VOTE! Library Budget And Board Of Trustees Vote October 11

Smithtown residents will have the opportunity to vote on the Smithtown Special Library District’s $17.4 million 2023 budget and to elect three trustees on Tuesday, October 11, 2022 (9:30 am - 9pm).

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Fifteen candidates have stepped forward to fill three seats on the seven seat Smithtown Library Board of Trustees. All candidates submitted biographies which are available for viewing on the library website.  A fourth trustee position is vacant and will be filled by the remaining board.

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On Monday, October 3, 2022 the nonpartisan League of Women Voters of Smithtown held a Meet the Candidates event for Smithtown Library Board Trustee candidates. Ten of the candidates participated. You may view the video posted below to learn how candidates answered questions from Smithtown residents.  

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 A copy of the trustee ballot is available to view on the website.  

To vote in the trustee election and to vote on the budget you should go to your assigned Library building. According to the Library website, “Residents  of the Smithtown Special Library District are assigned a Library building to vote at based on street address/election district.  ANY resident may vote at ANY of the Library buildings. However, voters who choose not to vote at their assigned building will vote by affidavit ballot.” Click here for more information. 7334 votes were cast for the three seats being contested in the 2021 Board of Trustees election, an unusually high number. Several of the 2021 candidates were backed by Long Island Loud Majority which may have boosted turnout. The turnout for the current election is expected to be somewhere near last years due to the interest generated by earlier this year when the Board of Trustees voted to remove “Pride Month” displays from the Childrens Room. Library Boards are usually nonpartisan, low turnout, elections but this year local Republican and Conservative party leaders have endorsed candidates although the Democrats have not. Smithtown Democrats did host an informational meeting on Oct.6 which provided candidates the opportunity to address attendees at the Democratic meeting.  The LGBT Network has endorsed candidates and has a video posted below that explains their position. “Heads of the Suffolk and Nassau County cooperative library systems, with more than 100 member libraries, said they were unaware of other library board political endorsements. Kevin Verbesey, director of the Suffolk Cooperative Library System, and the New York Library Association said political parties had no place in public library governance. “The idea that one group feels the need to have a partisan influence on the local library suggests they may want to limit open access or define what’s right and wrong, rather than let the library be what it’s intended to be, a place where people can make their own decisions,” Verbesey said.” Newsday , Oct. 9, 2022 The Smithtown Library is the largest library system in Suffolk County.  September 2022 during “Pride Month” trustees made a controversial short-sited decision to remove displays in the children’s section that some of the trustees deemed inappropriate for young children. Days later they rescinded the decision and restored the displays. The decision to remove the displays made national news as did the outrage it provoked in residents.  The removal of the displays led to an investigation by the New York State Division of Human Rights. Statement from The Smithtown Library Board regarding the New York State Division of Human Rights request for information from the Library The Smithtown Library is in receipt of correspondence from the New York State Division of Human Rights (“The Division”) requesting information from the Library concerning the 48-hour removal of LGBTQ+ displays in the Children’s rooms of the four Library buildings in our Special Library District (Smithtown-Main, Nesconset, Kings Park and Smithtown-Commack). We are also in receipt of inquiries from Smithtown residents regarding the status of the investigation. As requested in the appended document, the Library’s staff and legal counsel collaborated to collect the requested records and provide them to the Division in a timely manner.

The Division is continuing its investigation by way of reviewing documents and interviewing Library trustees, along with other related personnel. Following the completion of the investigation, the Division’s Regional Director will make a determination as to whether to file a formal complaint against the Library (charging the Library with a violation of NYS Human Rights Law in the removal of the display). The Library has been advised of no timeframe from the Division for the completion of the pending investigation or Regional Director’s determination. The Smithtown Library understands, appreciates, and respects the role of the Division of Human Rights, and we look forward to demonstrating to the Division, and just as importantly to our community, that The Smithtown Library is in full compliance with New York State Human Rights Law and is committed to following the letter of that law. Thank you, The Board of Trustees trustee@smithlib.org

U.S. Drought Monitor Conditions Improved for Smithtown, New York

U.S. Drought Monitor Conditions Improved for Smithtown, New York Conditions for Smithtown, New York improved from Severe Drought (D2) to Moderate Drought (D1), according to this week’s U.S. Drought Monitor. Smithtown has been in drought for the past 7 week(s), since August 09, 2022. The Climate Prediction Center’s September Drought Outlook, released on August 31, 2022, predicted that drought conditions would persist in September. View More Smithtown Drought Conditions

Sisters Of St. Joseph Where Actions Are Consistent With Their Mission

Making Democracy Work: We are all One, We are all Interrelated

by Lisa Scott

On 200 acres in western Suffolk, a small group of women continue to discern how to live authentically so their actions remain consistent with their mission. These are the Sisters of St. Joseph (CSJ), who in their second century in Brentwood embrace and model sustainable practices bringing them ”into deeper union with the Holy One and the whole community of life.” The League of Women Voters recently met with them and toured their campus, and came away inspired and convinced that the Sisters live in a way that seeks “union with God and with the sacred community of life that includes all of creation- air, soil, plants and animals.”

