Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!

The Blizzard Of 2009 In Bizzaro Land

As Long Islander's shovel out from under the weekend's snowstorm, we bring you a little levity amidst the drifts and the icicles.

A reprise of the Ode to the Murraygram of Winter's Past.

Enjoy!
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Thursday, January 12, 2006

The Supervisor And The Snowman

Kate Murray Offers Advice For Those Who Don't Know Enough To Come In Out Of The Cold

As temperatures soar to a near 60 degrees, the Town of Hempstead may not be a winter wonderland, but who cares? Certainly, not Town Supervisor Kate Murray, who, with snowman at her side (where did she find that snowman? Nice scarf!), has lofted another snowball our way in the form of this year's first Murraygram. [Or is it the second coming of Kate, right after that piece on "We don't set the Assessment, but we'll remind you to challenge it anyway?" Who can keep count?]

Appropriately entitled, Supervisor Kate Murray's Guide to Winter Safety (this replaces last year's guide on the same topic, so if you still have that mailing, please throw it away), this hard stock (must be 100 lb. paper), not quite 8 1/2" x 11" full-color glossy, gives tips to winter-weary residents that they never in a million years would have thought of themselves. Tips such as, "limit the duration of time spent outside in the cold..." and "make sure you have enough blankets in the house..." Gee, Kate, who would have thunk it?

Astonishingly, Kate Murray's Guide leaves us shivering in what it fails to warn us about. Things like, "never stick your tongue to an aluminum flagpole when the temerature dips below 32 degrees" or "CAUTION: Hot chocolate may be hot!" Kate, you're slipping.

Of course, the Supervisor did keep her promise, freezing the Town's budget for postage at somewhere in the neighborhood of $2.1 million. Then again, with postage rates having just increased, that $2.1 million won't mail as many Murraygrams as it did last year. In fact, rumor has it that Kate will have to dip into that Highway bond fund just to send a postcard to the folks back in Levittown.

Now never mind that it is too warm for snowmen -- by the way, the snowman pictured with Kate is actually a Snow Committeeman, on payroll at Town Hall as a seasonal worker at $100 per hour. Great work if you can get it. And ignore the fact that just days after Kate's Guide to Winter Safety hit the mailboxes of some 200,000-plus homes, the same residents received the Town's mailing of the Parks and Recreation Winter/Spring Brochure -- apparently, no one thought about possibly including Kate's frostbite folly as an insert to this brochure, or placing a short blurb on page 6. [Nah. No space for that. What with Kiss Me Kate (this blogger kids you not) coming to Levittown Hall in Hicksville on May 19th as part of the Town's Performing Arts Series, who has room to publicize winter essentials like, "winterize your car..." and "stock up on ice melt..."

Please don't ask, "Couldn't the Town simply post Kate's Guide to Winter Safety online, much like its online Bicycle Safety Brochure?" We told you not to ask!

How about an Around The Town piece on winter's travails for all the local papers (been there, done that), or letting folks know that winter safety advice is only a click away? [SEE the Center for Disease Control's Extreme Cold: A Prevention Guide to Promote Your Personal Health and Safety. We found out much more than we'll ever need to know, and not a single photo of Kate!]

No, they don't think of new ways to waste the taxpayers' money at Hempstead Town Hall. They rely on all the old, time-tested methods -- man the presses and mail out another Murraygram! [You may have noticed that The Community Alliance took down its Murray-Mail-Meter shortly after last November's election. On the one hand, we figured that, with Kate's victory in hand and position of power secure, the incessant mailings would stop. On the other hand, our tote board ran out of digits. We couldn't keep up!]

Okay, so Kate can claim a mandate. Fine. Kate wanted a mandate. Heck, sources close to the Supervisor tell us (off the record) that she's needed a mandate for the longest time. Now that Kate has a mandate, maybe she'll get herself "shtuped," and stop sticking it to the taxpayers every time! [I know, I know. Residents "enjoy" being screwed by the Town of Hempstead. Got it. Don't rub it in anymore.]

This just in from Kate Murray's Blizzard Coldline: "If possible, limit travel during inclement weather."

We think Kate & Kompany need to expand their horizons beyond the dangers of winter doldrums. Here are a few suggestions, free of charge (with no postage due) from The Community Alliance, for future Murraygrams:

Kate Murray's Guide to Kitchen Safety -- "Never hold a knife by the blade."

Kate Murray's Guide to Bathtub Safety -- "If possible, do not bathe with electric toasters."

Kate Murray's Guide to Japanese Steakhouse Safety -- "Do not let the chef toss a shrimp at you. It may cause a fatal heart attack and lead to frivilous lawsuits."

And then there's the one that is sure to be a hit on HBO, Kate Murray's Guide to The Universe (hitchhiker not included). "Never attempt space travel without a space ship -- or in the event of inclement weather."

Maybe Kate should forget about the Murraygrams altogether. She's already set her sights higher, with a possible run for County Executive in the offing. Kate for Kounty Exec? Sure. Why should Town of Hempstead residents suffer alone? We can all share the joy of the Murraygrams in our mailboxes.

We can see it now. Mondello taps Murray to run for Nassau County Executive on the GOP line. [Much like Max Bialistock convincing Roger Elizabeth Devry to direct Springtime for Hitler.] Mondello will also ask Roger Corbin to run for the job on the Dem line -- all in the interest of bipartisan cooperation, of course. And yours truly will launch a write-in campaign for Governor -- not of New York, mind you, but of a small, hurricane-ravaged state in southeastern Mexico, known ostensibly as home of the floating gardens of Kaopectate. [This blogger meets today with the editorial board at Hoy, seeking their endorsement!]

Okay, gotta run. Just found yet another Murray missive between the doors -- now they're being delivered by Ed McMahon and the Publisher's Clearinghouse Prize Patrol (you may already be a loser -- pay up!). Hmmm. What's this? Kate Murray's Guide to The Eternal Darkness of the Voter's Mind -- "It is also a good idea to have a flashlight (and batteries)..." Now why didn't we think of that?

The Supervisor And The Snowman

Kate Murray Offers Advice For Those Who Don't Know Enough To Come In Out Of The Cold

As temperatures soar to a near 60 degrees, the Town of Hempstead may not be a winter wonderland, but who cares? Certainly, not Town Supervisor Kate Murray, who, with snowman at her side (where did she find that snowman? Nice scarf!), has lofted another snowball our way in the form of this year's first Murraygram. [Or is it the second coming of Kate, right after that piece on "We don't set the Assessment, but we'll remind you to challenge it anyway?" Who can keep count?]

Appropriately entitled, Supervisor Kate Murray's Guide to Winter Safety (this replaces last year's guide on the same topic, so if you still have that mailing, please throw it away), this hard stock (must be 100 lb. paper), not quite 8 1/2" x 11" full-color glossy, gives tips to winter-weary residents that they never in a million years would have thought of themselves. Tips such as, "limit the duration of time spent outside in the cold..." and "make sure you have enough blankets in the house..." Gee, Kate, who would have thunk it?

Astonishingly, Kate Murray's Guide leaves us shivering in what it fails to warn us about. Things like, "never stick your tongue to an aluminum flagpole when the temerature dips below 32 degrees" or "CAUTION: Hot chocolate may be hot!" Kate, you're slipping.

Of course, the Supervisor did keep her promise, freezing the Town's budget for postage at somewhere in the neighborhood of $2.1 million. Then again, with postage rates having just increased, that $2.1 million won't mail as many Murraygrams as it did last year. In fact, rumor has it that Kate will have to dip into that Highway bond fund just to send a postcard to the folks back in Levittown.

Now never mind that it is too warm for snowmen -- by the way, the snowman pictured with Kate is actually a Snow Committeeman, on payroll at Town Hall as a seasonal worker at $100 per hour. Great work if you can get it. And ignore the fact that just days after Kate's Guide to Winter Safety hit the mailboxes of some 200,000-plus homes, the same residents received the Town's mailing of the Parks and Recreation Winter/Spring Brochure -- apparently, no one thought about possibly including Kate's frostbite folly as an insert to this brochure, or placing a short blurb on page 6. [Nah. No space for that. What with Kiss Me Kate (this blogger kids you not) coming to Levittown Hall in Hicksville on May 19th as part of the Town's Performing Arts Series, who has room to publicize winter essentials like, "winterize your car..." and "stock up on ice melt..."

Please don't ask, "Couldn't the Town simply post Kate's Guide to Winter Safety online, much like its online Bicycle Safety Brochure?" We told you not to ask!

