, The Water Quality Improvement Committee and the existing SIDC. Bill, a retired attorney with a focus on governance, has been on the SIDC, is presently President of the Hay Beach Association and is a member of the Community Housing Board. Both are long-time Democrats. In comparison, the two challenging candidates registered as Democrats only after they were recruited by the existing Chair.
Catherine Brigham and Mark Mobius: Catherine is the art teacher in Shelter Island School, involved in multiple community programs and projects and presently the Vice Chair of the Democratic Committee. Mark is a member of the Community Housing Board, a strong environmentalist and runs a successful environmental study program for children.
Elizabeth Hanley and Kathleen Gooding: In addition to being a successful accountant, Liz is the chairperson of the Community Housing Board, coordinates the Community Clothing Swap meets and is an existing member of the SIDC. Kathy is active with the Taylor’s Island Preservation and Management Committee and represents Shelter Island on the Suffolk County Parks Commission.
Barrie Silver: Barrie is a current member of the SIDC and an active community volunteer. She is
running unopposed.
OUR PLATFORM
1. Democratic Process
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The Committee should follow a democratic process for all decisions.
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Candidates and decisions should be voted on and decided by a simple majority.
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Leadership should respect the outcome of votes and not make decisions outside the committee.
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Most critically: all candidates should be interviewed, vetted, and voted on by the whole Committee.
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Once a vote has been called the Committee should be 100% committed to supporting their decision.
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The Committee represents ALL Democrats on Shelter Island- the Committee should support candidates chosen by voters.
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Committee members are welcome and encouraged to have their point of view.
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When representing SIDC, Committee members should support the consensus/vote of the Committee and the choices of SI Democratic voters.
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Disagreements, which are inevitable and part of the process, should be handled with mutual respect and maturity.
​
**Currently:
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*In the most recent cycle: A candidate for the Town board seat was designated (put onto a petition) by the current chair with no vote or conversation with the committee.
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At the same time a candidate seeking endorsement was not given the opportunity for a full committee vote to gain this endorsement.
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*Expressions (by the chair) in public spaces, including newspaper letters and advertisements, have expressed personal viewpoints instead of a voted position of the Committee.
2. Forward-Looking & Open
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The Committee should work proactively to develop and support prospective candidates- striving to make the process accessible to more people.
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The Committee should closely follow local, County, State, and National issues to more robustly support potential and current candidates.
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The Committee should have open meetings for registered Democrats to be involved in the process and give input at least once a quarter.
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Current and potential candidates should be encouraged to participate.
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All party business including financials, petitioning, County processes, etc, should be shared with the Committee and Democratic voters as requested.
**Currently:
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*There is no plan for candidate development and multiple suggestions / potential frameworks have been dismissed by the current chair.
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*No meetings are open to ALL registered Democrats. Interested parties are told not to attend and in the previous Fall election cycle, access has been refused to candidates to SIDC meetings.
3. Fiscal Responsibility
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The Committee should be responsible for accurately reporting income and expenses so that there is a clean record for donors (current and potential) and avoid legal trouble with the NY Board of Elections.
**Currently:
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SIDC lost access to funds or their bank account as a result of setting up bank accounts improperly- the County is involved to help them resolve this.
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Fall 2023 donations had to be returned because they were improperly received.
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The Suffolk County office is covering the cost of an accountant to fix approximately ten years of incorrect filings- with thousands of dollars in donations unreported to the Board of Elections.
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There is no sign of embezzlement or fraud- just gross negligence.
To find out which ED you are registered in use this map as a guide or go to: https://elections.ny.gov
To vote in the June 25 Democratic primary and committee election on Shelter Island, you must be registered as a Democrat here. If you are registered as a Democrat elsewhere in New York, you can change your address by June 10; if you are registered in another state (regardless of how) or not registered anywhere, you can register by June 15. See https://elections.ny.gov/registration-and-voting-deadlines. If you are already registered in New York, the deadline for changing your political party registration for the primary has passed.
To apply for an absentee ballot, go to https://elections.ny.gov/request-ballot.If you would be interested in helping our campaign please email go to www.SIDemocrats.org or contact Cat.brigham@icloud.com
