06/02/2026
East Hampton Democrats and their allies who champion tax-and-spend policies appear to have little regard for the many families in town struggling under rising taxes and a difficult economy. Even worse, some are increasingly willing to launch personal attacks against their neighbors, and indirectly their neighbors’ children, in an effort to silence opposition and influence the budget referendum.
Over the past week, we’ve seen two clear examples of this tactic on social media.
A page that functions as a surrogate for the East Hampton Democratic Party, called “East Hampton, CT - Rock the Vote” posted a photo of Town Council Member Ted Hintz Jr.’s property, where he and his family live. The image highlighted yard signs celebrating his children’s graduations from private school. The thinly veiled intent was to portray the Hintz family’s views on town issues, particularly taxes and school spending, as out of touch opinions that should be dismissed because their children are not in the public school system. Using someone's children in a political attack is unacceptable.
This was a deliberate attempt to delegitimize Ted Hintz’s opinions and, by extension, to discourage all residents without children currently in East Hampton public schools from participating in the public debate. The message was clear, if you don’t have kids in the district, you should keep mouth shut and your wallet open; your opinions don’t matter.
What the post conveniently omitted was the real reason the Hintz family made the difficult decision to enroll their children in private school. As Hintz explained:
“Because I was active in local government and willing to question decisions, our family was being treated differently. No family should ever feel that the only way to protect their children is to remove them from their local public school system. Yet that is exactly the decision my wife and I felt compelled to make.”
Despite this sacrifice, Hintz continues to pay his full property taxes and devotes significant personal time to serving the town, often taking principled stands against the majority to defend and support taxpayers when others choose to stay silent.
This wasn’t an isolated incident. Earlier this week, an anonymous social media user attacked a well-respected unaffiliated voter for expressing her concerns about both the Board of Education and the town budget. She was told that because she homeschools her children, she has “no right” to voice an opinion on how public schools are run or how tax dollars are spent. When others defended her, the response was even more blunt: she has rights, but not the right to complain about the schools.
The misguided message from these attacks is consistent; if you choose to homeschool or send your children to private school, East Hampton Democrats and the big-spending advocates believe you forfeit your right to speak out about taxation and government spending.
This is both unfair and dangerous. These families still pay substantial property taxes that support the public schools, often while shouldering the full cost of their children’s education themselves, thereby easing the financial burden on other taxpayers.
At its core, this reflects a troubling attitude. East Hampton Democrats and their allies are eager to spend other people’s money but show little interest in respecting differing opinions or the well-being of the very residents funding their priorities. They want your tax dollars, just not your voice.
Let them hear your voice loud and clear on Tuesday, June 2nd, from 6am to 8pm at the East Hampton Town Hall!