How about an Around The Town piece on winter's travails for all the local papers (been there, done that), or letting folks know that winter safety advice is only a click away? [SEE the Center for Disease Control's Extreme Cold: A Prevention Guide to Promote Your Personal Health and Safety. We found out much more than we'll ever need to know, and not a single photo of Kate!]

No, they don't think of new ways to waste the taxpayers' money at Hempstead Town Hall. They rely on all the old, time-tested methods -- man the presses and mail out another Murraygram! [You may have noticed that The Community Alliance took down its Murray-Mail-Meter shortly after last November's election. On the one hand, we figured that, with Kate's victory in hand and position of power secure, the incessant mailings would stop. On the other hand, our tote board ran out of digits. We couldn't keep up!]

Okay, so Kate can claim a mandate. Fine. Kate wanted a mandate. Heck, sources close to the Supervisor tell us (off the record) that she's needed a mandate for the longest time. Now that Kate has a mandate, maybe she'll get herself "shtuped," and stop sticking it to the taxpayers every time! [I know, I know. Residents "enjoy" being screwed by the Town of Hempstead. Got it. Don't rub it in anymore.]

This just in from Kate Murray's Blizzard Coldline: "If possible, limit travel during inclement weather."

We think Kate & Kompany need to expand their horizons beyond the dangers of winter doldrums. Here are a few suggestions, free of charge (with no postage due) from The Community Alliance, for future Murraygrams:

Kate Murray's Guide to Kitchen Safety -- "Never hold a knife by the blade."

Kate Murray's Guide to Bathtub Safety -- "If possible, do not bathe with electric toasters."

Kate Murray's Guide to Japanese Steakhouse Safety -- "Do not let the chef toss a shrimp at you. It may cause a fatal heart attack and lead to frivilous lawsuits."

And then there's the one that is sure to be a hit on HBO, Kate Murray's Guide to The Universe (hitchhiker not included). "Never attempt space travel without a space ship -- or in the event of inclement weather."

Maybe Kate should forget about the Murraygrams altogether. She's already set her sights higher, with a possible run for County Executive in the offing. Kate for Kounty Exec? Sure. Why should Town of Hempstead residents suffer alone? We can all share the joy of the Murraygrams in our mailboxes.

We can see it now. Mondello taps Murray to run for Nassau County Executive on the GOP line. [Much like Max Bialistock convincing Roger Elizabeth Devry to direct Springtime for Hitler.] Mondello will also ask Roger Corbin to run for the job on the Dem line -- all in the interest of bipartisan cooperation, of course. And yours truly will launch a write-in campaign for Governor -- not of New York, mind you, but of a small, hurricane-ravaged state in southeastern Mexico, known ostensibly as home of the floating gardens of Kaopectate. [This blogger meets today with the editorial board at Hoy, seeking their endorsement!]

Okay, gotta run. Just found yet another Murray missive between the doors -- now they're being delivered by Ed McMahon and the Publisher's Clearinghouse Prize Patrol (you may already be a loser -- pay up!). Hmmm. What's this? Kate Murray's Guide to The Eternal Darkness of the Voter's Mind -- "It is also a good idea to have a flashlight (and batteries)..." Now why didn't we think of that?
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e-Poll of the Day:


Click HERE to view all e-Polls of The Community Alliance as well as Poll results. Hey, its just for fun (and it doesn't cost you anything)!

"Paying More Than Your Fair Share of Property Taxes Is Like...

. . .Throwing Money in the Garbage!"

So says the latest Murraygram to arrive in the mail, once again spinning the Murray-Mail-Meter* faster than the tote board on the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethon.

At least the third such Property Tax "Guide" to have been posted by the Town of Hempstead in 2005 under the guise of "public service," the four page color brochure tells it as only the Townies can: "Hempstead Town does NOT set your assessment!...But we can help you lower your taxes and save!"

No, the Town does not set the Assesment. It does, however, set the tax rates, which ultimately determine how much taxes you will pay to the Town and its multitude of taxing sub-divisions. Of course, nowhere in the Murraygram are the words "tax rates" so much as mentioned.

The Town Supervisor encourages residents to contact the Nassau County Department of Assessment (516-571-1500) to obtain applications for property tax exemptions. Good idea. And while folks are on the line with the County Assessor's office, they should ask for information on who sets those all-important tax rates for TOWN Highways, TOWN Building & Zoning, TOWN Lighting, TOWN Parks, TOWN Public Parking, TOWN Refuse Disposal, among other TOWN taxing jurisdictions. [HINT: These tax rates are NOT set by the COUNTY or the ASSESSOR!] Then ask who sets the tax rates for the TOWN Sanitary Districts, and the other SPECIAL taxing jusirsdictions - staffed by the TOWN, run by the TOWN, and over which the TOWN Supervisor claims she has no control.

Odd, isn't it, how the Town is constantly telling us about things over which they have or allege to have absolutely no control, while the Town Supervisor pledges to propose a 2006 budget that freezes ALL TOWN TAXES - with an asterisk denoting that the "freeze" will apply to "all Town taxes under the Supervisor's control."

The problem is we have a Town government that is out of control. A local government bloated with high-paying patronage jobs, outmoded Special Districts, and seemingly no desire to take back control over essential services ostensibly provided by the Town of Hempstead, or at least held out to the public under the Town's name and seal.

"Control," in terms of impact upon our quality of life, appears to be outside the realm of the Town Supervisor. Whether we are talking about reviving our "Downtowns," eliminating illegal accessory apartments, or simply picking up the trash, the price homeowners pay for this lack of control is far greater than even that which appears on the bottom line of our property tax bills.

Kate Murray is right about one thing: "Paying more than your fair share of property taxes is like throwing money in the garbage." Those of us who live in one of the Town of Hempstead's Sanitary Districts can certainly attest to that!
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*For the period of May 1, 2005 to August 29, 2005, the Murray-Mail-Meter [an unofficial calculation of the cost of postage for Town mailings that are more political than public service] tallies in at $291,600.00. As for the cost of material and production, who cares? Just keep those cards, letters and 8 1/2" x 11" glossy Murraygrams coming!

No Taxpayer Dollars Have Been Used To Post This Blog

When The Public Pays For Political Fodder

We've long complained about the misuse of taxpayer money to pay for what amounts to political mailings, especially during the long campaign seasons.

Apparently, we are not alone in taking notice of the fact that homeowners/taxpayers are being barraged with self-serving communiques that, while only marginally serving to enlighten and inform, go a long way toward keeping the names -- and faces -- of incumbents emblazoned upon the minds of residents.

At the same time, these very same homeowners/taxpayers are being bilked out of hundreds of thousands of tax dollars to pay for political mailings, thinly disguised, if masquerading at all, as public service announcements.

Granted, all incumbents -- both Republicans and Democrats -- partake in parceling their candidacy through mediums such as taxpayer-funded mailings. In the Town of Hempstead, however, as blog reader and community advocate Henry Boitel points out, the GOP has the media blitz, at taxpayers' expense, down to a science.

Long live the Murraygram!
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Town Of Hempstead Underwrites Republican Campaign Literature

I know I received some kind of color flier from the Town of Hempstead, with the names and photos of (Kate) Murray and (Tony) Santino on it, just in the past week or so. It seems I have been lately getting at least one mailing a week from Murray or Santino, at taxpayer expense.

In addition, today I received in the mail three communications from the Town of Hempstead, i.e., paid for with our tax money.

1. From Murray and Santino urging me that recent State legislation that enables localities to consolidate government functions should effectively be undone since the people cannot be trusted to make the right decision on these matters. That bore postage of 21 cents.

2. From Santino telling me that there will be no tax rate increase in the town budget for 2010. He does not tell us about infrastructure that is being neglected, or debt that is filling in for taxes, or about any effort to reduce the number of patronage jobs. The mailing also ignores the substantial tax increase that property owners have experienced in the Town of Hempstead over the past ten years, simply because of the alleged increase in property values -- which went up for tax purposes a lot faster than they are coming down. Even when the tax rate does not change, high "value" of property means more tax paid. That mailing bore postage of 35 cents, even though it was the same size and weight as the first mailing.

3. From Murray and Santino - four page color brochure with their photos and names emblazoned on the front AND on the inside page, inviting me to a Hurricane Safety seminar on July 21 at 7 PM. The brochure itself seems to tell one everything one could possibly want to know about hurricane safety. One wonders what additional purpose the seminar will serve.
It sounds as though we are getting ready to take a trip with Dorothy (not Goosby) and Toto. In any event, it is not shown what the cost of this multi color brochure was or what the cost of the postage was.

