That False Sense of Homeland Security

Buying Into The Big Lie Threatens Us All

We all woke up this morning, in a world already rocked by the violence and vitriol of extremists, to find that our sense that we are somehow safe from the repeated acts of terror has been shaken to the core once again.

No shock or surprise here. The Underground in London. A railway in Madrid. A financial center in New York. All prime – and, unfortunately, easy - targets for those who value fanatical ideologies over human life.

Fact is, we abhor terror. Indeed, we must condemn such acts against humanity and civility whenever and wherever they take place, hunting down the real “evil-doers,” not so much in the name of democracy, but in the hope of preserving what little is left of civilization on this now shattered planet.

We, as New Yorkers, commiserate with Londoners, and with the victims of terror everywhere. Know this: Londoners are among the most resolute people on the face of the Earth, and it will take a whole lot more than a few bombings to bring about their capitulation.

None of us will surrender to the will of those bent on the destruction of the human race and of society’s mainstream values (wherever those “values” may be holed up in the era of extremism, both at home and abroad). Yet, we must not be blinded – or, for that matter, sidetracked – into a false sense of homeland security, buoyed and perpetuated by a systematic propaganda machine that posts color-coded alerts, asks us to be vigilant as we go about our business (meaning: turn in your neighbor if he has a foreign sounding name), and tells us, with exuberant confidence, that we are “winning the War on Terror.”

We should be afraid – and very afraid – not of terror or of terrorists – F--- them! We should be afraid of the Big Lie. The lie told repeatedly by those we have elected (okay, that someone elected. We can’t seem to find anyone willing to say he pulled the lever for “W”) to lead us. The lie that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The lie that Iraq’s insurgency has anything to do with Al Queada, with terrorism, with 9-11, or even with an effort to restore a brutal dictator to power. The lie that we are forging democracy, this in a nation that doesn’t want it and wouldn’t know what to do with it if they had it. The lie that a war that has already cost us billions of dollars and tragically claimed thousands of young, useful lives has made a dent in breaking the will of the terrorists, or in hitting them where they live, where they train, where they continue to plot – over the Internet, no less – their next vicious, savage attack.

The terrorists aren’t in Iraq. Question whether they ever were. No, they’re in London. They’re in Madrid. They’re right here among us in New York. Pay no attention to the fact that our bridges and tunnels are vulnerable (why, a terrorist could, with ease, hide an explosive device in one of the many abandoned vehicles that sit beneath bridges and underpasses along heavily traveled arteries, taking out perhaps but a few, yet terrorizing many). And just drive by any of our government buildings – including those in our own backyard – and ask how difficult it would be for anyone to drive a tanker truck full of explosive material right up to the doorstep. Ah, but don’t worry about that. The action is in Iraq. Yeah, that’s the ticket. We’ve got Mosil and Takrit covered.

We’d like to believe that we are safe, that our children are out of harm’s way. We are not safe, and every one of us continues to be a potential target. We’d like to believe our government – on all levels – when they assure us that they are doing everything possible to protect us, to find and destroy the terrorists, as much as we’d like to believe that those in attendance at the G-8 Conference really give a hoot and a holler about Aids in Africa, about an impoverished world where millions die of starvation, and about the threat posed to our very existence by global warming. Sorry, but they really aren’t, don’t and, if the world wasn’t watching with half an eye, would probably be off somewhere drilling for oil or trading food for dollars. Heck, they do that even when we are watching.

As we will not submit to the wanton will of the terrorist, we must not buy into the Big Lie. For the dangers to democracy, to society, to the freedoms we so cherish and all too frequently send other people’s children off to die for, come not so much from Al Queada or Bin Laden, but rather, from within.

Taking It To The Streets

Community Alliance Goes Public . . . Start Spreading The News!

Property taxes on the rise. School taxes to double by the end of the decade. Illegal apartments in single family houses stretching limited resources and endangering countless lives. “Downtown” looking more like “Ghost town.” Services dwindling. Quality of life on the decline. Who ya gonna call?

The Community Alliance, Long Island’s premier quality of life watchdog group, says, “Call us!” Better still, e-mail The Community Alliance (times being what they are, who can afford a telephone?) at info@thecommunityalliance.org, and join the crusade to rebuild suburbia.

Initially formed as an umbrella organization through which local civic associations and community groups could channel complaints, formulate joint strategies and “think tank” shared solutions to common concerns, The Community Alliance now reaches out to the rank and file – the folks who pay the bills – the residents and property owners of our towns, villages and hamlets.

“This is a unique and unprecedented opportunity for residents to have a voice beyond their own communities,” said Roy J. Mezzapelle, Co-Chair of The Community Alliance. Citing the fact that those who are active and involved close to home are not always engaged beyond the borders of the local community, Mezzapelle commented, “Quality of life knows no boundaries. We have to think locally, act globally, and work together in our endeavor to return suburbia to both Town and County.”

Join forces with your neighbors – across the street and clear across town – to reinvent community as it once was, as it should be, as it can be again. As a citizen-member of The Community Alliance, you will have access to the resources needed to stay informed and in the know, and you’ll be a very real part of the strength in numbers that will empower you and your hometown. The cost of citizen-membership in The Community Alliance? FREE. The benefit of being a member of Long Island’s vanguard of the suburban lifestyle? PRICELESS!

Learn more about The Community Alliance at www.thecommunityalliance.org.

Take Out The Garbage And The Trash

Talk of the Sanitary Districts, among many other allegedly autonomous "taxing jurisdictions" in the Town and County, has become all the rage - or should we say, outrage.

Recently, Town of Hempstead Councilman Anthony Santino addressed the Baldwin community (Sanitary District 2) at a Town Meeting, and suggested that residents are "willing" to pay more for sanitation services provided by the Special Districts in order to keep "local control." The Councilman also intimated - backed up by a statement from Marty Carroll, Manager of Sanitary District 6 - that folks "enjoy" paying more for services, such as garbage collection, in one form or another, 6 days per week. [See the Baldwin Herald stories, Levinson: Shut Down District 2 and Levinson: Business in the Dumps.]

Sanitary District 2, even at twice the cost paid by those serviced directly by Town Refuse, is still a bargain compared to what residents pay in Sanitary District 6 - $655.68 per year for a home valued at $350,000. We surmise that residents serviced by District 6 reap even more "enjoyment" in doling out the big bucks, their "willingness" to pay trumping the most philanthropic among thosed serviced by Sanitary 2. :-)

Councilman Santino and his colleagues at Town Hall are beyond incredulous when they assert -with impunity - that the "vast majority" of residents are "willing to pay the higher rates;" that we "enjoy having local control over services." Who's "willing?" Given the choice, who would willingly pay more than double for services otherwise offered to residents serviced directly by the Town of Hempstead?

As for local control, who's kidding whom? The Sanitary District elections are a farce. [Most folks don't even know that there are elections, let alone that they take place whenever it is they do take place. Is it in August? December? February 30th? Thanks to the Baldwin Herald, we know that District 2 elections will be held on July 28th.] And look at the Commissioners. Local control? Try control from GOP Headquarters in Westbury.

In Sanitary District 6, there are a paid Manager, 6 paid Commissioners, 17 paid Supervisors and a General Counsel who also happens to serve as Town Attorney. It would be a joke, but we can no longer afford to laugh!

In Sanitary District 2, there is a move afoot - initiated by the South Hempstead Civic Assocdissolve- to "disolve" the District, turning the task of trash collection over to Town Refuse, where the same job could be done by the same people at less than half the cost to taxpayers. [ See http://southhempsteadcivic.org/sanit2.htm.] There is also a very real challenge to the District's monolithic rule, with a local community advocate vying for a Commissioner's seat presently held by one of the party regulars.

Would that the local civic associations in the areas served by Sanitary 6, and other so-called "Special" Sanitary Districts, follow the courageous lead of the South Hempstead Civic Association in Sanitary 2 and begin the process to dissolve these outmoded taxing jurisdictions. Those same hard-working employees who now so ably serve District residents can pick up our trash at less than half the cost under the auspices of the Town of Hempstead. We are certain that residents would be delighted to cede that "local control" and that aforementioned "enjoyment" just to keep more money in their pockets!

Would that more of us open our eyes and read the line-by-line "take" on our Tax Statements, comparing what we pay to what others in nearby communities, within the same township, pay for the same or similar services. And then, would that more of us open our mouths and take a stand against disparate taxation for these very same Town services.

We don't know about you, but we don't "enjoy" paying more and getting less. And we're no longer "willing" to be played for fools - by the Town, by the Sanitary Districts, and by an inequitable system that taxes both credulity and the pocketbook!

Nassau County Parks Report Card

The following Guest Blog was submitted by Bruce Piel, Chairman of PARCnassau.

July 4, 2005 Wantagh, New York

PARCnassau Chairman Bruce Piel announced today the First Annual Nassau County Parks Report Card. This is in response to the county administration’s pledge to have our public parks fully functional by Memorial Day weekend this year (“County Parks are making a comeback”). Since Memorial Day, PARCnassau has inspected parks, preserves and historic sites. After that inspection by various member groups, we grade the county park system a “generous” C Minus.

The “generosity” was prompted by two factors. First is the appearance of the 11 “Ten-Point Parks” where most of the cosmetic improvements were made. The public reaction to visiting these facilities has been, “Wow! This looks better than it has for years!” Cut grass, trimmed hedges and a fresh coat of paint went a long way to camouflage years of neglect. Second, the Herculean efforts of county parks personnel, who without sufficient people, material or support, worked 12 to 16 hours days for almost two months to accomplish what they did must be recognized and appreciated.

Looking at the broader picture however, shows the 83 facility parks system is still in sad shape. Even in the “10-Point” parks, fresh paint was put over rotted wood on benches and picnic tables. Rusted bleachers often received only a primer coat without a follow-up finish coat of paint. The $450,000 spent for new plantings, mostly trees, county-wide were negated by no follow-up program to water them. This has resulted in almost 25% of the trees dying. At Nickerson Beach, trees susceptible to salt air were planted and most of those will also die. Deliberately late hiring of janitorial and seasonal workers is reflected in the inadequate follow-up work being done to capitalize on initial improvements.

Are Nassau County Swimmers at Risk?

There is a critical shortage of life guards at county park pools. Christopher Morley, Wantagh, Cantiague, Nickerson Beach, North Woodmere, the Aquatic Center, and Whitney Pond do not have enough certified life guards to cover their pools adequately. The county processed the applications late, losing most applicants to other employers for the summer. The county Department of Health should be addressing this safety issue.

