Westhampton Beach Mayor Maria Moore last night refused to take questions on the eruv Jewish religious boundary proposed for WHB, saying village lawyers have advised her to be silent about it.

An O’Dwyer correspondent read an email into the record from Jack O’Dwyer at the trustees’ meeting asking for WHB’s response to the demand by the East End Eruv Assn. that WHB sign a permanent injunction promising not to oppose the eruv, and a demand by Verizon that WHB give a “categorical” promise not to oppose Verizon’s licensing of utility poles in WHB for use by the eruv.

Moore said that recent activity on the litigation will be posted on the WHB website. The latest current entry is dated Dec. 22, 2014.

A videotape of the meeting will be published on the WHB website in several days.

The demands are in a 6,000-word transcript of a session Feb. 24 presided over by Judge Kathleen Tomlinson in Central Islip.

Whether an eruv actually exists in WHB is a bone of contention. The Hampton Synagogue says on its website that “The Eruv Is Up” but the Southampton Press was unable to find any physical signs of an eruv despite a search of 45 utility poles licensed to the EEEA by Verizon and Long Island Power.

WHBThomas Moore, left

Eighteen people were at the regular WHB trustees’ meeting including Thomas Moore, lawyer husband of Maria Moore, who is the clerk for Suffolk County Superior Court Judge John Rouse.

Thomas was appointed to the Westhampton Beach Village Zoning Board of Appeals in 2008. He resigned in 2010, three years before his term was up. Moore authored "controversial resolutions" during his time on the board, according to local blogger Dean Speir, including one that barred then-Village Attorney Hermon "Bo" Bishop for allegedly sharing his legal opinions in public. Thomas now operates a blog called progress4WHB that covers his wife’s administration.

WHB trustees have been sent links to hundreds of pages about the eruv dispute since Jan. 20. Included is the Jan. 22 O’Dwyer exhibit of 20 items such as legal filings, media coverage and our own reports. The trustees have had ample opportunity to be informed on this issue.

Also at the 45-minute meeting were Kyle Campbell, reporter for the Southampton Press and 27east.com; Dean Speir, who operates the local website whbqt.info; Joan Levan, president of the WHB library board on which Maria Moore sits; Michael Nobeletti, owner of the Shock clothing stores in WHB and a real estate broker, and Paul Houlihan, building and zoning administrator for WHB.

Elizabeth Lindvit, WHB clerk who was at the meeting, was offered a copy of the O’Dwyer letter but she said she already had it in the form of an email. Trustees Hank Tucker and Ralph Urban also said they are received the letter via email.

The email is as follows:

Hello Mayor Moore:

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

I am continuing to cover the eruv issue in WHB but would like some answers.

The transcript of the meeting Feb. 26 with Judge Tomlinson revealed that while WHB says it has done nothing to stop an eruv in WHB, this is not accepted by Robert Sugarman, attorney for the EEEA.

He and Yehudah Buchweitz asked for WHB to agree to a permanent injunction on EEEA’s claim “that there’s no law that prevents the eruv.”

Erica Weisgerber for Verizon said Verizon’s agreement to forego putting up lechis was “contingent upon WHB unequivocally agreeing to withdraw its ripeness and justiciability claims.”

Is WHB going to agree to a permanent injunction as sought by Sugarman and will it “unequivocally” agree to withdraw any claims against Verizon?

The 6,000-word transcript of the meeting with Judge Tomlinson, which has been published on our website, is in this link so you can check the quotes:

One of the quotes is Judge Tomlinson expressing dismay and astonishment at the length and size of the litigation (literally billions of words) by saying, “God help us all!”

The press is needed to help sort through this blizzard of words and get to the nub of the issue—whether a religious sect can permanently use public property to denote an area of special use and privileges. The eruv would create a “home” for believers.

WHB has a budget of $9.8 million, Southampton, $83.3M, and Quogue, $7.9M. None has budgeted any funds for press relations or PR. No staffer calls on the press or tries to build relationships. No one from any of the communities ever calls us to offer help in obtaining documents or understanding issues. This is opposite to all current principles of effective and responsible PR.

As a citizen of WHB, a home-owning taxpayer and a voting resident (I have changed my voting from NYC to WHB) as well as being a reporter for a bona fide news organization (our company is 47 years old and was accessed in 169 countries at latest count), I would like to have some answers for the benefit of our readers which include many from WHB.

Why hasn’t WHB passed a law against use of utility poles for private purposes such as exist at Southampton and Quogue? It could be that village officials and real estate interests favor an eruv although 90-95% of citizens don’t, as remarked twice by former mayor Conrad Teller.

New York commercial and residential real estate prices have exploded in recent years, propelled by foreign investment. Here is our coverage of this June 1:

WHB would be a magnet for real estate investors should an eruv be established there, according to Dan's Papers.

The entire country is also watching this issue since it may jeopardize eruvim everywhere. Both Southampton and Quogue argued strongly against eruvim before Judge Tomlinson while WHB said it never opposed an eruv. Sugarman disputed that statement by Brian Sokoloff.

I will be in WHB most of the time from now on any hope I can meet with you. I am trying my hardest to gather information on this important issue which threatens to burden the three communities with millions in fines, penalties and costs, according to attorneys for EEEA. The transcript mention litigation possibly going into the sixth and seventh years.

A lot of facts are on the table on this issue and I hope one of them will not be lack of response by officials of WHB to questions by citizens and taxpayers. I and others should be able to get our questions answered and have full access to all relevant documents. Dean Speir’s blog quoted you as promising an “open and transparent administration.”

Cordially,

Jack O’Dwyer