The bottom line is that I got three pieces of mail today that must have incurred at least a total of $1.00 each to me and to every other household in the Town, and each of the mailings was politically motivated and not service motivated. Note this does not include the amount of time that patronage employees were paid to put this stuff together.

Since there are 246,828 households in the Town of Hempstead, how much, exactly, does the Town spend on mailings such as this?

I hope that the Democrats who are running for Town of Hempstead office will promise not to abuse town funds for self-aggrandizing political purposes in this way. Can you imagine how much money we would save by simply eliminating wasteful patronage jobs and politically motivated mailings?

Henry J. Boitel,
Chairperson
South Nassau Coalition
An Alliance of Democratic Organizations
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Publisher's Note: Henry, you needn't worry about the Dems running up the taxpayer tab in Hempstead Town. Doubtful that the lone Democrat on the Town Board, Dorothy Goosby, has access to any of those media funds used to engage the elves who run the printing presses in the dungeon of Town Hall, and the Democratic candidate for Hempstead Town Supervisor, Kristen McElroy, appears to still be running for the NYS Senate, at least according to her website, McElroy for Senate. Apparently, either no one knows how to change the word "Senate" to "Supervisor," or Ms. McElroy is simply running in place, keeping her name in the news, gearing up for another shot at Kemp Hannon in 2010.

Ahhh, it would seem, at least to this observer, that the cost to the electorate comes not only by way of the GOP printing press. . .
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From The Community Alliance Blog, October 6, 2005:

A Patchwork Quilt Of Ideas, Thoughts, And Head-Scratchers
Murray-Mail-Meter Tops $400,000

Yet another mailbox stuffer from Town Hall, as the latest Murraygram arrives in homes around the Town. Only 3 photos of Kate in this 4-pager (someone apparently slipped up), a "let's review" guide of that which they've told us at least a dozen times before -- "Tax-Freeze" Budget; Cutting Taxpayer Costs (but not for YOUR Sanitary District); and, did we mention Hempstead Town's highest credit rating?

Yes, all stuff we, the taxpayer, should know. Problem is, we know about it already. We've read the papers, received the press releases, logged on to the Town's website, and plodded through the umpteen other Town mailings on the very same subjects.

Clearly, the public benefit of the latest in the series of Murray mailings fades in comparison to the political self-promotion, making most suspect "Supervisor Kate Murray's Budget Review and Fiscal Update," which looks, smells, and reads as campaign literature mailed under the guise of Town update, and all at the taxpayers' expense.

And so we add to the unofficial till another $32,400.00 in taxpayer financed postage for personal gain, bringing the Murray-Mail-Meter to $421,200.00. Again, that's for postage alone. Add in the cost to taxpayers of material and production, and we're talking nearly $580,000.00 spent by the Town since May of this year on what would otherwise be campaign literature paid for by the candidate.

Hey, its your money!

Send In The Clones

NYS GOP Chair Authorizes Cloning Of Key Committeemen; Can Cloned Kates Be Far Behind?

"Clones to the left of me, jokers to the right..." You REALLY have to click on ALL the links in this blogspot. How many clones can YOU find?

We knew this was going to happen. It was only a matter of time. First it was sheep. Then it was pigs and cows. Now, with the green light from the FDA, its people. Not just any people, mind you, but committee-people. And GOP committee-people, at that.

And so it was, in a news conference craftily staged in front of the Western Beef in Mineola, that Joe Mondello (so, he really is a living legend!), State and still Nassau County Chair of the Republican Party, announced that the first (that we know of) human cloning would take place in New York, under the auspices of the Genome Oversight Project -- or GOP, for short.

GOP spokesman, Tony "You're-in-the-Navy-Now" Santino, said that cloning would be an invaluable tool in assuring the preservation and future dominance of the party.

"Imagine, if you will," postured Santino, "that rather than having Joe Ra [Oh no! Another Joe Ra, already...] wear many hats -- as in committeeman, Town Attorney, counsel for Sanitary District 6 (did I miss any?) -- we can actually clone Joe so he really could be ten places at once -- collecting, of course, all ten salaries and all ten pensions."

"Sweet," said Joe Ra, reached for comment simultanously at his Town Hall office, at Sanitary District 6 HQ on Cherry Valley Avenue in West Hempstead, and from a beach chair on the sands of Fort Lauderdale. "Maybe they'll let one of my clones take back my old job as Councilman... Damn you, Joe Kearney. You ruined it for all of us!"

Emi Endo, a reporter for Newsday who routinely covers Hempstead Town Hall, suspects that cloning within the Nassau County GOP may have been going on for quite some time, even preceding FDA approval.

"I began to wonder," Endo said, "when the Town's press releases had Tony Santino appearing in Westbury wearing his GOP spokesman hat, while at the same moment, attending a GOP fundraiser and the Sand Castle in Franklin Square in his position as GOP Committeeman. To top that, he was also at a civic meeting -- same hour, same minute -- in Oceanside. It was kinda bizarre!"

Ms. Endo denied being a clone herself. "I am not a clone," the ace reporter protested. "I'm Asian-American. We all look alike to you guys!"

"We were scratching our heads, too," quipped a frustrated Jay Jacobs, Chair of the Nassau County Democratic Party. "Clearly, there's enough of Tony (Santino) to go around, so no one would ever question some DNA missing here, or a bit of protoplasm missing there. Cloning! How do you think Maureen O'Connell got all those flyers in the mail -- and to folks who don't even live in the 7th Senatorial District? They're all 'cut and paste' on that side of the aisle."

"Yeah, I got one of those O'Connell flyers, too," chimed Pat Nicolosi, President of the Elmont East End Civic Club. "And my house in Elmont is nowhere near Mike Balboni's old district. Must be that old GOP magic at work."

Concerns over mutations and other genetic defects as a side effect of the cloning process were poo-pooed by Santino (a certified expert at poo-pooing), who assured the media that "years of selective inbreeding within the GOP" meant that only those with the coveted patronage gene would survive. "Not to worry," declared a jubilant Santino. "We're all of the same mold, here."

For their part, the Democrats, fearing what Dorothy Goosby called the "body snatcher effect," rejected the idea of genetic cloning as a political tool. "There's only one Dot Goosby on the Hempstead Town Board," said the lone Democratic Councilwoman, "and what appears at every vote to be six Kate Murray clones. Talk about a 'herd mentality!'"

According to reports leaked out of Nassau County Republican Headquarters, approximately 15% of the Town of Hempstead's workforce has already been cloned. "Looks to me like a good third of the supervisors at the Town's Sanitary Districts are clones," so stated Nassau County Comptroller, Howard Weitzman, waving the reports over his head. "I dare to guesstimate that the Town's payroll is bloated by some $50 million a year just to carry these clones. Its unconscionable."

Hindsight being 20-20, other GOP clone sightings come quickly to the mind of Harvey Levinson, the Nassau County Assessor, who, in 2005, ran unsuccessfully against Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray. "I always knew there was something fishy about a hundred or so GOP operatives showing up during the campaign at the Franklin Square Library to protest my Assessment forum," said Levinson. "Come to think of it, they all had the same blank expressions on their faces, as if they'd been stripped of both emotion and intellect."

Levinson vigorously denied that he himself was a clone, a charge once levied against him by Don Clavin (Ooops! Wrong Clavin), Receiver of Taxes for the Town of Hempstead. [Clavin denied having made the accusation. "I said he was a 'drone,'" Clavin retorted, "not a 'clone!'"]

In related news, the Albany Times Union reported that reliable sources in the NYS Senate have uncovered a secret Member-Item stash, traced to Majority Leader Joe Bruno, clandestinely appropriating more that $13 million over the last six years to the Genome Oversight Project.

"Geez," cried Bruno. "How did they find out about that one?" [Could it be, Joe, that as a condition for getting the dough, they had to name it "The Joseph L. Bruno Genome Oversight Project"?] "Aw, heck," stomped Bruno. "I shoulda let Dean Skelos take that one. . ."

Meanwhile, deep in the bowels of Hempstead Town Hall, where printing presses hum day and night, churning out Murraygram after Murraygram, scientists are working feverishly to perfect the cloning process, Supervisor Kate Murray always close at hand, supervising. [In fact, there's a sign, right there in the basement of Hempstead Town Hall, that reads, Improving The Human Condition, One Republican Clone At A Time! The Joseph L. Bruno Genome Oversight Project. Kate Murray, Supervisor.] Font size should probably be reversed...