Park Security

Basically, there is none. The Department of Public Safety (formerly Park Rangers) is now being used to protect county buildings with only two or three assigned to the 6,000 acres of county parkland. This is reflected in the increased incidence of vandalism, gang activity and flouting of park regulations that lessen the park experience for resident taxpayers.

Wantagh Park

Dead and dying new trees abound, starved for water. A new dock in the marina was rebuilt with “trash” wood, with splintered edges and decaying knotholes which will hasten its deterioration. Broken asphalt and flooded footpaths circle the park. Rotted wood slats are still on the benches and some picnic tables. Sinkholes along the bulkhead at the marina and fishing pier were repaired but the underlying cause; soil leaching into the water was not addressed so the repairs are temporary at best. The heavy equipment used destroyed many of the curbing stones along the bulkhead now allowing toddlers on tricycles to veer into the roadway. The eyesore Old Marine Playground in mid park is still the “poster child” for a decaying playground and now only hosts youths intent on drinking and drug use. Speaking of hosting, Wantagh Park has Woodmont Day Camp again this year. Its tent, fencing and activities have taken over almost the entire great lawn and half the adjacent parking lot. The several hundred children over-tax the pool, tennis courts, playgrounds and ball fields.


Cedar Creek Park

Tennis and basketball courts were refurbished. Lack of watering is killing the newly planted trees. Replacement of rotted wood on benches and tables was not done. The county ran out of grass seed before addressing this park, so bare spots and weed covered areas will remain that way.

Hempstead Harbor Park

This park is literally falling apart, the beach is filthy and most of it is closed off with snow fencing. The fishing pier is dangerous and large sections are closed off. Grass and weeds are growing up through the pavement. Collected trash is accumulating in the maintenance area.

Whitney Pond and Manhasset Valley Parks

Aggressive pruning in both parks left loads of branches on the ground which was not immediately addressed. Most of this material ended up in the ponds and is now rotting and blocking the free flow of water. Both parks need major repairs.

Preserves

Bailey Arboretum, Massapequa Preserve, Muttontown Preserve, Welwyn Preserve, William Cullen Bryant Preserve, Stillwell Woods Preserve, Merokee Preserve, Mill Pond Park and others were checked. Many of the trails are well over grown and tick infested. Trail markers and sign posts are faded to the point of being useless. Many streams are blocked by debris and mosquito breeding swamps are forming. Muttontown foot trails were also soiled by horse poop (thanks to a few equestrians who can’t stay on the bridle paths). Garvies Point Preserve, Tackapausha and Leeds Pond are in generally good shape due to volunteer groups. Tanglewood has been improperly converted from a preserve into an inactive park apparently to enhance a private science school and an adult living facility adjacent to the property.

Battle Row Campground

The county park office trailer belongs in an Appalachian Trailer Park. It is literally falling apart making the first impression to visitors a poor and even dangerous one. We’ve been told that a new trailer has been rented and 2 months rent paid but it has not yet delivered. Meanwhile embarrassed county workers vainly try to disguise the dilapidated trailer with flowers.

Christopher Morley Park

The resurfacing of the winter skating rink has never been completed. Electrical problems with the Kiddie Pool have closed it until further notice. Dead trees, insufficient lifeguards and uncut weeds along hidden footpaths along with hundreds of kids from the resident private Oasis Daycamp make the park experience for many residents less than optimum.

Golf Courses

With the exception of the Red Course at Eisenhower, the other two eighteen-hole courses and the three nine-hole courses in the outer parks are in bad shape. Lack of irrigation, minimal grooming, hardened sand traps, etc. etc. have made golfing on county courses the equivalent of an Iron Man Triathlon for our senior residents.

The Aquatic Center

Insufficient life guards pose a safety concern. Lack of vacuuming of the pools has allowed an accumulation of hair, band aids and bobby pins on the pool bottoms. Damaged equipment in the exercise room has not been addressed despite an alleged repair contract with a local company. The parking field expansion planned over a year ago has not been completed yet, encouraging cars to park on the grass. The painting of the main entrance poles over a year ago has not been completed and the primer coat is starting to wear away.

Summary

If $18 million dollars was spent to bring our county parks back, we are wondering where the money went. Despite the best efforts of front line park personnel, their efforts were handicapped by insufficient workers, resources and support. The policy of late hire and early fire for seasonal workers continues leaving an insurmountable gap in maintenance follow-up. With the exception of one Deputy Commissioner, there is no other top management in Parks that has any parks experience or institutional knowledge. Nassau Parks have not made come back and even those cosmetic improvements will be lost unless the system changes drastically. The county’s answer seems only to be to privatize or dispose of our public parks instead of investing in this critical ingredient to our suburban life style.

Note: A Compact Disk with digital photographs on many of the problems noted above is available from PARCnassau upon request.


Park Advocacy and Recreation Council of Nassau
246 Twin Lane East
Wantagh, NY 11793
Tel/Fax. (516) 783-8378
e-mail: PARCnassau@aol.com

The views expressed by Guest Bloggers are their own and do not necessarily represent the opinions of The Community Alliance, its leadership, membership or otherwise. All opinions, views and commentary are, of course, welcome.

Eminent Domain: Supreme Court Got It Wrong

The following is a Guest Blog, Submitted by Richard A. Cooper, former Chair of the Libertarian Party of New York (2000-02) and former Chair of the Libertarian Party of Nassau County.

Time$cam, Eminent Domain Abuse and the Kelo Decision

How can anyone confuse the word "use" with the words "purpose" and "benefit"? The Constitution remains in exile under the assault of those who would give a carte blanche to government. The American Revolution was fought to protect individual liberty and private property from the privileges granted the politically-connected. The Supreme Court's decision threatens the property owners, taxpayers, and tenants of the entire country. Condemning private property and transferring it to private developers is not just unconstitutional, it is morally wrong.

Libertarians like myself consider this to be legalized theft. As the former chair of the Libertarian Party of New York (2000-02), I combatted the NY TIMES seizure of property for its new headquarters, the condemnation of Long Island's own St. Luke's Pentecostal Church on behalf of developers and the threatened seizure of an entire neighborhood in New Rochelle to become an Ikea furniture store. I called the NY TIMES scheme "Time$cam." Today their partner, Bruce Ratner, wants to wipe out a Brooklyn neighborhood to bring in the Nets basketball team as well as office and luxury residential buildings. Don't think you are safe it you don't live in a "blighted" area. Any government can designate any area as "blighted."

Don't think you are safe it you are a tenant. Owners are required to get compensation. Tenants aren't. Taxpayers will foot the bill for eminent domain always.

President Bush is amongst those who benefitted from eminent domain abuse when the Texas Rangers went to the city of Arlington to condemn land for a new stadium. They didn't use all of it and sold it at a nice profit. Corporate sports welfare is a common "public purpose" of eminent domain abuse.

Americans must demand that their federal and state legislators rectify this error. To serve justice, to defend the Constitution and to protect themselves, Americans should vote for candidates who oppose eminent domain abuse. Many Democrats and Republicans will, but their parties embrace the urban renewal and economic development imperatives behind eminent domain abuse. Only Libertarians can be counted on to fight legalized theft, in whatever form, all the time.

Richard A. Cooper,
Westbury, New York
Learn more about the Libertarian Party at www.ny.lp.org.

The views expressed by Guest Bloggers are their own and do not necessarily represent the opinions of The Community Alliance, its leadership, membership or otherwise. All opinions, views and commentary are, of course, welcome.

Town of Hempstead Supervisor "Buoyed" By Supreme Court Decision

Local "No-Tell Motel" is topic of continuing debate in West Hempstead. TOH suggests it is closer rather than further in closing this menace to community. Leaders of The Community Alliance lament over "ten years and counting..."

Talk of 'Closure' at Courtesy Hotel Passes Ten-Year Mark

Town of Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray recently re-announced continuing efforts to close the Courtesy Hotel in West Hempstead, "buoyed" by a controversial United States Supreme Court decision, and in anticipation of the results of a Town-commissioned "blight" study. That’s good news, certainly, but not anything new to residents of West Hempstead, who have been complaining of blighted conditions at and about the Courtesy since the hotel stopped serving Continental breakfast and started renting rooms by the hour.

In the wake of the Town of Hempstead’s “taking” of the seedy Oceanside Motel, questions arise anew concerning the fate of West Hempstead’s own hostel from Hell. The question asked most frequently, of course, is “Why is the Courtesy still open?”

“Residents of this unincorporated area of the township began their quest to close the doors to the Courtesy what seems like a decade ago,” said Seth D. Bykofsky, a past President of the West Hempstead Civic Association and Co-Chair of The Community Alliance. “Indeed, it has been more than a decade – and countless intervening criminal acts – since efforts began in earnest on the part of the citizenry to rid West Hempstead’s eastern gateway of what everyone, including Town officials, acknowledges as a scourge upon the community." And yet, residents say it would appear that the doors to the recently painted Courtesy are still far from being shuttered. From all indications, more studies, surveys and, to be sure, legal entanglements are in the offing.

"A hotbed of lurid and criminal activity would surely be dealt with swiftly and decisively by the Town of Hempstead, which has jurisdiction over matters of code enforcement and zoning," commented Roy Mezzapelle, a community activist from Elmont who Co-Chairs The Community Alliance with Bykofsky. "Perennial assurances notwithstanding, the conditions first complained of in the waning days of the 20th Century continue to plague a community as it tries desperately to move forward into the 21st."

"No one among us would disagree with Town Supervisor Kate Murray when she conveys the reassuring message, through a June 16th letter to the community, that, 'West Hempstead is one of the nicest communities in which to live and raise a family,'” echoed Bykofsky. "All agree that the Courtesy presents a 'blight' upon both hamlet and Town. And few would argue that 'preserving the suburban character of our communities' must be one of the Town’s top priorities. A five year plan, maybe. But ten years and counting?"

When civic leaders first called for the closure of the Courtesy in 1995, Greg Peterson was Town Supervisor and Joe Ra was Town Councilman. Today, some ten long years later, as residents continue to call for the Courtesy’s demise, Joe Ra is the Town Attorney and Greg Peterson has been called back into service as candidate for Nassau County Executive. "Ten years is a long time to have come full circle," suggested Mezzapelle.

