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After an hour of emotional community debate, Village of Greenport declares itself a ‘welcoming community’

A woman holds up a sign at the Feb. 23 village board meeting in Greenport. Photo: Katharine Schroeder

The Village of Greenport has declared itself a “welcoming community.”

The village board voted unanimously last night to adopt a resolution declaring Greenport welcoming to all and recognizing and embracing residents “regardless of where we are born or what we look like.”

The vote came after more than an hour of sometimes emotionally charged debate among residents and visitors who took the podium in the packed meeting room of the Third Street firehouse. Speakers overwhelmingly urged the board to adopt the resolution.

“To have the village gutted of 20 percent of its population and 75 percent of the kids in the Greenport School would be an unmitigated disaster for Greenport,” former Greenport mayor Dave Kapell told the board.

“The vast majority of these people are decent hardworking people trying to make a life for their families and their children,” Kapell said.

Without immigrant labor, Greenport and the North Fork would tank and the school would be forced to close, he said.

Kapell said the immigration system “works as well as a screen door on a submarine,” and said the federal government should instead work to fix the system, while securing the country’s borders and removing criminal aliens.

But the village, he said, must do everything it can to support its Latino community.

Photo: Katharine Schroeder

 

Kathryn Casey Quigley of Greenport agreed.

“I very much encourage that this resolution be passed and that it be just the beginning of what we do to support the Latino community here in Greenport,” she said to applause. “I can’t think of anything more important.”

Not everyone was supportive. Former trustee Bill Swiskey of Greenport dismissed the resolution, calling it “a resolution that doesn’t mean anything.” He marveled a the large turnout.

In a move that was not well-received at the crowded meeting, Greenport resident Robert Kehl, wearing a shirt with an American flag on the front, held up a sign with a phone number to report illegal immigrants to federal immigration authorities.

“If you are here legally, you are always welcome,” he said, as many in the crowd booed.

Several people said that the resolution wasn’t necessary since Greenport has always been a welcoming community.

Chatty Allen of Greenport said that the resolution had brought about a divide within the community, stating that people are afraid to speak for fear of being called racist or hateful.

“I’m afraid after listening to this tonight if you don’t vote for this, the village is going to be more torn apart,” she said. “Why do we have to make a resolution that we’re a welcoming village? We’ve always been.”

‘Let’s not harbor the illegals,” said Greenport resident JoAnne McEntee, who urged the board to vote no. Photo: Katharine Schroeder

JoAnne McEntee of Greenport stood opposed to the resolution, also insisting that Greenport already is welcoming — to legal immigrants, she stressed.

McEntee, a native of the village, said Greenport years ago was a “dumping ground” and must be careful it does not “go back to a dumping ground.”

“Let’s not harbor the illegals,” McEntee said. “If there are certain people who come in and we remove them — sorry you’re here illegally, you’ve committed a crime, and those are the people who need to leave.”

“My kids are getting paid less than those people because they are being paid in cash,” she said. “One of these illegals hit my daughter’s car. Guess who was stuck with the bill?”

Immigration attorney Chris Worth pointed to the American flag in the room.

“What does this flag mean to everyone?” he asked, turning to the crowd. “I saw someone running today carrying a flag, waving it. You know what that means to me now? It means Trump. It means get rid of the immigrants. And that’s our symbol. That’s our symbol,” he said, excitedly pounding the podium. His statement caused the crowd to erupt in cheers and jeers, requiring the mayor to bang his gavel.

Worth apologized for his outburst. “My clients come to me now, asking how do they protect their children if they get deported. Who is going to care for them? That’s not what this country is about.”

The “welcoming community” designation “may be symbolic,” Worth said, “but this is a time for symbols. It’s a time for Greenport to mean something, to
speak truth to power.”

Southold Anti-Bias Task Force co-chair Sonia Spar passionately supported the measure.

“This resolution is words and words matter,” Spar said. “Prejudice and bias lead to hatred. And hatred left unchecked leads to violence. The more we get to know each other the less hatred, the less bias and prejudice because we see that we are all human beings,” she said.

“Words matter.”

Trustee Doug Roberts Photo: Katharine Schroeder

Before the vote, Trustee Doug Roberts, who brought the original “welcoming community” resolution forward last week acknowledged that it is “a symbolic gesture.”

This resolution is not intended to say you haven’t been welcoming people, he told the crowd.

The final form of Roberts’ draft resolution was edited by Mayor George Hubbard. Where Roberts’ resolution called out the contributions of “foreign-born Greenport residents and U.S.-born residents transplanted to Greenport,” the Hubbard version referred simply to “all Greenport residents.”

Trustees Mary Bess Phillips and Julia Robins last week wondered aloud whether the resolution was really necessary, but both supported it last night.

“We have always been a welcoming community.” Phillips said. “We are Greenport. We are all in it together and we all take care of each other.”

“I am honored to be able to vote for this resolution tonight,” added Robins. “This is what’s in my heart. This is what I believe in.”

Hubbard and Trustee Jack Martilotta both voted for the measure without further comment.

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Katharine is a writer and photographer who has lived on the North Fork for nearly 40 years, except for three-plus years in Hong Kong a decade ago, working for the actor Jackie Chan. She lives in Cutchogue. Email Katharine