And as yet another glorious day dawns in the west over Town Hall (no mistake -- the sun rises in the west over there), a lone Town of Hempstead Safety Officer moseys past, insiduously -- if not unwittingly -- singing, "send in the clones. . ."

Ah, don't bother, they're here!

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THIS JUST IN: President George W. Bush announced this morning that he would send an additional 20,000 troops into Town of Hempstead Sanitary District 6. "We must free the good people of the Five Towns from the evils of the fundamentalist trash collectors," said the president. "If the good people of Hempstead Town aren't strong enough or smart enough to free themselves from the abuses of these self-serving taxing jurisdictions, we'll just have to do it for them."

Meanwhile, it was rumored today that Nathaniel "Let Them Eat Bread On Passover" Swergold, Counsel to Sanitary District 1 and curator at the Five Town's Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum, will be replaced in his post at SD1 by Nouri Maliki, the current Prime Minister of Iraq. "I know garbage when I see it," exclaimed Maliki. "And who better to run a dysfunctional fiefdom itself defined by waste, corruption, and ineptitude, eh?"

And where's Kate Murray in all of this? Apparently, waiting for her "mandate" from the people, and, as is too often the case, way out of control.

Democracy Dies On The Hempstead Plain

Marshal Law Declared. Murray Seizes Assets Of Registered Democrats. Resistance Is Futile!

8 minutes. That's all it took to kill off the last remnants of democracy at Hempstead Town Hall yesterday, where marauding Murray and the robber-barons that call themselves a Town Board turned "oversight" into "overlooked," as the supposed "review" of the special taxing district budgets became no more than a mockery.

8 minutes. Yes, that's more time than the Town clowns have spent looking over the shoulders of the special district commissioners in the last 100 years, but less time than the stalwarts of one-party drool take in bestowing citations upon Boy Scouts and basketball teams.

8 minutes. Barely enough time to summon the media, issue a Murraygram, or pose with Bernie Kerik for a photo op.

8 minutes. The Town’s equivalent of what it takes to reach political orgasm. Who would think the Town of Hempstead would devote even that much time to millions of taxpayer dollars, most of which are being flushed down the toilet at the water districts, or thrown out with the trash -- along with the Democrats' lawn signs -- by the sanitary districts.

The review of the local taxing authorities by the Hempstead Town Board amounted to little more than the Supervisor's query to the stunned audience, "Any questions?" Sure, we all read the proposed special taxing district budgets online. What more is there to know? Who are we to question?

But wait a minute -- or 8. Didn't Kate Murray win re-election by a resounding 68% of the vote? [Then again, Stalin used to pull down 100% of the vote.] Let's be honest here. This is not a mandate to Murray, so much as it is an acknowledgment that the Borg has total control over the goons who slither from under the floorboards and vote as they are told. As for the rest of us who certainly knew better? Tuesday's pathetic turnout by the electorate gives new meaning to the term, "silent majority."

Yes, it took but 8 minutes for democracy to fall in the Town of Hempstead, and but a moment's time for the Mondelloids to unfurl their "Mission Accomplished" banner, as if there is something to be proud of in proclaiming from the podium that what the people want in Elmont, in Oceanside, in Franklin Square, and in West Hempstead -- among other hovels that pass for hamlets in the Town's unincorporated areas -- doesn't amount to a room full of GOP committeemen.

8 minutes for every Town of Hempstead special taxing district budget to be rubber-stamped. 8 minutes to drive a deadly stake through the very heart of democracy. Frankly, we're surprised it took that long.

In a Town, as in a nation, governed by fear and intimidation, where dissent is taunted as disloyalty, to mock Murray and her ilk of the shallow gene pool is to court exile in the Gulag.

Then again, with the official designation of "blight" in Baldwin, "blight" in West Hempstead, and coming soon, "blight" in Elmont -- not to mention the undesignated and unofficial blight elsewhere in Hempstead Town (just a study waiting for a Victorian-style street lamp) - a few years in the vast wastelands of Siberia is looking pretty good right about now.

Democracy? You've got a better shot at representative government under Musharaff in Pakistan than you do under Murray in Hempstead Town. A government of the people? Don't tell Abe Lincoln, but "by the people" and "for the people" have drawn their last breath in America's largest township.

Democracy dies on the Hempstead Plain. The Eulogy was brief. The remains to be forever interred in the bowels of Town Hall at 1 Washington Street.

In lieu of voting, we hope you sent flowers.

We Won't Get Fooled Again!

Or Will We???

Another tax year, and yet another promise by Town of Hempstead Supervisor, Kate "The Merciless" Murray, to "freeze" Town property taxes.

Take a look at Kate's press release, republished below, and those of tax years past, all alluding to a "freeze" of Town property taxes. Then, if you dare, pull out your property tax statements for this year, last year and the year before that, and tell us, were your Town property taxes "frozen?"

We suppose, like any big lie, this one, told long enough and spread far enough, through media ranging from the fabled "Murraygram" to the ever-regurgitated Town press release, will eventually be accepted as the truth.

The bottom line, of course, on that property tax bill, tells a much different story. The numbers, translating into dollars out of the pockets of homeowners and business owners, do not lie. The net increases in the tax levies convey a reality that stands in stark contrast to the hyperbole of Kate Murray's land of make-believe. Then again, a lie will make it half way around the world -- and all the way around Hempstead Town - before the truth has a chance to put its pants on.

To accept the notion that the Town of Hempstead "freezes" anything, but for the vision of suburbia, long-frozen in a 1950s myopic mindset of a Levitt home surrounded by that white picket fence, is to be delusional - or a GOP Committeeman on the Town's payroll.

One wonders whether residents will eventually wake up to the truth behind tax "freeze" and "holding the line," calling out the Supervisor, and holding our elected officials accountable. The day when beleaguered taxpayers will finally say, "Enough, already!"
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From the Town of Hempstead Ministry of Misinformation:

Murray To Present Tax Freeze Budget - Hempstead Town Boasts Highest Credit Ratings, Rock Solid Finances


"Budgeting during an economic crisis is not easy," cautioned Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray as she announced that she is crafting a budget that will freeze all town taxes for 2012. "I am working with my colleagues on the town board, and will present a tax-freeze budget that is accountable to taxpayers later this year. We will be able to do this because we have adhered to the simple yet profound Boy Scout credo, 'Be Prepared.'"

The Supervisor pointed out that controlling the town's discretionary costs, as well as preparing a multi-year fiscal plan and adjusting budgeted amounts such as mortgage recording revenues for the current economic downturn have resulted in rock solid budgets that have earned the highest available Wall Street credit ratings (Aaa, Moody's Investor Service; AAA, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services). Furthermore, Murray's administration has rejected reliance on "one-shot" (non-recurring) revenues to balance budgets and scrupulously avoided increased borrowing to meet ongoing government costs. These measures have protected the township's residents from the fiscal instability that plagues the federal government, New York State and many localities.

"Unfortunately, many other governments did not prepare and plan for the recession, leaving taxpayers to deal with painful cuts in government services and exposing future generations to the fallout of staggering budget deficits," stated Hempstead Town Senior Councilman Anthony J. Santino. "Kate Murray and I will not take taxpayers down that path. Because we have prepared for a difficult economy and budgeted carefully, we can offer a tax-freeze budget and maintain all services in force."

Perhaps the best indicator of the integrity and reliability of a particular government's budgeting practices lies in the reviews of independent financial analysts and the credit ratings of Wall Street rating agencies. In fact, the independent Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) has conferred its Excellence in Financial Reporting Award upon Hempstead Town every year since 2003. And, Moody's Investor Services, the respected Wall Street rating agency, has based its top rating of Hempstead's finances on "the town's prudent fiscal management characterized by conservative budgeting practices, development of multi-year financial forecasts..."

"Our straightforward approach to budgeting has earned the respect of credit rating agencies on Wall Street and won the trust of neighbors on Main Street," said Murray. "We'll continue to justify that trust with a budget that is responsible and holds the line on all town taxes."

The officials pointed out that a key benefit of aggressive fiscal management is that it allows the town to maintain important programs and initiatives that stimulate the economy and create jobs while encouraging development that expands the town's tax base. One such job-creating town service is HempsteadWorks, the town's one-stop career center. Almost 15,000 clients found employment in 2009 through this fee-free service center. Hempstead Town is also supporting the creation of local construction, engineering and associated jobs in the private sector through a $50 million capital improvement program. The program funds road and building construction, marine bulkhead work and other job-boosting projects. Finally, Hempstead's well-managed budgets and stable tax base have attracted three major development projects for the coming year that will create jobs and generate local economic activity.