“To be sure, the community is appreciative of the accolades bestowed by the Supervisor, and understanding of the reality that reinventing this now downtrodden portal to West Hempstead takes time,” said Bykofsky. “When time is measured not in months or even years, however, there is a profound sense not only of frustration among the people, but that ‘the ammunition necessary to seize the hotel,’ as the Supervisor put it in her recent letter, isn’t being loaded into the gun or fired upon the enemy.”

As someone who has stood on the front lines of the battle to close the Courtesy, both as a resident and as a community advocate, The Community Alliance’s Bykofsky is particularly disheartened when recurring press releases, frequent mailings from Town Hall and well-orchestrated news conferences supplant practical solutions, and where Band-Aid fixes (in this instance, the proposed placement of a Police Booth adjacent to the Courtesy, “enhancing the local law enforcement presence”) trump real-life resolution and long-term redevelopment (with removal of the cancer that is the Courtesy being a good place to start).

"Understandably, Town officials, much like the rest of the West Hempstead community, are frustrated," added Bykofsky. "One can be reasonably certain that everyone at Town Hall – from the Supervisor, to the Councilman, to the Town Attorney – would take great pleasure in seeing the doors to the Courtesy closed, and closed forever. All the more reason why every weapon at the Town’s disposal – including the federal forfeiture law, as suggested by Harvey Levinson, Chair of the Nassau County Board of Assessors – should be added to the arsenal and unloaded upon the offending property owners.

“Ten years is far too long for a community to wait and for a people to endure,” concluded Bykofsky. “When the doors to the Courtesy are closed for the last time, West Hempsteaders can let out a cheer and give a sigh of relief. Until then, don’t uncork the champagne. Its much more to do, I sense, with campaign rhetoric and election year camouflage - a sound byte to enthrall the press and entice the electorate - than it is about improving quality of life in the long run." Meanwhile, this notorious no-tell motel remains open for business as unusual.

Independence Day in the Town of Hempstead

When in the Course of Human Events . . .

“Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security…”

These are fighting words. These are the words of rebels, of traitors, of those who would overthrow governments. These are the words of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, penned some 229 years ago as a fledgling nation struggled to free itself of oppressive one-party rule.

Nearly 100 years ago – in 1907, to be exact – the Town of Hempstead came under the rule of a single party, and control has not changed hands since. For going on 100 years now (since the days when Theodore Roosevelt was in the White House and the Chicago Cubs last won the World Series), a single party – dedicated solely to self-preservation and devoid of the democratic requisite of checks and balances that are the hallmark of representative government – has ruled the roost.

Not since the year Maytag introduced the first wooden-tub washing machine and the electric vacuum cleaner was invented has any government served at Hempstead Town Hall that wasn’t under the thumb of the Grand Old Party. [Talk about the need to clean house!] One-party rule. The stuff that despotic monarchies are made of. The antithesis of the democracy for which our founding fathers staked their futures.

It was Thomas Jefferson who said, “a little revolution now and then is a good thing." Certainly, it can be argued that after nearly 100 years of one-party rule in the Town of Hempstead – 100 years of stagnation, patronage and benign neglect - “a little revolution” would be a wonderful thing!

The signers of the Declaration of Independence mutually pledged to each other their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. To restore that cherished democracy to the Town of Hempstead, all we need to pledge is our votes.

Something to think about as we celebrate our nation’s Independence this 4th of July!

There's No Place Like Home

In recent months we have been hearing and reading about two pressing problems here on Long Island: The first, the proliferation of illegal accessory apartments (and in particular, cellar apartments), which pose a clear and present danger not only to our suburban quality of life but, more critical, especially for those who are the renters of such apartments, to health, safety and, in some instances, to life itself. The second, the lack of affordable housing, and the corresponding absence of any real plan to bring the availability and cost of housing in line with the needs of our communities. Illegal accessory apartments and the lack of affordable housing are not somebody else's problems. They are issues to be dealt with in our own backyards!

Here at The Community Alliance, we firmly believe that illegal multiple dwelling units in houses designated as single family residences must go. No ifs, ands or buts. We also believe, and so assert with no less vigor and certainty, that the renter of the illegal apartment cannot, should not and must not become either a burden to taxpayer and society or the innocent victim of a zealous righteousness to return suburbia to our Island. It is, after all, their Island as well.

In truth, the problems of illegal accessory apartments and the lack of affordable housing are not mutually exclusive. Both must be addressed with equal passion and sensitivity. Both impact on every resident, in every community, and must be part and parcel of every discussion, every proposal, and every concerted effort to gain the upper hand in our battle to restore and improve quality of life on the Island we call home. We look forward to working with residents on these critical issues, to continuing and encouraging a significant dialogue among the various civic and community groups and with Town, County and State officials, and to moving forward with an aggressive and comprehensive plan to eradicate illegal housing (which benefits only the pocketbook of the illegal landlord), while providing safe, comfortable and affordable housing for families, for workforce, for seniors here on our Island (which benefits us all).

The Two Towns of Hempstead

How The Other Half Lives… And What The Other Half Pays

We’ve all heard tell of the two Americas – one for the rich and privileged, and the other for the rest of us. And, of course, the two Nassaus – one for the opulent and green North Shore, the other for the forgotten and deforested South Shore. But what about the two Towns of Hempstead?

Yes, the two Towns of Hempstead. One under the stewardship of incorporated villages, where zoning laws and building codes are strictly enforced and local control means just that, local control. And the other Town of Hempstead, the land of the unincorporated, where the vestiges of the wild west still reign. On the zoning front, exceptions carve up every rule. Code enforcement is a four letter word. And there is about as much “local control” over those “special” taxing jurisdictions as the hopelessly incontinent have over their own bladders.

The two Towns of Hempstead. One for the connected and party faithful, who would have us believe that folks are willing to pay twice as much as their neighbors for garbage collection, and that we somehow need the services of those sanitary districts 6 days a week. And the other Town of Hempstead, where unsuspecting residents and business owners are paying double the property tax paid by their counterparts in the aforementioned Town of Hempstead, and where illegal apartments artificially drive up assessments, destroy the tax base, and impoverish entire communities.

The two Towns of Hempstead. One where government by press release and photo opportunity is accepted and commonplace. And the other, where residents pay nearly $2 million dollars a year for postage so that the Town Supervisor can tell you only what she wants you to know. One Town of Hempstead, where single-party rule has been the practice for nearly a century. The other Town of Hempstead, whose place in government has been relegated to a single seat on the Town Board, whose muffled voice is barely audible over the din of the Grand Old political machine.

On Route 80 in New Jersey, not far from the Delaware Water Gap, there is a road sign that reads: “Land of Make Believe, This Exit.” One would expect to see the added verbage underneath: “Kate Murray, Supervisor.” For here in the Town of Hempstead, we are often asked to cast aside all belief, and accept that life in, say, Garden City or Malverne, is naturally better than in Elmont or Baldwin because “It’s a village.” Those in the “special” sanitary districts are to accept – no, “enjoy” – digging deeper into their pockets to pay more than twice as much as those serviced directly by the Town of Hempstead, and to believe that we have any semblance of control over these political fiefdoms. We are to believe Town officials today when they tell us they’re working on the eradication of illegal apartments, on the revitalization of “downtown,” on the elimination of encroaching blight, while wiping from our collective memory the time-worn stories as told to us (in many instances, by the same people) for the past twenty years.

We are asked to believe – and too many of us apparently do – that a year after a 12.8% Town tax increase, the 2006 Town budget will have a 0% increase. Of course, that’s only for the taxes under the Supervisor’ control, not the taxes for all of those “special” districts. Not to worry, though. After all, the special districts – which account, by the way, for half of the Town taxes – are under “local control.” Phew. And we were worried there for a minute!

Yes, there are two Towns of Hempstead. One for those with one hand in the pot and the other in our pockets. And one for the rest of us. One Town of Hempstead where the status quo is as good as it gets, and that other Town of Hempstead, where we know we can do better!

Who Ya Gonna Call?

Property taxes on the rise. School taxes to double by the end of the decade. Illegal apartments in single family houses stretching limited resources and endangering countless lives. “Downtown” looking more like “Ghost town.” Services dwindling. Quality of life on the decline. Who ya gonna call?

The Community Alliance, Long Island’s premier quality of life watchdog group, says, “Call us!” Better still, e-mail The Community Alliance (times being what they are, who can afford a telephone?) at info@thecommunityalliance.org, and join the crusade to rebuild suburbia.

Initially formed as an umbrella organization through which local civic associations and community groups could channel complaints, formulate joint strategies and “think tank” shared solutions to common concerns, The Community Alliance now reaches out to the rank and file – the folks who pay the bills – the residents and property owners of our towns, villages and hamlets.

“This is a unique and unprecedented opportunity for residents to have a voice beyond their own communities,” said Roy J. Mezzapelle, Co-Chair of The Community Alliance. Citing the fact that those who are active and involved close to home are not always engaged beyond the borders of the local community, Mezzapelle commented, “Quality of life knows no boundaries. We have to think locally, act globally, and work together in our endeavor to return suburbia to both Town and County.”

Join forces with your neighbors – across the street and clear across town – to reinvent community as it once was, as it should be, as it can be again. As a citizen-member of The Community Alliance, you’ll have access to the resources needed to stay informed and in the know, and you’ll be a very real part of the strength in numbers that will empower you and your hometown. The cost of citizen-membership in The Community Alliance? FREE. The benefit of being a member of Long Island’s vanguard of the suburban lifestyle? PRICELESS!

The World According To GOP

Harvey The Reassessor

Funny, but to hear Peter Schmitt - the Nassau County Legislature’s Minority Leader – tell it, Harvey Levinson – the Chair of the Nassau County Board of Assessors – “helped create” the reassessment that so troubles Nassau County taxpayers.

Forget Charlie O’Shea. Forget the old Nassau County Board of Supervisors. Forget years – no, decades – of Republican hegemony that perpetuated an egregious tax system. Forget the machine-driven contentment to not only condone a broken and burdensome system, but to embellish it through a multitude of autonomous taxing jurisdictions. Forget all logic and reason. Harvey Levinson is responsible for the reassessment. Not only that, ladies and gentlemen, Harvey Levinson is also responsible for the sinking of the Titanic, the Great Depression and the Black Plague! You read it here first.