In 1903, the Sisters, relocated from Flushing, NY to Brentwood on land that was originally inhabited by the Secatogue tribe, and established a school on fertile land referred to as “St. Joseph in the Pines.” Old stands of pitch pines, white pines and oak are preserved to this day. Over the years, a boarding school, convent,  chapel and nursing home were built while the surrounding area was developed and densely populated. A little more than thirty years ago, the Sisters formed an Earth Matters committee to better respond to the cries of the poor, the cries of Earth. Their mission of unity called for a response to heal a wounded world and dispel the illusion of separation. Through contemplation and study they sought to live with a deeper sense that they are a part of creation and not apart from it. 

Aware of the responsibility we all have for the health of Earth and in particular for the Long Island Bioregion the Sisters worked with the Peconic Land Trust and Suffolk County to preserve parcels of the Brentwood campus and return it to agricultural production. 28 acres of land are leased to several farmers, enabling mowed grass lawn to be restored to farming fields. The farmers are only permitted to use organic practices, and there is a farm stand for purchase of produce raised on the campus. SNAP coupons are accepted to encourage access to nutritious options raised locally. Island Harvest Food Bank has worked the land and hopes to harvest 10,000 lbs. of produce in 2022 while the Long Island Native Plant Initiative, an all-volunteer cooperative effort of over 30 non-profit organizations, governmental agencies, nursery professionals, and citizens works to  protect the genetic integrity and heritage of Long Island native plant populations and thus biodiversity from a landscape to genetic level in a greenhouse on the Brentwood grounds. The Sisters also raise chickens for eggs and harvest honey from their beehives, and have established a community sharing table on the grounds.

Waste is a natural aspect of life, so there is a commitment to composting organic materials and thus creating quality soil for agricultural use. Two alternative waste treatment systems have been built, one is a constructed wetland system to reduce nitrogen affecting our bays and waterways, the other designed for the needs of the nursing home to deal with medical waste in an innovative way.

With a strong commitment to clean energy, a 1 megawatt ground mounted solar array with 3192 solar panels was constructed on a 4 acre plot, which provides 63% of the energy used on campus. The ground cover surrounding the solar panels is also environmentally friendly with native meadows and plants attracting bees, butterflies and pollinators, avoiding the degraded land all too common in a solar field.

Native meadows inviting to pollinator insects and birds were planted and bloom throughout most summers. Work has been done to create rain gardens near roads and parking areas, to direct water back into the soil where native plants with their extensive long root systems assist with flood control and purify the water before filtering down into the aquifers.

The Sisters also engage in social justice issues and other community needs consistent with the practices of their founders. Their assessment of today is of a world that is bruised and broken from a lack of remembering who we are, where we come from and to whom we belong.  We have forgotten that we are a part of one sacred community that began with a small yet potent spark 13.8 billion years ago that continues to connect and evolve our relationships. If healing is to happen for people it needs to happen for the planet as well.

For more information go to www.brentwoodcsj.org

Lisa Scott is president of the League of Women Voters of Suffolk County, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government and influences public policy through education and advocacy. For more information, visit https://my.lwv.org/new-york/suffolk-county or call 631-862-6860. 

August Was The Driest Month In Suffolk County In 128 Years

Some Facts about the drought in Suffolk County: August 2022 is the driest August on record (over the past 128 years) 2.89 inches of rain below normal. 2022 is the driest year (128 years)  rainfall is 7.1 inches below normal. Drought affects agriculture and prices of agricultural products.

For more information visit Drought.gov

925 acres of corn in drought (D1–D4) in Suffolk County (estimated)

639 acres of hay in drought (D1–D4) in Suffolk County (estimated)

244 acres of wheat in drought (D1–D4) in Suffolk County (estimated)

403 number of sheep in drought (D1–D4) in Suffolk County (estimated)

281 number of hogs in drought (D1–D4) in Suffolk County (estimated)

New September 15, 2022 - December 31, 2022 Drought Outlook NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center released its latest seasonal drought outlook for September 15, 2022 - December 31, 2022, showing where drought is expected to improve, worsen, or remain the same over the next 3 months: Smithtown, New York is currently in Severe Drought (D2), according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, and drought conditions are expected to remain but improve over the next 3 months. View More Smithtown Drought Information Want to do more? Help us learn about drought in your area by reporting your local drought impacts. Or, tweet about drought in your region using the hashtag #Drought2022. Submit Local Drought Impacts Tweet About #Drought2022