"During tough economic times it's important that we do everything possible to help neighbors make ends meet," concluded Murray. "We're freezing all town taxes and at the same time crafting a local stimulus program, offering career services to job seekers, and encouraging responsible development that will pump needed private sector dollars into our local economy. In short, we've heeded the Boy Scout credo, "Be Prepared,' and taxpayers in our township are benefiting from our fiscally responsible budgeting practices."

Of Trees And Taxpayer Dollars

I Think That I Shall Never See, A Murraygram That Hasn't Killed A Tree

Not exactly Joyce Kilmer here, but a Letter to the Editor that appeared in this week's Herald newspapers caught our attention.

The suggestion of an "opt out" for all of those Town of Hempstead mailings. Imagine that -- cost effective and environmentally sound e-mails in lieu of those mailbox stuffers, tree-killers, and tax-dollar wasters.

Could it happen? In a heartbeat. Will it? Not as long as Kate Murray, Supervisor, needs to get her smile, and her name, in our collective faces.
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Is Supervisor Kate Murray really an environmentalist? 

To the Editor:

If you live in the Town of Hempstead, you are familiar with the steady flow of mailings from Town Hall. So far this year, I have received 24 mailings from Town Hall (approximately one mailing every 11 days).

On Aug. 3, I spoke to Supervisor Kate Murray at a Town Hall meeting, and suggested to her that the town give residents the option to receive Town Hall news by email. At that meeting she indicated to me that that was a wonderful idea.

Despite the fact that I had given Murray a wonderful idea, nothing got done. I went back to Town Hall on Sept. 7 and 21, Oct. 5 and 19 to press the issue. Each time it came up, Murray ducked the question and refused to give residents the option of receiving Town Hall news by email.

I have estimated that the Town of Hempstead has used more than 5 million sheets of paper (about 600 trees were needed to produce this paper) and spent over $1.1 million this year to pay for the mailings to approximately 246,828 households in the Town of Hempstead.

Murray claims to be an environmentalist and a member of the Sierra Club. You would think she would be more conscientious about the unnecessary use of natural resources.

Contact Town Hall at (516) 489-6000 or on the web at www.toh.li to tell Supervisor Murray you want an option to receive Town Hall news by email.

Felix Procacci
Franklin Square
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We're sure that the folks at Kate Murray's HELPLINE would be happy to pass along the word. Can the Murraygrams. Send us an e-mail!
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E-mail us at TheCommunityAlliance@yahoo.com

The Day After Tomorrow

What Wrath Hath Black Friday Wrought?

In the spirit of the Thanksgiving hoiliday -- and certainly, we all have something we should be thankful for -- we are taken to republishing a blog-post from Thanksgiving 2005 (or more aptly, the Monday after Thanksgiving, 2005).

If the names and norms seem familiar, maybe its because little has changed since, and that Tryptophan-induced coma carries us from one turkey to another, the unwitting -- yet most willing -- recipients of holiday jeer, from the folks who continue to bring us government by fear and repression (hold the giblets, and double-up on the overpriced cranberry sauce).

The elections of November 6th may be behind us, and the presidential primaries not until February 8th of next year, but fear not, purveyors of spiked cider and dry white meat, the opportunity to chime in, in a very public sense, on the most dysfunctional of all government [the special taxing districts] lies just ahead, on Tuesday, December 11, when you (yes, YOU) get the chance to work off all that good grub by trotting down to the local polling place to elect Water Commissioners and Fire Commissioners.

Polling places and times may vary (check with your local fire department or water district), and, unfortunately, not every Commissioner's seat is contested, but the opportunity remains (you can always write-in your own name, for you, too, can be a Commissioner) for every good citizen (or at least so many who are actually registered to vote) to stick in his/her two cents -- this before your "elected" Commissioners decide how to spend it, tax it, and turn it into dinner for twelve at Morton's or a junket to the Bahamas.

With approximately 340 special taxing districts operating under Town auspices on Long Island alone, each of us has a vested interest in the outcome of these off-year, off-Election Day ministerial matters, don't we?

So, as you gobble down the pumpkin pie, and gnaw away at the turkey leg, we'll grab hold of that wishbone, and, among our usual good wishes for universal health, global peace, and international prosperity that trickles down to each and every one, we will wish (perhaps against all wishes, or maybe in their favor) for greater participation of the masses -- from Pilgrims to Indian Chiefs -- in the all-important day-to-day of community.

From all of us to all (well, most; okay, some) of you, HAPPY THANKSGIVING, and, above all, safe shopping!
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Monday, November 28, 2005

Black And Blue Monday
They'll Come Out To Shop At 5 AM, But Will They Come Out To Vote?

As the level of Tryptophan slowly diminishes, the last cup of apple cider quaffed down days ago, we awaken to find that the world remains much as it was when we last left it for the Thanksgiving holiday -- only worse.

If the Friday after Thanksgiving is Black Friday, then certainly, the first work day after must be Black and Blue Monday. The news over the weekend confirmed it. Stampede at Wal-Mart (did someone yell, "IMMIGRATION?"); a father and daughter skating on thin ice -- search and rescue turns to search and recovery; the Giants miss three (count 'em, 3) field goal attempts; the Jets lose -- AGAIN; and how many soldiers were killed in Iraq?

Who was the lucky one to get the long end of the wishbone? Surely, it wasn't this blogger. Pick up Sunday's Newsday and turn to the Our Town page of the Hempstead Life section (a misnomer, at best, as clearly this is not life in Hempstead, at least as we would like to know it) hoping to find some cheerful news. No such luck. Just another photo of smiling Kate, and much surmise as to her political future. Kate Murray For County Executive? [Denise (Bonilla), please don't put ideas into those big heads with the little minds.] "The sky's the limit," says Kate. More like, "the sky is falling."

It has been nearly three weeks (count 'em, 3) since Election Day, and not a single Murraygram has threatened to clog my mailbox. The postman is forlorn, and that pile of bathroom reading material is dwindling. Suddenly, the information so vital to the voter before November 8th that it had to be mailed, on an almost daily basis, in full-color brochure, to every household at taxpayer expense is no longer of any great moment. Apparently, our "need to know" dead-headed at the end of the campaign trail. Surprise.

Enough of this politics. Back to Wal-Mart for that $300 laptop and the not-quite-designer jeans for $6.99. All shopping is local -- even if the manufacturer of those inexpensive clothes sets up shop in Indonesia so that 9 year old girls can toil in filthy sweatshops for 12 cents a day. The retailers must be doing something right to drag millions out of bed at 5 AM. Reports of folks camping outside the store the night before just to be the first in the door. Now that's what I call a fun way to cap off Thanksgiving. "Hey honey. Could you put the turkey leg and a piece of pumpkin pie in aluminum foil? We're spending the night at Wal-Mart!"

Gee, we've never seen such enthusiasm as there is in fighting for a parking space at Roosevelt Field on Black Friday so you can pay half for items previously marked up 150%. If only we could muster such unmitigated excitement for the election of Fire Commissioners. Why, imagine them fighting over a parking space at Town Hall so they could break down the doors at the next meeting of the Zoning Board of Appeals? Only if the new Mrs. D'Amato does a pole dance. Even then. . .

Could be a simple matter of marketing. Vote for One Sanitation Commissioner, Get the Second FREE! Hempstead Town Clerk Mark Bonilla could give out free gifts to the first 100 residents to walk through the door at a Town Board meeting. We hear the Tickle-Me-Kate doll is in great demand this year (not only does it smile, it wets itself on your wallet). Coupons for instant variances, perhaps. And that cooking demonstration at Angie Cullen's Culinary Kitchen always draws them in. "Today we'll prepare Turkey ala Santino, stuffed with all kinds of pork that you'll gladly pay twice as much for. Enjoy!"

Yes, you can lead shoppers to the mall in the hope of finding a bargain -- even at 5 AM -- but just try to yank 'em out of bed -- at any hour -- to vote, to attend a town meeting, or to participate in the day-to-day of their own government. To boldly stuff our stockings? Of course. To partake in the stuff that impacts directly upon our quality of life? Ahhhhh, we don't think so. Go figure. . .

You know, this blogger is getting kinda sleepy. Its time for a nap, and then, some more leftover turkey. "Heap on that Tryptophan, will ya Ma?" After a long, deep sleep, maybe I'll wake up and hear some good news for a change. Osama Bin Laden declares, "Can't we all just get along?" -- World peace erupts. -- There were no reported DWIs today. -- Father and daughter skate on thin ice and arrive home safely in time for Thanksgiving dinner with family. -- Voters turn out in record numbers to elect local canine catcher. Kate Murray concedes defeat to Deputy Dawg.