Yes folks, while Harvey Levinson was serving the good people of this County – 25 years in the Nassau County District Attorney’s office, the last of those as the right hand man to Denis Dillon – he was plotting to create the reassessment and to tax homeowners above and beyond even their wildest nightmares. The one public official who – against popular notion and self-preservation – isn’t afraid to suggest that at least a portion of the property tax be replaced by a nominal income tax. Oh no. He’s the cause of all our woes. How utterly absurd.

What galls us is not so much the laughingly inane sound bytes that flow from the gunked up guts of the GOP machine, but that there are folks out there who actually buy into it! And few among us – not even the press – call them on it.

Greg Peterson, the born-again former Town of Hempstead Supervisor who, with a flash that puts Tom Gulotta to shame, resurrected as the golden boy who would be County Exec, chides Tom Souzzi for raising County taxes 19% - this after the County had been thrown into a financial hole by a generation of mismanagement and incompetence under the rule of, guess who? Yup. The GOP. Who is he kidding? That’s like blaming a surgeon who saved his patient’s life by removing a lung, this after his predecessor and his predecessor’s team failed to diagnose and treat the Cancer in the first place. [And we won't mention the now familiar Peterson ploy that Suozzi plans to run for Governor in 2006. Oops. We just mentioned it. Remind us again who it was that resigned the position of Town of Hempstead Supervisor, shortly after his re-election, to take the job as chief of Nassau OTB, permitting Gentleman Joe Mondello to appoint Rich Guardino in his stead? Hmm. That would be Greg Peterson. Forget we ever mentioned it!]

All the talk of Bond ratings by the Town of Hempstead elite. Oh yeah. The Bond ratings are up there, all right. And you know what that means – more borrowing, and more taxes to pay back that which has been borrowed.

For those with rather short memories, let us take you back to the Gulotta years. The days of smoke and mirrors galore. We were told, in no uncertain terms and with the same constant dribble as now drones down to us, that the County’s finances were in fantastic shape. That our Bond rating was top notch. That there was no need to raise taxes or cut programs. That everything in America’s premier County was a picture perfect photo opportunity. And we bought into it, lock, stock and barrel of sitting ducks.

And so, the County borrowed, borrowed and borrowed some more, until the bottom fell out. Who was left to pick up the pieces and pay the piper? That would be us, the taxpayers. Hey, don’t blame the Republican machine. Its Tom Suozzi’s fault.

Today, that same scenario – one that should frighten us all – is being played out on the stage of the last bastion of GOP domination – the scene of the greatest puppet show on Earth, awaiting the final curtain - Hempstead Town Hall. The Bond rating is second to none. The Town’s finances have never been stronger. We’re freezing all Town taxes under our control. And we buy into every bit of it, don’t we?

What they don’t tell you – and dare not tell you – is that the Town is headed down that same road the County took – with us as paying passengers. They somehow forget to remind us that, for 2005, the Town increased taxes by 12.8%. [Since when does a municipality with a professed surplus RAISE taxes?] They conveniently forget to tell us that, thanks to that wonderful Bond rating, the Town of Hempstead is $56 million dollars in debt, and plans to borrow even more - $33 million to $35 million per year from 2006-2009. And they’re not going to tell us that the Town of Hempstead’s largest revenue fund (Sanitary – surprise, surprise) is running at a deficit. [This all according to Fitch Ratings, the folks who rate the Bonds.]

We sometimes ask ourselves, “With all the money the Town is borrowing, with all this debt being loaded on the backs of the taxpayer, why is Kate Murray always smiling?” Then again, until the very end, Tom Gulotta was smiling, too!

Heaven help you, Harvey, when you do take office as Town of Hempstead Supervisor, and all of the borrowing, bellowing and pork-barreling finally breaks the bank. Its all going to be your fault.

Sure, its all about taxes, stupid. Whether we cap the property tax increase or not isn’t the issue, and the finger-pointing mentality that is the hobgoblin of little minds is not the solution. Without a cap on tax rates – by school districts, sanitary districts and the plethora of other special districts that pick our pockets clean – you could, theoretically, lower the assessment, and our taxes will still go up.

The property tax is among the top quality of life issues confronting Nassau County residents. It festers, it spirals out of control, and it contributes to other evils, such as illegal accessory apartments, which in turn burden schools and essential services. There appears no end to the vicious cycle.

We can accept that the property tax system, which is oppressive and beyond the means of the ordinary wage-earner, cannot be fixed. That this is a system that needs to be replaced by a fair and equitable tax, based on one’s ability to pay, not on the artificial value of one’s house.

Or, we can continue to buy the broom they’ve inconspicuously placed at the checkout counter – a broom we’re going to pay for again and again – and then, we can blame it all on Harvey!

May The Force Be With You . . .

IT’S THE PROPERTY TAXES, STUPID

Once, in a galaxy far, far away, there were massive property taxes that threatened to consume every homeowner…

Duh… 46 school district budgets failed. Many that passed came through by razor thin margins. Are folks disgusted with the property taxes? Ya think? Sometimes, just sometimes, you wonder whether anyone is paying attention to us.

Upstate school districts get upwards of 60% of their budgets through State Aid. The average State Aid to Long Island school districts hovers around 13%. What gives? You wonder why our Governor has an approval rating in the 30s – and he has to “think about” whether he should run again. Run, George. All the way back to Peekskill!

Of course, you really can’t put all the blame on the elected. The electors have a little to do with the mediocrity we send and return to office – ad nauseum. How many times do I ask, “Just how stupid do they think we are?” The answer – pathetically stupid. And the proof is in the pudding – a complacent, uninformed, willing to believe whatever they see and hear (I’d say read, but most of them don’t – or can’t), stepping into that voting booth and sending buffoons to “represent” us everywhere from the State house to the White House. This in the vain hoping of savoring a few table scraps and fruit cake crumbs.

We buy into the myth and the mystique – like those warm and fuzzy TV spots for Haliburton, with all the trees, the clean air and water, the gushy concern for the environment. This from the folks who rape the forests, put money in the pockets of those who sponsor terrorists, and care for only one tree – or should I say Bush.

Closer to home, when a fella named Golisano was running for Governor as a third party candidate, telling us that the sky is falling on New York’s finances, nobody listened. The guy was barely a blip on our radar screen. We shrugged our shoulders and sent the two-bit grape farmer back to Albany. NOW we blame Pataki?

Truth is, its no different in our own backyard. We blindly followed the Nassau County parade – right off the edge of the cliff into the abyss – then blamed the showman we so willingly returned to office - again, and again, and again. Everyone knew Tom Gulotta was a larger than life personality – the man of a thousand photo ops who was wholly absent on the managerial scene. Why, even Joe Mondello knew what he was shoving down our throats all those years. Fact is, we kept closing our eyes, opening our mouths, and pleading, “More please.” Just how dumb are we? Tom Gulotta was who Tom Gulotta is. A genuinely decent, relatively humble, truly personable guy who lacked the skills to manage Nassau County, and whose underlings – the anointed and the appointed – knew and cared even less. You can’t fault Tom Gulotta for being, well, Tom Gulotta. Blame Joe Mondello? Sure, why not? In lesser counties, they would have run him out of town on a rail. In Nassau town, we just keep threatening to shut those rails down, lumbering along the potholed road on a broken wagon with three reinvented square wheels. Is it really Joe’s fault that we let them get away with it – year after year, decade after decade?

Last weekend, I was watching the Star Wars movies in anticipation of Episode III – The Trilogy, Episode I, and I really don’t know what happened to Episode II (Was there an Episode II? There had to have been.). Let me tell you, never watch these movies before you go to sleep. You’ll have the strangest dreams. Call it a nightmare, actually…

I found myself in the alien bar, as appeared in the original Star Wars. It was Election night, 2005, and the Nassau County Republicans had rented out the bar for the evening. The other-worldly were all in attendance, rattling their light sabers, speaking unintelligible gibberish, devouring gruel imported from The Sand Castle in Franklin Square. And then the shocker.

Up steps Joe Mondello to the microphone to announce that Greg Peterson – the once Town of Hempstead Supervisor regurgitated as the party’s answer to Tom Suozzi (Who asked the question?) – had been elected County Executive. [Apparently, Suozzi could not come back after the Lorna Goodman scandal broke in late September. Something about stiletto heels, whips, chains and a dungeon in the basement of the old County Court House. Hmm. Let’s not even go there…] In saunters Greg Peterson, a blinding flash of light glinting off of his gold jewelry. He gives us his broadest signature grin, with that whiter than white smile, and, before he can say a word, lifts his hand to his face and briskly pulls off a mask, revealing none other than Tom Gulotta. I gasp. The assembled begin to take notice.

Wait. It gets worse. The crowd ooohs and ahhs. [That’s all they ever do, isn’t it?] Petersen again lifts hand to face (I’m not certain it was his own hand, though that rarely matters in the circles he travels), and off comes yet another mask, this time revealing none other than Joe Mondello himself. Joe – the other Joe – which one is the real Joe makes no difference. They are all Joe. - puts his arm around the man we thought was Peterson, turns to the gathered GOP, and proudly proclaims, “Greg, I am your father…” At that moment, in slimes Jabba the Hut, disguised as none other than Town of Hemp…

It was at that point I awoke, bolted out of bed in a cold sweat, and ran to check the calendar. Phew. It was only May, not November. There was still time. But hold on. Was there time enough to save the Empire, let alone the Town and County, so far, far away. Where is Yoda when you need him? Geez, I can’t even pick up the phone to call the President to warn him that the alien invaders are walking among us. [Fade to the Oval Office, where the President has just screened Episode III – although he thinks its FOX news footage of the invasion of Afghanistan. As the credits role, W wipes the popcorn off of his PJs, as Dick Cheney approaches from behind. “George, I am your father…”].

But I digress. What were we talking about? Oh yeah. Those stupid property taxes. Who do we blame for this terrible, terrible mess in which we find ourselves? We’ve all heard the age-old expression, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” What do we do, however, when that tired, old machine finally does break down, and there’s no R2D2 around to make those crucial repairs? Why are we governed by our inferiors? Who, pray tell, do we blame?

We have seen the enemy, and he is us!

To Bed, Bath & Beyond . . .

Remember the Flea Market at the old Roosevelt Raceway? Many an afternoon spent looking for bargains, and finding the torn and tattered Wranglers mom tossed – 3 pair for $10. [Today, those same jeans – you know, the ones with holes in the knees and the frayed bottoms, faded beyond recognition of anything that might have been blue – sell (under a famous label, of course) for $200 a pair at National Jean Company. Mom, I coulda been a contender!]

In case you hadn’t noticed, Roosevelt Raceway – Flea Market and all – is no more, the surrounding area supplanted by a curious mix of big-box stores, restaurants, and now, housing.

In an era of “Smart (as in ‘Smart is what Smart does’) Growth,” one expects – indeed, desires - a favorable mix of retail, commercial and residential use, and yet, the Roosevelt Raceway “hub” (for lack of a better term) defies the rule of planned development.

True, we now have more stores than Disney’s Main Street, but no main street in the area can be crossed in safety by residents of the newly built apartment complex, and woe to the residents of the soon-to-be constructed “gated community” for the over 55 crowd, who will no doubt become prime targets for motor vehicle traffic en route to, well, Target.

The idea behind Smart Growth, at least as we understand it, is to create a truly livable community, centered around a “downtown,” interspersed with affordable housing and plentiful green/recreational space, accessible to all – ideally by means that promote pedestrian traffic. At least give us a tram!

Okay, so the Raceway Cinema will have to suffice as a reasonable excuse for recreation (at least on a rainy day), but let’s face fact – in the shadows of the American Ref-Fuel facility and within earshot of the Meadowbrook Parkway, we have built out of the wasteland a, ah, wasteland. Look, you can’t get from point A to Point B – or from your gated apartment to Chili’s – without a car. As if traffic congestion wasn’t bad enough, let’s add hundreds of residential units – many to be inhabited by seniors – and invite more cars, more congestion and more pollution. [A note to prospective tenants: Do not sign long-term leases. Assuming you don’t get whacked crossing Merchant’s Concourse, the Carbon Monoxide from all those cars passing under your balcony (overlooking what, I have no idea) – or the “harmless steam” flowing from the stacks of the trash recycling plant – will be sure to get you. Forget the gated community. You need a bubble. Hey, what did you expect for $300,000 plus, Shangri-La?

And let’s tax those underground aquifers – the limited source of all of Long Island’s drinking water – like we tax everything else: to the max. Why, we could establish a Special Aquifer District (SAD for short) tax, not based on usage, mind you, but rather, on how many times you visit the Home Depot.

As for green space, heck, this is the Town of Hempstead, County of Nassau – if anything appears to be “green” or “open,” build on it. Need a variance? No problem. Zoning issues? Fugetaboutit! See Mrs. D’Amato next Tuesday at the Town Meeting Pavilion. You want green? Go to the food court at The Source or stop by the Olive Garden. They’ve got a great salad bar.

Anyone who ventures out to the maze that is now the Roosevelt Raceway hub will tell you – it’s a hellish nightmare. Why anyone in his/her right mind would want to live amidst this mess is beyond me, but I’m certain that the planners have this all figured out. Anyway, it really doesn’t matter. Someone’s gotten a sweatheart deal, made a buck or two, and paved over what little is left of paradise. No, not you. Someone else.

As for planning, development and “Smart Growth,” come on. Who are you kidding? This is, after all, the dominion of the Town of Hempstead Zoning Board of Appeals – the benefactors of 20-miles of ugly we call Hempstead Turnpike; the sentinels of that long-standing tradition of “if there’s a rule, carve out an exception;” the folks who say, “build it, and they will come” (to rue the day).

There’s a Rolling Stones song the chorus of which goes something like this: “You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you just might find, you'll get what you need.” Seems we don’t ever get what we want. We hardly ever get what we need. We do, of course, get what we get. Could it be that, sometimes, we just don’t try?

Well, if not to infinity and beyond, at least to Bed, Bath & Beyond. “Get in the car, kids, we’re going to the hub!”

TOWN TO RESIDENTS - PLEASE GO AWAY!

New meaning to “keep those cards and letters coming!” Still another mailing from our friends at the Town of Hempstead, this time to remind us about the Town’s “One Stop Passport Shop.”

Yes sir, why bother to go to your local neighborhood Post Office when you can go to Town Hall to complete your Passport application.

Why, they’ll even take your Passport picture for a nominal fee. [Surprise. They have photographers at the ready at Town Hall. Gee. Will wonders never cease?] Of course, there is just one small catch. Every Passport photo taken at Town Hall will show both the applicant AND Town Supervisor Kate Murray. SMILE!

Not only does the Town of Hempstead offer Passport services, so you can get out of town in a hurry, they also have a Mobile Passport Service, “bringing Passport services to your doorstep.” Funny. We always thought that those who applied for Passports were a relatively mobile lot, capable of traveling to the Passport Office under their own power. What do we know?

Looking to cut costs at Town Hall? Rethink the need for a One Stop Passport Shop. In these times, it is a luxury we cannot afford. If nothing else, axe the Mobile Passport Office (with the price of gas these days, taxpayers could go to Europe for what it costs to send a converted mobile home around our Town). And for goodness sake, stop with all those postcards, letters and glossy brochures. You’re not winning any friends by wasting taxpayers’ money!

Patronage As Way Of Life In Hempstead Town

Newsday confirmed today what most of us already knew – at Town Hall in Hempstead, its politics as usual, and rampant party patronage rules the day. Why, they don’t even try to hide it anymore!

The wife of former U.S. Senator and Republican Party big-wig, Al D’Amato, was named to the TOH Board of Zoning Appeals (the folks who ultimately decide what gets built in our township), and she also got a seat on the Town’s Planning Board. Katuria D’Amato, a securities attorney who, as reported by Newsday, once sued the University of Washington, alleging that she was rejected because she is white (we told you, Kate, always check the box next to “Other.”), was said to have submitted her resume (where her zoning and planning experience is limited to the million dollar property the D’Amatos purchased in Lido Beach) to Town Supervisor Kate Murray, and was given an obligatory thumbs up by the Republican dominated Town Board. [Dorothy Goosby, the lone Democrat on the Town Board, voted nay to the political plum.]

Patronage is one thing – after all, who are you going to appoint to key positions, your political enemies? This, however, is political cronyism run amuck. Fail to get re-elected to the U.S. House of Representatives? No problem, you’ve got a job at Town Hall. Get the boot as Nassau County Comptroller? Don’t worry about it. We’ve got an office for you at One Washington Street. Marry “Senator Pothole” (the man who, by the way, holds second place in the Senate’s record books for the longest fillerbuster, suddenly the bane of every Republican), and you land an influential job on the Town Zoning Board. Can a cushy position at Town Hall for the ex-Mayor of the Village of Hempstead be far behind?

The dangers and downsides of one-party rule - and the miscarriage wrought upon democracy that results - are nowhere more obviously pervasive and overtly notorious than at Town Hall in Hempstead, where one party continues to serve itself, above all, and all at the expense of the people they are constitutionally bound to work for. There is a very real sense, given the cavalier and brazen attitude of both the appointed and the anointed, that the party’s place at Town Hall, secure for nearly 100 years, is more a birthright than a privilege bestowed by the electorate. Shame on them. Shame on us!

To paraphrase Town Supervisor Kate Murray, drawing (admittedly out of context) from her quote in Newsday, “I find it kind of sad…” So do we all, Kate. So do we all.

Perhaps Lord Acton said it best. “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
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READ THE NEWSDAY ARTICLE:
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-lidama0526,0,7097594.story?coll=ny-top-headlines

Town Taxes On Hold? Show Us The Money

Town of Hempstead Supervisor, Kate Murray, has proudly informed Town residents that she “intend(s) to present a budget later this year that freezes all Town taxes.”

Now that would be nice, wouldn’t it? Of course, we will need Kate to define the word, “all,” as history serves to show us that “all Town taxes” refers only to the General Purposes” tax. Rarely beyond, and certainly, not to the so-called “Special District” taxes – taxes that Supervisor Murray recently told Newsday were beyond her control. “This is a tax freeze over every fund I control,” said Murray. “[Special District] commissioners are voted in by those communities. They have sole control and authority over those districts."

So, wait a minute. Those Sanitary Districts – you know, the ones with the trucks that have Town of Hempstead emblazoned on them, are staffed by TOH employees, and are overseen by the Party regulars – have nothing to do with the Town of Hempstead? Sure, they are separate legal entities but, duh, just how dumb do they think we really are? Next thing, the Supervisor will be telling us, the fact that the General Counsel for Sanitary District 6 is also the Town Attorney is mere coincidence!

Look for double-digit increases among the various taxing jurisdictions under Town and Party control, and please, resist those 8 ½” x 11” glossy fliers (soon to arrive in your mailbox, no doubt) wherein the Supervisor asks, “Pssst. Wanna buy a bridge?”

Alice In Wonderland

MURRAY RIPS ASSESSOR'S INCOME TAX PROPOSAL - HEMPSTEAD SUPERVISOR SAYS RESIDENTS ARE ALREADY TAXED TOO MUCH

Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray blasted a proposal that Nassau residents pay up to four percent of their income to help finance school districts in the county. The proposal, by the Chairman of Nassau's Board of Assessors, was made at a meeting in Mineola.

The Supervisor expressed outrage at the Assessor's county income tax plan in a letter to lawmakers who represent Hempstead Town in the New York State Legislature. An income tax could not be imposed on Nassau residents without legislative approval.

"Our residents are already overtaxed," Ms. Murray wrote in a letter to senators and assembly members. "Adding an income tax to the already lengthy list of taxes that citizens pay to finance local governments and schools would drive residents out of Nassau County. In addition, it would make the county less competitive from a business standpoint, slashing the number of jobs that are available here and reducing our commercial tax base.

"In short, taking up to four percent of the money earned by wage earners in Nassau is not in the best interest of our county or of the residents we mutually serve," the Supervisor's letter said.
In support of his proposal, the Assessor argued that a levy on residents' income would reduce the number of tax refunds that the county was ordered to make because property tax payments were based on incorrect real estate assessments. He also argued that an income tax would force renters to join property owners in financing school districts.

Supervisor Murray pointed out, however, that courts would not order tax refunds if the assessor's office was properly valuing real estate. Further, she called the assessor's renter argument "disingenuous," in that, according to press accounts, he is considering a "renter's deduction" as part of the income tax plan.