Well, if all else fails, we can always go shopping!

Town Of Hempstead To Hold Public Hearing On Lighthouse Project

Supervisor To Call For September 22 Hearing On Future Of Nassau Hub

For those who simply cannot wait for the Murraygram to be delivered to their mailboxes, here's the scoop -- although you might need a shovel, given all the self-serving aggrandizement as to the Town's/Supervisor's accomplishments -- directly from Hempstead Town Hall.

Murray Calls For September 22nd Lighthouse Hearing

Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray has announced that she will call upon the Hempstead Town Board to schedule a much-anticipated public zoning hearing on the proposed Lighthouse Project on September 22nd. The hearing will focus around the Lighthouse Group's plan to refurbish the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum and redevelop the 150 acres surrounding the aging arena.

"This hearing will afford civic leaders, business people, local residents, government officials, labor representatives, regulatory agencies and all interested parties an opportunity to weigh in on the Lighthouse Project," stated Murray. "The views, opinions and input of the public is invaluable as the town board collects evidence and considers this redevelopment plan."

The proposed hearing is anticipated to be held at Hofstra University's John Cranford Adams Playhouse on the South Campus. Attendees will be directed to hearing parking via signage along Hempstead Turnpike. The hearing will be conducted during the following hours on September 22nd: 9:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., and 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

The Supervisor has noted on several occasions that progressive development proposals are important to the town's growth and prosperity. Job creation, economic stimulation and tax revenues are all benefits associated with forward-looking development. While Murray is committed to those imperatives, the Supervisor has stated that the town must thoroughly review the proposal, its environmental impacts and the appropriateness of the development for the site at Hempstead Town's hub. Murray observed that projects of the size and scope of the Lighthouse have the potential to reshape the face of the suburbs for generations to come.

Murray pointed out that Hempstead Town has moved its review of the Lighthouse proposal at an expedited rate. In fact, the 2009 project review itinerary alone is impressive and unparalleled at the pace with which town reviews have been conducted:

February 2009 - Town Board adopts environmental scope,outlining environmental issues to be addressed by developer.

July 2009 - Town Board accepts Supervisor's recommendation to accept developer's draft of environmental reports (DGEIS) as ready for public review.

August 2009 - Town Board holds public environmental hearing on Lighthouse Project.

August 2009 - Public comment period on developer's environmentalreport ends, town reviews public comments.

September 8, 2009 - Town Supervisor to recommend a public zoning hearing on Lighthouse proposal to town board.

September 22, 2009 Town Board to hold Lighthouse zoninghearing (pending board's approval of hearing date).

"Hempstead Town is being diligent and working aggressively on its reviews of the Lighthouse Project," said Murray. "At the same time, we must be scrupulous and vigilant in our review and analyses of the proposal because the decisions we make today will affect our children and our grandchildren."

For those who can't attend the zoning hearing but wish to voice their opinions on the project, public comments are being accepted by e-mail and U.S. mail through September 22, 2009.

Comments can be submitted as follows:
By mail: Town of Hempstead
Lighthouse Project Public Comment
One Washington Street
Hempstead, NY 11550

By e-mail: Lighthousecomment@tohmail.org

"The Lighthouse Project is the most significant development proposal for our town in many, many years," concluded Murray. I encourage all who are interested to weigh in on this important proposal."

Have The Dems Given Up On Hempstead Town?

The Invisible Campaign For Town Of Hempstead Supervisor

The Town of Hempstead, officially, America's largest township, goes by many names: The Town That Time Forgot; The Land Of Make Believe; America's Most Blighted Township; Home of the Murraygram.

Now, it may be proclaimed that the Town of Hempstead is The Town the Democrats have Forsaken.

In a town where, for more than a century, one political party has ruled the roost, it would appear, from all indications (note the eerie silence), that Nassau Democrats have bailed on the race for Hempstead Supervisor, with nary a lawn sign -- none, in fact, that we have seen -- to show for Kristen McElroy's nearly stealth campaign.

Kristen who?

Exactly!

Yes, Kristen McElroy. The official nominee of the Democratic Party for Town of Hempstead Supervisor.

Never heard of her? You are not alone.

Indeed, search the web, and the only site you are likely to find associating Kristen McElroy with a run for public office is McElroy for Senate, a remnant of last year's effort to unseat NYS Senator Kemp Hannon.

Is McElroy preparing to take another shot at Hannon, a veteran of the old guard in Albany who may call it a generation next year?

A Facebook page, perhaps? Not this Kristen McElroy. Twitter? Not a tweet.

How difficult would it have been to change "Senate" to "Town of Hempstead Supervisor," tweaking the McElroy website to reflect the fact that she is on the ballot this year -- for a different office?

Are there no personal appearances, save a few cameos at local Democratic Clubs?

And if you're going to be in the race, shouldn't you be in it to win -- even if you won't?

Sure, we all know that the Town of Hempstead, the last remaining stronghold (or is it, stranglehold?) for the Republicans on Long Island (if not the world) is a tough nut to crack. Toppling this entrenched GOP machine, where everyone and her father is on payroll, and the tentacles reach far and wide into every crevice, is a near insurmountable task.

And then, there's Kate Murray's insufferable smile, winning the hearts of seniors, little leaguers, and those with both short and long term memory loss. [Where's Dot Goosby, when we need a good "You Lie" from the gallery at Hempstead Town Hall?]

So, do you just give up? Doesn't say much for democracy in the Town of Hempstead, does it?

Okay. It boils down to a matter of money. Not being able to raise enough to mount a formidable -- or even a lighthearted -- campaign. Putting the party's scarce resources to where they can best be used, as in races that are close and perceived to be winnable.

Still, where does that leave the residents of Hempstead Town, many of whom see through the facade of streetscape improvements (read as, Victorian-style street lamps), and hear the emptiness when the Supervisor says, with mock pride, "We are all Islanders"?

What does that say to those who, over these many years, have carried the banner and stood fast on the front lines, fighting to eradicate illegal accessory apartments, to increase the number of affordable housing units, to rebuild our downtowns and revitalize our "Main Streets," to plan with more than myopic vision, to zone responsibly, to relieve us of the burden of the special taxing districts, to improve the very quality of life which, in so many respects, defines the dream of suburbia?

The word "abandoned" immediately comes to mind. We're certain you can think of others.

We always knew that, but for a bone tossed the way of those who reside in the Town's unincorporated areas, there was short shrift from the top of the ticket at Hempstead Town Hall.

And yet, though a far cry from the cavalry riding to the rescue, we could always count on a reasoned -- well, mostly -- and boisterous outing during the campaign season from the Democrats, the loyal if but under-represented opposition giving the Town clowns a run for it.

A fight well fought, even if in defeat.

Not this year, apparently. Seems the stage has left the station in Hempstead Town, with Jay Jacobs (Nassau County, and now, State Democratic Chair) and Kristen McElroy aboard.

Harvey Levinson, where are you when we need you? [Oh, we forgot. In Florida.]

No cavalry. No bugle calls to advance. No rallying of the troops. Not even a good bumper sticker.

No, we, the people of the Town of Hempstead, are destined, at least for the foreseeable future, to hold the fort on our own.

May God, if not Kristen, be with us!

Two And A Half Men: The Future Of New York's GOP

All Right. Its Three Men, But We Needed A Catchy Title

Lawrence Levy, columnist, former member of Newsday's editorial board, and executive director of the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University, opined in a recent article that not only is the death of New York's Republican Party -- despite Joe Mondello's best efforts to take the party with him to the grave -- greatly exaggerated, but its demise would be detrimental to a democracy that draws its strength from a vibrant, vital two-party system. [See, New York needs two-party system, with wiser GOP]

To demonstrate that a one-party system -- or two-party, where one has diminished capacity and virtually no voice -- is harmful to democracy -- "it discourages the sort of scrutiny and competitiveness necessary for honest and creative lawmaking," says Levy -- we need look no further than the Town of Hempstead, where a single party -- the GOP -- has called the shots for, believe it or not, 105 years. [Yes, it has been that long!]

Yet, with all of its shortcomings -- and there were too many to mention, even in the 600+ blog posts that grace this portal -- and for all of our venomous rants against the governing body that calls itself Hempstead Town [and, in particular, the town's presiding officer, Supervisor Kate Murray], the seeds of hope, at least for the future of New York's Republican Party, if not democracy itself (all right, that's a stretch), are planted at that building at 1 Washington Street.

What we're sure will be a collective groan aside, we at The Community Alliance offer kudos to three men -- Republicans all -- who stand poised to break the mold that Mondello cast (and its getting moldier by the minute, Joe). Three who have, on more than one occasion, and in not so subtle ways, publicly bucked "she who must be obeyed" (we mention no names here), exerting the independence (sort of) that will be required, not only to salvage New York's Grand Old Party, but to give shine to its long-tarnished image. [Oh, we hear the coughs and catcalls already. So be it.]

The three men we speak of -- the future of New York's Republican Party (and our hope of a strong, two-party system) are, in the order that they will appear on the November 6th ballot, Hempstead Town Clerk, Mark A. Bonilla; Receiver of Taxes (sends shivers up the spine, doesn't it?), Donald X. Clavin, Jr.; and Town Councilman, Edward A. Ambrosino. [You didn't think we were going to say, Tony "they enjoy paying more" Santino, did you?]

Okay. You're thinking we've lost our marbles. Haven't we been trying to oust the GOP from Hempstead Town Hall by means ranging from enemas to Roto Rooter? Absolutely, but let's not throw the babies -- and these three are the Generation Next of the Nassau GOP -- out with the contaminated (as in water districts and Superfund sites) bath water.

True, there's still too much of the party line being towed by Bonilla, Clavin, and Ambrosino, but one would have to expect that in our "hand that feeds you" politic. Yes, way overboard with the "Kate Murray and I" talk and the shared Murraygram dance, but face it, were the Dems not constantly at one another's throats, and choking on their own inability to grab the bull by its horns and at least get into the China shop, they'd be singing "Tom Suozzi and I," all the way to the polling place.

Within the context of the hellish cesspool that is Hempstead Town Hall -- a century of fecal waste accumulated behind closed doors and one-party edicts enough to make the heads of sanitary district commissioners spin -- Mark Bonilla, Don Clavin, and Ed Ambrosino are, for lack of a better term, rebels in the cause of freeing the GOP from the corpse-like grip of the Mondello era.

It is difficult, even for us liberal thinkers -- perhaps especially so -- to present members of an entrenched, monolithic political club as innovators, let alone as men who are capable not only of independent thought, but of thinking outside of that stuffy and confined GOP box, where thinking itself is seldom allowed. And yet, that's just what comes to mind when we think about Mark Bonilla, Don Clavin, and Ed Ambrosino.

Frankly, they'd be heroes enough in our book, and torchbearers, certainly, of the new Republican guard, had their only good deed been to stand up to the likes of the embodiment of all evil in Hempstead Town, Kate Murray.

Mark Bonilla, fiercely independent, will not be upstaged by the Supervisor, often asserting, to Kate Murray's dismay, the autonomy of his office.

As Town Clerk, Bonilla has transformed the office from one of mere political hackery (now there are other things, in addition to political hackery), where the occasional marriage was performed for photo op purposes, or death certificate unceremoniously filed for the unincorporated, into a one-stop-shop of useful, consumer-friendly public services.

First to mind is the Town's one-stop Passport Service, which, as one of the largest -- if not the largest -- passport service centers in the nation, can be credited with getting more folks out of the Town of Hempstead than property taxes. Its fast. Its humane. Its a pleasure for all who seek to travel outside the borders of the good old US of A. And Mark Bonilla makes it work.

Mark Bonilla, lauded as the first Hispanic to be elected to a Town-wide position in Hempstead Town (not that this should be noteworthy criteria in and of itself, but something that will serve him well in a township where demographics are shifting steadily, and in a party that is generally whiter than a polar bear drinking whole milk in a snow storm), is a rising star in Nassau politics, as well he should be.

What can we say about the Receiver of Taxes (pause for mass boos from the gathered), Don Clavin. He's a centrist with a sense of humor. [One surmises he'd be a top notch blogger in another life ;-).] Attend a meeting of the Town Board (one wonders why Don does, since he has no vote there, anyway), and you can catch Don smiling wryly -- sometimes even laughing -- at the silly-business as usual. Don Clavin gets it.

Sure, they could do with ten people what the Receiver's office probably does with 100 (we're guessing), but that's the broken system at play, not Don.

It was Don Clavin who gave residents the mobile tax office [okay, so the Town is hunting you and your tax dollars down. Get over it], and, most recently, in what is the most creative idea to come out of Hempstead Town Hall since Rich Guardino jumped ship for academia, the E-Z Pay Drive-Thru Tax Window at the back of the Receiver's office. The only thing missing is the latte and the cinnamon bun, but we hear Don's working on that. [Something about a Special Coffee & Donut District!]

Just another way of taking the taxpayers' money? Well, you could say that. Taxes being that necessary evil upon which government runs (amuck and otherwise), we look at it, as Don has said, this way: "Residents can now enjoy the convenience of paying their taxes in the comfort of their car at the EZ-Pay Drive Thru Payment Window. . ." [Or, in brief, as Tony Santino would say, "Residents can now enjoy... paying their taxes..."]

Well, Don, maybe if you offered an oil change and Carnuba wax with that. . .

Watch Don Clavin. He's a first-class guy who deserves much credit for his take on a taxing job.

We won't say that we've saved the best for last, but Ed Ambrosino is truly one of us. Never have we seen an elected official agonize over the very issues that dog homeowner, taxpayer, and stakeholder alike.

Whether its the long-awaited renaissance in Elmont -- where Ed serves in an advisory capacity on Elmont's Coalition for Sustainable Development -- or giving the Supervisor Hell for her obstinance (okay, call it what it is, foolish pigheadedness) in standing in the way of the Courtesy Hotel's closure in West Hempstead, Ambrosino has proven himself a leader among those who, all too often, refuse to lead.

As we said back in 2005, and reiterate here, "Ed is a bright spot on the Town Board, a man who, when first elected, offered no assurances other than 'give me a chance to get the job done.' While the job, in most communities around the Town, is far from done, when the cause of community does move forward in Hempstead Town's 2nd District, it is largely because of the efforts of Ed Ambrosino. A doer in the face of frustration, Ed hammers away at the "let them have blight" Town Hallers, looking to move off center to redevelop the very face of community."

By now, our readers on the Democratic side of the aisle, assuming they haven't hemorrhaged, are wondering where we are coming from.

Well, we all know from whence we came -- as anybody of somewhat sound mind in the unincorporated hinterlands of Hempstead Town can tell you. The real question is, where are we going?

They may not be the Nassau GOP's answer to Abraham, Martin, and John, but in a town that time, and democracy, seems to have forgotten, if you cock your head just right, squint your eyes so, and look over that hill on the Hempstead Plain, you might just see Edward, Mark and Don.

Town Of Hempstead Begins Valet Parking Initiative

Or So The Property Tax Hike Would Portend

Forget about a chicken in every pot, or even a Murraygram in every mailbox. How about valet parking for every homeowner in America's largest township?

Well, not quite. Still, looking at the latest tax levy for the Town of Hempstead-County of Nassau -- where the tax for the local public parking district increased from last year by a whopping 136.33% -- the Town should not only be parking our cars, they should be picking us up at the front door and taking us grocery shopping.

Granted, the tax rate and ultimate tax for public parking districts is a mere pittance compared to, say, Town Park Districts, Town Refuse Disposal Districts, and even Town Lighting Districts, but gee fellas, in these tough economic times, couldn't you at least give us a break on parking?

The tax rate per $100 of assessed value for the Town's local public parking district (1.804), according to the 2009 General Levy, is three times greater than the tax rate for the County's Environmental Bond (0.678).

All right, so its less expensive for taxpaying homeowners to park in a Town of Hempstead lot than it is for them to have their garbage collected (Sanitary District 6 tax rate per $100 is 46.575), for local water delivery (14.535), and for fire service (20.091), but really, a 136% increase in a single year?

Of course, in order to park in a Town of Hempstead lot, you have to drive over Town of Hempstead roads, where the tax levy -- a hefty $60,489,831.86 for Town Highways/Repairs & Improvements -- has increased but 11.72% over last year. So, where are those repairs and improvements, anyway? [And whatever happened to the millions of dollars the Town "bonded" several years ago (concealed in one of its "tax freeze" budgets) for highway/roadway repair and maintenance?] This year, an extra pothole tax. Next year, a special district to help fill them!

Okay, we still question why we're paying almost $131 million this year for Nassau County Police Headquarters (nearly twice the levy for the County's general purposes), but then again, we're paying nearly as much for trash collection as we do for police protection, so who are we to complain?