The Supervisor also attacked the Assessor's suggestion that property tax payments made by commercial real estate owners, which now finance school districts in which the property is located, be "pooled" and used to fund school districts county-wide. "What's being recommended," Supervisor Murray said, "is that local government, through its ability to tax, join the federal and state governments in attempting to redistribute the wealth of our constituents. Nothing can be more wrong. Counties are in business to provide services and finance them fairly - not to play the role of Robin Hood when it comes to funding our schools."
- - -
"But I was thinking of a plan To dye one's whiskers green,

And always use so large a fan

That they could not be seen.

So, having no reply to give

To what the old man said,

I cried 'Come, tell me how you live!'

And thumped him on the head."

"Outrage." "Overtaxed." "Disingenuous." Words that come to all Nassau County taxpayers' minds when looking at their tax bills and listening to the sparingly disguised political attacks offered in lieu of a realistic plan to contain - if not lower - our oppressive property tax.

So much for "hope for the rest of us" when our heretofore warm and fuzzy Town Supervisor takes off the gloves, wildly throwing punches in the direction of County Assessor Levinson (though none hit their intended mark), lambasting his proposals, offering nothing in the way of a counterplan or viable alternative to a modest income tax IN PLACE OF the school portion of the property tax. [Supervisor Murray neglects to say in her tirade that the nominal income tax would be INSTEAD OF the existing school portion of the property tax, making it seem that the income tax would be in addition to the property tax. Talk about disingenuous!]

And to "attack" (in the words of the Town's own press release) Mr. Levinson's proposal to more equitably "share the wealth" by distributing the whole of Nassau County's commercial property taxes, as collected, to all school districts within the County, rather than to the few that have a viable commercial tax base, as a "Robin Hood" approach [as if we all don't pour our money into the likes of Roosevelt Field, getting no tangible benefit in returned tax revenues (save for those who reside in Uniondale and, to a lesser extent, Garden City) for our school districts] is beyond cavalier. It reeks of the old smoke and mirrors of days gone by; the "Gulottanomics" that blindsided us in the 80s and 90s, and nearly brought the County to its financial knees as we crawled our way into the 21st Century.

If Harvey Levinson has taken on the role of Robin Hood, then Kate Murray, hold up in the looking glass, masquerades as Alice In Wonderland, the Mad Hatter holding court on the sacred north shore.

The classic race between tortoise and hare, thinly veiled in Ms. Murray's "Blast" from the past, may have begun in earnest. The Mad Tea Party now ensues. But Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber we must be no more. For to have no plan, no vision, no talk of cabbages and kings (let alone of ships, of shoes, of sealing-wax), is to invite disaster to the Queen's banquet.
There is, we sense, a great frustration in Supervisor Murray's words. Anger. And no doubt, fear. For having stood at the edge of the rabbit hole, precariously perched and losing balance, there is, alas, no place to fall but down.

Perhaps Lewis Carroll put it better than we ever could -

`Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall:

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

All the King's horses and all the King's men

Couldn't put Humpty Dumpty in his place again...'

"Alice waited a minute to see if he would speak again, but, as he never opened his eyes or took any further notice of her, she said `Good-bye!' once more, and, getting no answer to this, she quietly walked away: but she couldn't help saying to herself, as she went, `of all the unsatisfactory --' (she repeated this aloud, as it was a great comfort to have such a long word to say) `of all the unsatisfactory people I ever met --' She never finished the sentence, for at this moment a heavy crash shook the forest from end to end."

Survey On Local Efforts To Curb Illegal Apartments

Elected officials are telling us that things are getting better, that we’re gaining the upper hand on illegal accessory apartments. Others, mostly those in the trenches, say that, despite efforts to strengthen and plug loopholes in the law, the illegal apartment crisis is burgeoning.

We’d like to know how you perceive the situation in your hometown, and ask that you respond to this informal – and most unscientific – survey. You may withhold your name, if you’d like, but please tell us the locality (i.e., Town, village, etc.) in which you reside so that we may have a sense of place.

1. In your opinion, over the course of the past year, the illegal apartment situation in my town has:
(a) Improved;
(b) Gotten Worse;
(c) Remained the same;
(d) What illegal rental problem?

2. Local governments, be they the villages or the Towns, are responsible for enforcing the Building Codes that prohibit and restrict accessory apartments. In your opinion, over the course of the past year, has local government (please specify Town, village, etc.):
(a) Improved efforts to enforce the law;
(b) Paid lip service to the law, with no increase in enforcement;
(c) Done nothing to enforce the law;
(e) What law?

3. As concerns accountability, do you feel your elected officials have stepped up to the plate, doing what is required of them to stem the tide of illegal accessory apartments?
(a) Absolutely;
(b) Are you kidding?;
(c) They’ve done the bare minimum, and nothing more;
(d) What illegal rental problem?

4. In your opinion, what is required of government in order to eliminate, or at least limit, illegal rental apartments in your community?
(a) Enforcement of the law, with prosecution to the fullest extent;
(b) An increase in mailings and glossy brochures from elected officials;
(c) A bulldozer;
(d) More affordable housing for seniors, workforce and the middle class;
(e) Both (a) and (d) above.

Hey, these are loaded questions! Okay, we already know the answers. And by the way, so do you. Let’s here from you – by e-mail, smoke signal, at public forums and, mostly, at the polls that really count!

Of Carousels And Painted Ponies

Nunley Carousel Suddenly Appears On Everyone's Radar

We woke up this morning to a full e-mail box here at The Community Alliance. Funny. On the substantive quality of life issues that impact dearly upon pocketbook and psyche, a trickle. On a non-starter, a carousel of all things, a deluge.

Without attribution, most of the comments received on the recent Nunley carousel spat asked the same question: Why all the commotion over a merry-go-round when there are so many critical concerns – from property taxes to illegal housing – that we need to concentrate on?

Why indeed? After all, the Nunley carousel was dismantled when, yesterday? No. Try a decade ago. Since then, it’s been sitting in a warehouse gathering dust. Few seemed to notice, let alone care, that Baldwin was missing its famous landmark. Then, along comes Billy Joel, who apparently loves carousels almost as much as he enjoys driving his car through an occasional house, and Tom Suozzi, who just happened to have an old carousel on ice, with no money to restore to its former grandeur – in Baldwin or elsewhere. The Piano Man volunteered to raise money – privately – to fix the carousel and move it (from the warehouse, not Baldwin) to a location in Oyster Bay, and Tom Suozzi said, “Okay.”

Now we don’t have the inside track as to what Tom Suozzi was thinking, but it seems to me that the process went something like this: “I’m really not that concerned about where the carousel goes, as long as taxpayer dollars are not used to fix it up and move it. Next issue.”

Quite suddenly, as if the once proud carousel had only recently come to a screeching halt, another County – or at least a County Legislator in the form of Joe Scannell – is heard from. “We want our carousel in Baldwin!” Joe, where were you ten years ago? You just noticed the carousel was missing?

Then, like ants on a watermelon on a hot summer day, in march the great saviors of carousels – Republican County Legislators, and – riding that great white elephant (saved from destruction, no doubt, by the Town’s Adopt-A-Pet program) – the guardians of Town Hall in Hempstead. [SEE, It's A 'Good Thing', from the Oyster Bay Enterprise-Pilot.] “Here we come to save the day!” Why, surely Mighty Mouse himself would have been brought to tears. Hey, even yours truly, the original skeptic of all things governmental, was convinced. Suozzi bad. Town good.

Judging from the e-mails that even now continue to flood our in-box, we misread the County Exec, and were too quick to praise those who, with transparent selflessness, came to the aid of a fallen icon of amusement. Could it be that Tom Suozzi was saying, “Hey, I like carousels as much as the next guy, but we’ve got more important matters on the table and limited resources to play with. If someone from the private sector wants to pay to restore and relocate (from a warehouse, not Baldwin) this relic of the past, fine. We’ve got the future to worry about!”

Will private funds be raised to restore, move and maintain the carousel at the Town’s Baldwin Park? If taxpayer dollars are at stake, I’d like to put in a bid for this piece of south shore history for Echo Park in West Hempstead. :-)

As Town of Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray put it, "Moving this south shore treasure to Oyster Bay makes about as much sense as moving the Coney Island Cyclone to Peoria, Illinois." Has the Supervisor taken a ride on the Cyclone of late? Did she complain when the Thunderbolt (which, in our humble opinion, trumped the Cyclone by far) came tumbling down? Has she been to Peoria?

Politics, like life, is a carousel. We get on the painted horse. We go round and round in circles, slow at first, then faster, then slow again. Up and down we go, to the upbeat melody of the calliope, reaching for the brass ring. Unlike life, where the music eventually quiets to a din and the forward motion stops, in politics, the carousel’s journey is seemingly endless, the circular motion relentless, and some of the riders just don’t know when to get off.

By the way, Binghamton, New York prides itself as “The Carousel Capital of the World.” Hmm. We wonder if they’d be interested in another carousel?

The Magical Mystery Bus Tour

County Exec's Economic Development Plan Needs To Move Forward

Nassau County Executive, Tom Suozzi, concluded yet another Road Trip promoting his much touted Strategic Economic Development Program with a bus ride through Lakeview and Malverne. Indeed, since the Economic Development Plan was announced in 2003, Mr. Suozzi has toured most if not all of the 35 Economic Development Zones established under his stewardship, hosting town-hall style meetings in the respective communities, giving local advocates and John Q. Public the opportunity not only to hear and reflect upon his ambitious plans, but to stick in their 2-cents as well.

Having toured the County, heard from and spoken with residents, and gotten a lay of the land, the time has come for Mr. Suozzi and his economic development team to get off the bus, and to start putting the Strategic Plan in motion. What Mr. Suozzi has planned for and been openly discussing over the past three and a half years should, during the course of the next four, be transformed from glowing vision to a real and lasting symbol of Nassau’s rebirth and resurgence as America’s premier county.

The “Main Streets” of our towns and hamlets, given short shrift when the plug was pulled on the “Operation Downtown” initiative under the prior County administration, and paid little more than lip service and a façade facial by townships within the County, cry out for revitalization and the infusion of new life. An extreme makeover is necessary to convert the brownfields, reclaim that which the big box stores have literally driven away, and create a neighborhood environment conducive not only to pedestrian traffic, but to a suburban lifestyle that beckons us back to the heart of community – to live, to work, to shop.

Other concerns, including but not limited to Nassau’s transportation mess, the hubbub of the Hub, the preservation and restoration of our public parks and open spaces, and the growing property tax dilemma, now coming to the fore through similarly bold and innovative proposals, must likewise be forcefully pursed with equal zeal.