Look. We all want first class services. That's why we live in suburbia. But are we getting our money's worth on Long Island, in Nassau County, and/or in Hempstead Town, where is all of this money actually going, and are what can only be categorized as significant increases in the local tax levies substantiated?

A little transparency and more accountability would be nice. Efficiency should be the norm, not the buzz. And could you send the car around Noon tomorrow to pick us up?

Get Your Shovel Ready In Hempstead Town

Latest Murraygram Seeks Stimulus Money For Coliseum Redevelopment

She shoots. She Misses. She hits Hempstead Town residents in the head with a scheme to end all Town Hall schemes: A Petition drive to secure federal stimulus money for the Lighthouse Project.

Forget that there is no stimulus money available for this project, and that, as of the latest list of projects released by the NYS Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Cabinet, not a single request for stimulus funds has been submitted by or on behalf of the Town of Hempstead, Supervisor Kate Murray, apparently kicking off the election season a bit early, is at it again -- sending out some 40,000 Murraygrams, at the taxpayer's expense (of course), urging residents to sign a Petition (to be sent to Nassau County Executive, Tom Suozzi), to secure stimulus money for the purpose of renovating the Nassau Coliseum.

Okay, so the County Executive has absolutely zero control over federal stimulus dollars -- nada, zippo, naught. And anyone, including the Hempstead Town Supervisor, is at liberty to submit a project proposal to the NYS Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Cabinet. But never mind the facts.

"Put Islanders fans first," said Murray, in a Town-issued press release that briefly appeared on the Town of Hempstead's website.

How about we put the taxpayers first, Kate? Using public monies to finance private projects? Sort of like Citibank using federal stimulus dollars to buy the rights to name Citifield, only worse.

Newsday calls Murray's ploy "smoke-and-mirrors." We call the shenanigans that go on at Hempstead Town Hall, shameful.

We realize that all politics is local, and that the Supervisor has her sights set on re-election -- or higher, should she be the GOP choice for County Exec -- but that three-ring circus act at Hempstead Town Hall cannot go on. The days of fooling all of the people all of the time in Hempstead Town -- and using their tax dollars to perpetuate the hoax -- are over.

"shovel ready," Kate? Oh, you bet it is!
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Newsday.com
EDITORIAL

Hempstead plays a stimulus smoke-and-mirror game

Stimulus dollars here, stimulus dollars there. Everywhere stimulus dollars are being used by state and local politicians as window dressing to mask their refusal to make tough choices. The latest example of this charade is the petition drive to get federal dollars for the Lighthouse Project, the big redevelopment proposed for the Nassau Veterans Coliseum and the area surrounding it.

At least in Albany, there are real bags of dollars from Washington specifically designated for Medicaid, education and transportation projects. The Democratic leadership, however, used the money as a stopgap to avoid politically difficult spending cuts. In Hempstead, Republican Supervisor Kate Murray is perpetuating an even bigger stimulus fraud with her petition, mailed to 40,000 homes, pretending there is federal money that could be used to renovate the Coliseum. (It's not too early to note that this is a local election year.) This ploy seems to be a way for Murray to shift blame if Islanders owner Charles Wang follows through on his threat to move the hockey team off Island if Hempstead fails to approve the entire project, not just the Coliseum renovation, by October.

The town can't identify any pot of stimulus money available because there isn't any. We've asked. And could you imagine the national ruckus if taxpayer dollars were used to renovate a sports stadium - especially when the developer plans to use private financing?

Murray's flier says the Coliseum is a "shovel ready" project. The only thing shovel ready right now is what the elephants in Hempstead just dropped in this mailing.

Copyright © 2009, Newsday Inc.

The 411 On The 911 Emergency Alert System

Swift911 Comes To Long Island; Residents Encouraged To Sign Up For Emergency Notification

"In the event of an actual emergency...."

Well, probably the government wouldn't be able to tell you about it until it was over, if at all, but on the off chance of a terrorist attack on town hall, or, more likely, a local water main break, municipalities across Long Island are now mobilizing to activate what is known as the Swift911 system, an emergency notification platform designed to notify thousands of people instantly -- by telephone, e-mail, and text message -- in the event of an emergency.

In browsing the web, we found that several Long Island localities have initiated the Swift911 sign-up process (you must opt-in), including the cities of Long Beach and Glen Cove, the village of Freeport, and the Town of Hempstead. [Town of Hempstead residents will be notified by Murraygram! Kidding.]

Other municipalities are coming on board, or may already have set up the Swift911 system. Check with your local government.

Hopefully, the Swift911 notification alert will be utilized only for true emergencies, such as flooding, sewer breaks, and pending natural disasters, and not for more spurious purposes, like when Hempstead Town Supervisor, Kate Murray, wants to use federal stimulus funds to buy corned beef sandwiches and chopped liver from the Coliseum Deli, or when one of the dwarf Nigerian goats escapes its pen at the Levy Preserve.

Then again, we might simply hope that the Swift911 system works at all. Attempts to reach Swift911 at its website (www.swiftreach.com) -- as posted by the municipalities now online -- led us only to a broken link. [Keep trying. In the event of an emergency, you may just happen to get through.]

College campuses have been utilizing Swift911, or similar services, for several years to notify students of emerging situations, from the horror of a suspected gunman on campus, to the more mundane closure of dining halls.

As far as we know, this is the first application of the Swift911 protocol on Long Island.

At press time, inquires to town, village, and cities, and to Swiftreach Networks, Inc., as to the specific costs to municipalities (and, in turn, to taxpayers) to install and maintain Swift911 are pending. [Now this would be an appropriate project for use of federal stimulous money!]

It is always best to be prepared for emergencies, and with an instant notification system in place, residents will have the option to be better informed and, accordingly, better prepared.

Of course, if the Swift911 notifies you of a situation -- say an approaching category 5 hurricane -- that requires you to take one of those designated Evacuation Routes, all we can say is, "If this had been an actual emergency, good luck!"

Clams for the Taking in Hempstead Town

Seniors Offered Free Clamming Permits By Town; Building Permits, On Other Hand, Will Cost You

They may be clamming up at Hempstead Town Hall about the recent building permit fiasco, but all is not lost.

Senior citizens, many of whom can no longer afford to live in their own houses due to outrageous property taxes, ongoing LIPAsuction, and an ever-escalating cost of living here on Long Island, can at least still eat practically for free -- that is, if they like clams!

Yes, the Town of Hempstead, as per recent release, will now issue clamming permits absolutely free to resident seniors.

While some may think it odd that the Town, faced with seemingly serious ethical problems internally, and making a poor showing in resolving external issues such as the proliferation of illegal accessory apartments, the spread of blight and decay in our downtown business districts, and the rampant code violations that glare at us from every corner, is hyped up about free clamming permits, such silly self-promotion in Hempstead Town is par for the course.

Indeed, if the Earth were about to sustain a direct hit from a meteor, destined to destroy all life as we know it, Kate Murray would be sending out a Murraygram, reminding residents to apply sunscreen!

Thank goodness our seniors won't starve. And bless Kate Murray's tax frozen little heart for getting these free clamming permits to the Town's seniors while the clamming season is still young!

As for Town of Hempstead residents under the age of 60, well, like the rest of us, you'll just have to continue to eat crow.

Please display your clamming permits/Re-Elect Kate Murray lawn signs proudly and prominently.
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FROM THE TOWN OF HEMPSTEAD. . .
Clamming License Available to Town of Hempstead Senior Residents at No Charge
Supervisor Kate Murray and Councilwoman Angie Cullin announced that Town of Hempstead Clamming Licenses are available free of charge to residents ages 60 and over.

“With the warmer weather on the horizon, town residents are gearing up for the clamming season,” said Supervisor Murray. “Nearly 100 senior residents have already visited the Town of Hempstead Department of Conservation and Waterways in Point Lookout this year to apply for their free clamming permits.”

The permit is issued for non-commercial usage only and is valid for five years through December 31 of the expiring year. “The normal charge for this permit is $10, but the Town of Hempstead is happy to waive this charge for residents 60 years and over,” said Councilwoman Cullin. “Residents can pick up their permits at the Department of Conservation and Waterways office, located just west of the Loop Parkway on the north side of Lido Boulevard in Point Lookout.”

To contact the Conversation and Waterways office, call 516-431-9200.

“Conservation and Waterways’ science division manages the town's highly-acclaimed clam growout and seeding program which adds more than two million clams to the Town of Hempstead bays annually,” said Murray. “So take advantage of this free permit offer and enjoy a great day of clamming in Hempstead Town’s bays.”