Yes, Mr. Suozzi can, at times, be brash and outspoken – often exuding a self-assurance bordering on arrogance. His ideas are big, and his mouth, every so often, bigger. At a time of fiscal conservatism and restraint, Mr. Suozzi talks of creating jobs, rebuilding an aging infrastructure, and bringing the American Dream of affordable housing to all who would call our fair county “home.”

Visions of grandeur? Perhaps. But in a county where we have left things go for far too long – closing our eyes to the problems while simply hoping for the best – throwing a few brick pavers and a couple of vintage lamp-posts at the Turnpikes, the Avenues and the Boulevards just won’t do the trick.

Frankly, its going to take “big,” even in the face of the naysayers who, for as long as one can remember, have always thought small. Nassau County needs a renaissance that only grand vision can bring. A 60-story lighthouse at the foot of the Coliseum? Perhaps not. Or maybe, just maybe, that’s just what we need – in one incarnation or another. One thing’s for sure – economic empowerment in a county that has seen its financial might and suburban allure erode and slip away won't come with quiet platitudes. We cannot stand still if we want to regain our footing as the most desirable place to live in America, and we dare not go back to the mindset of benign neglect that brought our County to its knees and to the brink.

In terms of Economic Development – and the redevelopment envisioned by our County Executive - the bus stops here. We need to do more than call forth the slings and arrows, as Mr. Suozzi's detractors are known to do, seeking to derail worthy objectives without further. We, as proponents of a truly new and thriving Nassau County, need to get off that bus and start walking. The time has come to roll up our sleeves and get to work!

The "Special" Taxing Districts

We all cringe when that tax notice arrives in the mail, but have you taken a closer look at who is taxing you and what the increases have been? More than this, do you realize that you may be paying more for services such as sanitation, fire protection and water than your neighbors across town - and in some cases, more than your neighbor across the street?
Nassau County Assessor of Taxes, Harvey B. Levinson, examines the financial impact of so-called invisible taxing jurisdictions, and debunks the myth that the Town of Hempstead has been "holding the line on taxes."

"While some of these special taxing districts or invisible governments have existed since the 1930s," exclaimed Mr. Levinson, "the so-called Commissioner-operated fire, water and sanitary (garbage collection) districts are now collecting some of the biggest tax dollars with little or no oversight." A look at the 2005 Town tax bill of a West Hempstead home, for example, with a market value of $346,900 gives credence to Mr. Levinson's call for increased scrutiny, consolidation and, in some instances, the elimination of these special taxing jurisdictions.

While Town General taxes increased from 2004 by some 8.21% (enough of a burden), Town Highway went up $15.94%; Town Building & Zoning increased by 16.73%; Town Lighting by 14.65%; Town Park by 14%; West Hempstead Public Parking by 1.09% and Town Refuse Disposal by a whopping 18.77%.

Add to this already onerous tax burden (it hurts just to write it) "Special District" taxes for Sanitary District # 6, up 17.27%; West Hempstead-Hempstead Gardens Water District, up 3.41% (even more if you live in Cathedral Gardens); and West Hempstead Fire District, up 10.56%.

Assessor Levinson asserts, and the numbers bear him out, that "if a home in West Hempstead was not in Sanitary District # 6, and its garbage was picked-up by the Town of Hempstead Refuse and Garbage District (for which residents are also taxed), the taxes on this hypothetical home would be reduced from $656 to $308 - a reduction of 53%."---Statistics courtesy of the Office of the Nassau County Assessor.

Learn more about the financial impact of "Invisible Taxing Jurisdictions" by logging on to www.co.nassau.ny.us/assessor/pressrel/01-27-05.html.

The Times They Are A Changin'

"Come Senators, Congressmen, please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway or block up the halls
We'll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls
for the times they are a changin."
-Bob Dylan

An era comes to an end in Hempstead. The bright, cleansing light of the sun has begun to filter through the haze - a haze created by years of smoke and mirrors, benign neglect and an indifferent populace. A village on the brink of financial disaster. A failing school system. A bond rating just above junk. And taxes, taxes, taxes. James Garner, the eternal Mayor of Hempstead, is now history.

In the days of business as unusual, you-know-what hitting the fan wouldn't matter much to the more or less complacent electorate. Party line. Name recognition. Incumbency. You're in. Not any more. In a crowded field of five, Village of Hempstead Trustee Wayne Hall soundly defeated 4-term incumbent Mayor James Garner, 2334 to 1546. Who would have thought?

Well, officialdom better start thinking. The electorate, that small but stalwart group of people who trudge to the polls on the myriad election days we have on our island (and we have many, indeed), are rubbing the sand out of their eyes and beginning to awaken. Having been tethered to life support for over a generation, flat-lined on the EEG, we are summoning up the courage to pull the plug, to take a deep, life-assuring breathe and, yes, to think on our own. How extraordinarily refreshing!

On the streets of Hempstead, they weren't talking about political party. They weren't talking about incumbency. They weren't talking about cats and dogs. No, the talk on the street was dysfunctional government, a stagnating economy, broken schools, and TAXES.

Hopefully, the message of Hempstead 2005 will resonate - in Town Hall, at the County Legislature, and up in Albany. Yes, we know your names. True, many of you have become fixtures on the political scene (some more than figuratively). Okay, you've towed the party line. But neglect the quality of life issues that Long Islanders care most about - like schools and property taxes - and we'll remember to vote for the other guy.

In the words of Thomas Jefferson, "A little revolution now and then is a good thing." The people of our island are beginning to accept this notion. Call it changing dynamics or demographics, changing mindsets, or merely changing times, the revolution is at hand. Its a quiet revolution, but a revolution just the same. Long Islanders are taking up arms, stoic guards of the status quo no more, and voting for change. BULLY!

"What Is Right Is Not Always Popular..."

With over 150 people (including civic and community leaders from across Nassau County) packed into the chambers of the Nassau County Legislature (with nary a legislator in sight), Chairman of the Nassau County Board of Assessors, Harvey Levinson, held back no punches at the March 12th Public Hearing on the future of property taxes.

The highlights of Mr. Levinson’s presentation:

- Eliminating the residential portion of the school property tax (which accounts for nearly 60% of the tax bill in most communities), same to be replaced with a nominal (2-4%) income tax;
- Creating a single commercial property tax rate for all school districts so that every district shares in and benefits from tax revenues generated by commercial properties throughout the County;
- Consolidating, or in some cases, eliminating, many of the Town’s special districts so that all homeowners pay the same tax rate for services within the Town.

On the proposed income tax, which has raised more eyebrows in the County than anyone can remember, it was evident that many in attendance – while weary of an income tax – recognized the need to do something about the residential portion of the school property tax, which has become, to say the least, oppressive.

“This is a matter of survival here in Nassau County,” said one speaker. “We simply can no longer afford to live in our homes, and few but the very wealthy can afford to buy homes in the County, let alone pay the property taxes.”

A senior from Levittown told of paying more in property taxes than he paid for his house back in the sixties, and of considering a move to Florida or South Carolina because he cannot afford the taxes. “On a fixed income,” said the senior, “how does one have the ability to pay? Its an outrage!”

An income tax, based on one’s ability to pay, is inherently more fair than a regressive property tax based solely on the value of one’s house. Tied to income rather than property value, such a tax would save most homeowners 50% or more over the existing system, and, by reaching the invisible population of renters (said to number more than 100,000), a modest income tax would not only generate more revenue than presently raised for our school districts, it would create a system where EVERYONE pays their fair share (certainly not the case today, where the homeowner pays the way for the renter, illegal and otherwise).

On creating a single commercial tax rate to be shared by all school districts, their was nearly universal support. Under the present system, commercial properties generate revenues only for the school districts in which they are situated. So, for instance, school taxes collected from Roosevelt Field, which lies mainly within the Uniondale School District, go (but for a small portion of Ring Road in Garden City), to the Uniondale School District. We all pour money into Roosevelt Field. Why shouldn’t all school districts share the revenues on a more or less equal footing?

Then there’s the issue of the special districts, those mini-governments that fly basically under the radar, with little or no public scrutiny, and the unfettered authority to set tax rates – another hand (or two) in our pockets.

The great disparity of rates (ranging from $12 and change for each $100 in assessed value for “at the door” garbage collection in the Five Towns to double that rate for curbside pick-up in Elmont, Franklin Square and West Hempstead); to where a homeowner on one side of a street pays twice as much as his neighbor across the street solely by virtue of the fact that the houses are in different Sanitary Districts. The height of absurdity.

Yes, there was dissension even on this issue, notably from Managers and Commissioners of the Sanitary Districts who fear that the walls of their long-protected fiefdoms are about to be scaled – their villainy to be exposed to the brilliant, cleansing light of the sun. And who could blame them? The 20-hour work week, with full salary and benefits, outed; the end of double taxation (pay once for the Town’s Sanitation Department, then pay again for the local Sanitary Districts), no more; the day of the patronage “commissioner,” elected in near-secrecy, whose pensions we pay for “no-show” positions, over.

Let’s face it – the property tax system is broken beyond repair. If you don’t think so, just take a look at your property tax statement. Out of control and going nowhere but up. On the school side, left unchecked, that tax bill will double in five (5) years. Can YOU afford to foot that bill? No one can defend the present property tax system. At least not with a straight face.

As for these special districts, run by “special” people for the benefit of those special few, there is no question that most of them are simply unnecessary.

Take the Sanitary Districts (please) as a poignant example of wasted resources (read as, “our money!”). In the City of New York, there is a single Sanitation Department, under a single Commissioner, servicing, according to the 2000 Census, 8,008,278 people. Not only do they collect garbage and recycling with remarkable proficiency, they also keep the streets clean and remove snow.

Now, take a look at how the Town of Hempstead, servicing some 755,924 residents (that’s less than 10% of the City’s population, for those who have not mastered the math). Six (count ‘em, 6) Sanitary Districts, including the townwide Department of Sanitation, each with multiple Commissioners (in Sanitary 6, there are 6 Commissioners), setting their own rates, collecting garbage and recycling at the door in some communities and at the curb in others, with no responsibility to keep our streets clean or clear of snow (that’s a function of the Town Highway Department, the folks who have trouble maintaining our streets in good repair). Are the streets in the business districts of the Town’s hamlets cleaner than those in the 5 Boroughs? A rhetorical question. We all know the answer to that. This travesty must come to an end!

Of course, talk of income tax, eliminating unnecessary special districts, and changing the ways towns conduct business as unusual, is not always politically expedient. In fact, here on Long Island, it is often akin to political suicide. Which is probably why folks like Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi (of FixAlbany fame), were quoted in Newsday as having serious reservations about these significant proposals. From “I didn’t know the Assessor was holding a Public Hearing” (hey, look at the County’s website once in a while) to “An income tax would chase people away from Nassau County” (you mean to say the property tax and the dearth of affordable housing attract them?), the comments are within the realm of political correctness, but completely out of step with reality.

The finger can – and will – be pointed just as easily and readily at most other elected officials who, adrift in this lifeboat with dwindling provisions, would rather sit with arms folded than pick up an oar and row. Where were our County and State Legislators at the March 12th Hearing? Other than Assemblyman Charles Lavine, elected as part of the FixAlbany revolt, no one had the courage to show. We would suppose that none of them knew about this Hearing either, but for the fact that nearly all are on our e-mail list, receiving, if not reading, the many missives calling all to action, and all were asked to attend, at the invite of Harvey Levinson.

Face it. Few politically-inclined would touch these issues with a ten-foot pole. Guess what? They’d better. Our very survival here on Long Island depends on it. [And if anyone reading this thinks we exaggerate, again we say, take a look at your tax statement!]

Perhaps we need a litmus test for all of our elected officials. We need to ask everyone holding public office, “What’s your plan to reduce the property tax?” Demand an answer, not double-speak. Then draw that line at the polling place: NO PLAN. NO VOTE!

Abraham Lincoln, who faced decisions a lot tougher that the property tax and the elimination of special districts, said that “you can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.” Sure, Lincoln didn’t live in Nassau County, or under the smothering stranglehold of the Town of Hempstead, where “getting fooled” is not only a way of life, its an art form. Still, at some point, even the bleary-eyed, overtaxed, under-served and barely represented are heard to say, “We won’t get fooled again!”

Meanwhile, “thank you,” Harvey Levinson, for opening eyes, risking political capital, and laying it all on the line for the good people of Nassau County. You could, like so many before you, have ignored the crisis. You didn’t. You can, like most of your colleagues in elected office, go with the conventional wisdom. You won’t. You might have considered sugar-coating the problem and playing footsie with the special interests at the special districts. Not a chance.

There is a sign inside the entrance to the Meeting Pavilion at Hempstead Town Hall, inscribed with a quote the origin of which by far precedes the person to whom it is attributed. It reads, “What is right is not always popular. What is popular is not always right.” Would that all of our elected officials paused to read and reflect upon these pearls of wisdom. Would that some had the daring and gumption to so act. Would that there were more who had the backbone, the foresight, and the “let’s do what’s right” attitude of Nassau County Assessor Harvey Levinson. Who knows, maybe, just maybe, they will and there are. Although, with history as a guide, we wouldn’t put any money on that (assuming you have any money left, after you pay your property tax bill)!

The Bread Of Our Affliction

A Passover Story, As Told By Counsel For Town Of Hempstead Sanitary District 1
An article appeared in a recent edition of the Nassau Herald on the subject of the Nassau County Comptroller's pending audit of several of the Special Districts, including Sanitary District 1. [We are reprinting the article below in its entirety, because you simply cannot make this stuff up!]

Commenting on the services provided by the Sanitary District, Nat Swergold, the chief counsel for Sanitary District 1, said "The district... accommodates the large Orthodox Jewish population in the area by arranging for special trucks during the eight holy days of Passover so bread can be disposed of, since observant Jews do not eat bread during the holiday."

Now, don't get us wrong. We appreciate the great lengths our Sanitary Districts go to in order to serve the public, but "special trucks during... Passover" to collect the bread?

What next? The fire districts placing extra fire trucks in service just in case the horse radish on the gefilte fish burns the roofs of our mouths? Or maybe the water districts will pump in extra water to our homes to help wash down the matzo?

Let's face it, Jews, be they Orthodox, Conservative, Reform or unaffiliated, are not hording bread prior to the holiday. Indeed, most Jews, logic dictates, try to consume the bread they do have in the house before Passover. Assuming any bread remains, most Jews I know (this blogger included), clean the house of bread BEFORE the start of the holiday, and not, certainly, "during the eight holy days" referred to by Mr. Swergold. Just what are these "special trucks" picking up?

Is this the best counsel for the Sanitary District can offer up as a raison d'etre for these Special Taxing Jurisdictions? If so, we've only one word for him: Gevalt!

One has to ask, do we really need three garbage collection days, a recycling day, a bulk pick up day and a yard waste pick up day, keeping in mind that it is Town Highways, not the Sanitary Districts, that sweeps our streets (all too infrequently) and plows the snow. Why - and we’re embarrassed to say this - there are some days when we have absolutely no trash to put out at the curb. Are we eligible for a rebate?

It doesn't take an Einstein - who, by the way, celebrated Passover in a secular vein - to realize that the existence of the Sanitary Districts, and other Special Districts within the township, cannot be substantiated "as is," and the cost to run these districts - special trucks for Passover aside - cannot be justified. At least not with a straight face. Why, in Sanitary District 6, we only have six Commissioners, shy of the ten required for a Minyan!

Clearly, what the Sanitary Districts are trying to put over on the taxpayers amounts to nothing less than unmitigated chutzpah.

According to Andrew Parise, the Mayor of Cedarhurst (which is in Sanitary District 1), "Curbside service wouldn't fly here." You mean to tell me they're picking up garbage at the door? [And here we are, in Sanitary District 6, paying twice the rate for mere curbside service.]

We just have two simple questions: (1) How many Sanitary District Commissioners does it take to change that dim light bulb over the head of the unwittingly inane Nat Swergold, and (2) How long will we, the taxpaying homeowners of the Town of Hempstead, allow ourselves to be played for fools?

- - -
FROM THE NASSAU HERALD:

Sanitary district audit planned County comptroller plans to explore consolidation of garbage pickup

By Andrew Coen

In an effort to save county residents money on the taxes they pay for services like garbage pickup and water, Nassau County Comptroller Howard S. Weitzman has announced plans to begin auditing some of the more than 400 special taxing districts throughout the county.
Sanitary District 1, which services the Five Towns and small portions of Lynbrook and Valley Stream, is among the five districts to be audited and considered for consolidation with other areas.

Other districts that will undergo audits include Sanitary District 2, which encompasses Baldwin, South Hempstead and Roosevelt; District 6, which takes in Elmont, North Valley Stream, Franklin Square, West Hempstead and Lakeview; the Port Washington Garbage District in the Town of North Hempstead, and the Syosset Sanitary District in the Town of Oyster Bay.
The districts were selected for audits based on criteria such as high tax rates, large accumulated surpluses and high tax increases in 2004-05, the comptroller said.

According to Weitzman, along with residents paying village, town and county taxes, there are nearly 400 sanitation and water districts with 1,600 different tax rates, amounting to a "hidden government" that adds to the already heavy tax burden. Weitzman said he would like to explore the feasibility of town governments' consolidating some of the special districts to save taxpayers money and operate them with greater efficiency.

"The growth of these special districts reflects the haphazard development of Nassau County in the last century, from a collection of unassociated towns, villages and hamlets," said Weitzman. "Some of [these districts] may be necessary and some may be well-run, but the persistence of so many separate governmental authorities, with their own employees and tax rates, tends to hide the true cost of local government and contributes to our high local tax burden."

Nat Swergold, the chief counsel for Sanitary District 1, said he does not see his district meeting any of Weitzman's criteria for an audit, since, Swergold said, the district does not have a high surplus, has one of the lowest tax rates in the state and has not had any hefty tax increases. "We are probably a target for this audit because we are the largest [sanitary district]," said Swergold, adding that Sanitary District 1 services more than 30,000 households.

According to Swergold, last year's tax rate for single-family residences in District 1 was $12.58 per $100 of the assessed value of a home, which is half the rate of District 2 ($24.62 per $100) and District 6 ($26.05 per $100).

"[District 1's] tax rates are much lower than the rest of the districts," said Cedarhurst Mayor Andrew Parise. "I don't know who would provide better service than we get here."

Swergold said that while he welcomes an investigation into his district, because it is well run, he does not think the audit is necessary, since the state comptroller audits the district periodically. He added that he could not envision any sort of consolidation of the areas to save money, since each sanitation district has different needs. "I think [consolidation] is not a good idea, because each area and each district is unique," said Swergold, who has been the attorney for District 1 since 1972. "There is no way we could keep these services if there were consolidation."

Swergold said that District 1 is unique compared with other sanitary districts, in part because its workers pick up trash in the rear of residents' homes, which means residents do not have to place garbage curbside unless they are disposing of heavy items. The district operates its own recycling plant in North Lawrence and, as a result, has the highest recycling rate of any sanitary district in the state, according to Swergold. The district also accommodates the large Orthodox Jewish population in the area by arranging for special trucks during the eight holy days of Passover so bread can be disposed of, since observant Jews do not eat bread during the holiday.

"Curbside service wouldn't fly here," Parise said of the unique services offered to residents in District 1.
According to Weitzman, the goal of the audits is to provide a better understanding of the districts'
expenditures, hiring and procurements practices and the efficiency of their operations. He said that additional audits of other special districts in the county would be considered depending on how the initial examination goes.

The comptroller's decision to initiate audits follows a January report by County Assessor Harvey Levinson that showed that many special taxing jurisdictions, like garbage and water districts, spend millions of dollars each year with little observation by the public. The report prompted Levinson to call on the comptroller to audit those districts in the county.

"Homeowners who pay widely different tax rates for the same services within a town are entitled to know how their ever-increasing tax dollars are spent," said Levinson. "I am confident that Comptroller Weitzman's independent examination of sanitation districts operating within the towns will lead to sensible cost-cutting measures, consolidation or possibly even the elimination of these unnecessary invisible governments."

The planned audits have the support of some top state officials, including Comptroller Alan Hevesi, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. "In beginning these audits, Comptroller Weitzman is addressing the need for greater public oversight of these taxing districts," said Hevesi. A 2002 audit of some of these special districts by then state Comptroller Carl McCall found that several districts kept unreasonably high reserve balances.
Weitzman's audits will examine administrative and operating expenses and the appropriateness of fund balances.

Comments about this story? ACoen@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 210.