Smithtown Recreation Announces Winners Of Horseshoe Tournament

On Saturday, October 7^th, the Smithtown Recreation Department held its 30^th annual Singles and Doubles Fall Horseshoe Tournament at Brady Park.  This year we had 24 single horseshoe participants and 11 doubles teams participate in the event.

The winner of the Singles Tournament was Mike Nemschick with a record of 6-0, beating Ed O’Rourke.  Ed finished with a record of 6-2.  Chris Malandra came in 3^rd place.

William “Willie” Whitehead and John Johnson were the winners of the Doubles competition.  They finished with a record of 4-0.  Andy Kassay and Justin Flores finished in second place with a record of 4-2.

Congratulations to all the winners and to everyone who helped make this event so successful.

Hope to see everyone at the Spring Horseshoe Tournament.

Assemblyman Fitzpatrick Is A Yes On All Three Nov. 7 Ballot Proposals

By p.biancaniello

NYS Assemblyman Michael Fitzpatrick’s advice to Commack Community Association members is do your research, and if you truly want to see campaign finance reform or term limits, you need to vote yes for a  NYS Constitution Convention when you vote on November 7th. 

NYS Assemblyman Michael Fitzpatrick speaking to members of the Commack Community Association about the proposed NYS Constitution ConventionFitzpatrick advised the audience that there has been much misleading information being presented which he blamed on unions and special interest several times he repeated the phrase “pensions will not be touched”. The Assemblyman suggested people do research and he mentioned specific sites including the League of Women Voters,  Newsday’s editorial Myths and realities of a NYS Constitution Convention, and Rockefeller institute citizens guide by Jim Malatras. For an opposing perspective he recommended Jerry Kremmer’s Patronage, Waste and Favoritism Guide.

Fitzpatrick acknowledged that his yes vote puts him in a minority as polls indicate a majority of voters plan to vote no. He was peppered with questions about how much a constitution convention would cost. The actual cost of the last convention in 1967 was $7.5million*  a 2018 convention could cost taxpayers somewhere in the range of $50 - $75 million. A price Fitzpatrick is willing to pay for the opportunity to update the NYS Constitution, bypass the (at times obstructionist) legislature and enact real changes to campaign finance, term limits and ethics. If New Yorkers approve the proposal every word in the constitution is subject to change.

There are three proposals on the November 7th ballot.

Proposal one - Shall there be a convention to revise the Constitution and amend the same? “The New York State Constitution requires that every 20 years the people decide if a Constitutional Convention should be held to consider amendments to the State Constitution. The purpose of this Ballot Question is to allow the voters of New York State to determine whether a Constitutional Convention will be held according to the procedure provided by the State Constitution.” League of Women Voters 

Proposal two - AN AMENDMENT Allowing the Complete or Partial Forfeiture of a Public Officer’s Pension if He or She is Convicted of a Certain Type of Felony. “The proposed amendment to section 7 of Article 2 of the State Constitution would allow a court to reduce or revoke the pension of a public officer who is convicted of a felony that has a direct and actual relationship to the performance of the public officer’s duties.” League of Women Voters

Proposal three - An Amendment Authorizing the Use of Forest Preserve Land for Specified Purposes. “The proposed amendment will create a land account with up to 250 acres of forest preserve land eligible for use by towns, villages, and counties that have no viable alternative to using forest preserve land to address specific public health and safety concerns; as a substitute for the land removed from the forest preserve, another 250 acres of land, will be added to the forest preserve, subject to legislative approval. The proposed amendment also will allow bicycle trails and certain public utility lines to be located within the width of specified highways that cross the forest preserve while minimizing removal of trees and vegetation.” League of Women Voters

After explaining the three proposals Assemblyman Fitzpatrick encouraged everyone present to vote.**

**Edited to reflect that Assemblyman Fitzpatrick was discussing his vote and was suggesting people educate themselves not telling them how to vote. 

* The 1967 convention cost was $7.5 million the $37 million figure was the calculation by Gerald Benjamin of what the $7.5 million would be in 2015 dollars (from a media workshop given for the press on the con-con in 2015). The Rockefeller Institute document contributors are using an estimate of from $50-75 million.

$1 Million Investment Generates $65 Million In Fees Paid By County Residents

Legislator Robert Trotta is angry, frustrated and determined to speak out about Suffolk County’s policy of using fees to fund the general budget, a policy he claims are hidden taxes. Trotta, joined by legislators Cilmi, Kennedy and Muratore held a press conference Wednesday, October 25th in which he ripped into the Bellone administration and Democrats in the legislature for using real estate transactions as revenue generators to fund the county’s budget.

On Tuesday, October 24 the Government Justice Center filed a lawsuit challenging the County’s practice of charging fees in excess of the cost of the service. In particular they point to a new fee (2017) being assessed by the county called the Real Estate Transaction Fee. The basis for the lawsuit according to the Government Justice Center is, “ Under state law, fees charged must not exceed the cost of the service.” 

Jason Elan speaking for the Bellone admistration stated, “This is a politically motivated lawsuit filed by Albany insiders who lack any understanding on how government costs are apportioned yet have no problem saddling taxpayers with the cost of fighting this completely frivolous complaint.”

Suffolk County Clerk Judith Pascal, speaking at the press conference, stated that she advised the Bellone administration in a letter dated October 3, 2016 of her opposition to the new fee. Pascal’s letter gives a historical analysis of a Mortgage Satisfaction Filing which is due when paying off a mortgage “was $80.50 in 2010 and has since increased to $255.50. Should this “Mortgage Fee” increase be approved, filing an identical document in 2017 would cost Suffolk residents $575.50.” The legislature approved the fee and the program is set to generate $65,000,000 for a program that costs $1,000,000 to run.

The problem according to Trotta  is that “Steve Bellone and the Democratic majority have hid behind raising taxes so they can spend like drunken sailors.”

Those at the podium concurred that the county has a spending problem. Leslie Kennedy suggested that there is a difference between wants and needs and emphasized that the county get back to focusing on the issues of “health, safety and infrastructure.” 

Cilmi, said the poster boards surrounding the speakers did not include all fees and named impact assessment fees, parks and recreation fees and cremation fees as additional fees that residents are forced to pay. ”The administration continues to be cavalier in the assessment of these fees and they have all been rubber stamped by the democratic majority in the legislature.”

“If Rob Trotta and other legislators care that deeply, they should stop complaining and simply do their jobs.  We will work with any legislator of any political party that puts forth a credible alternative to any existing county fee, but this stunt shows once again that Rob Trotta is only interested in playing politics.” said Elan.

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Trotta responded to the Elan’s statement by saying he can point to hundreds of areas where the county is misspending taxpayer dollars he rattled off a few ” a $150,000 guardrail replacement project, hiring an architect to design a plain white addition for the property section of a police building and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Wyandanch Rising Project. 

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Despite the harsh rhetoric Republican legislators said they would like to work with the Democratic majority to reduce spending and according to Legislator Muratore address Suffolk County’s opioid crisis.

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP - On A Clear Day You Can See The Future

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP

By Karl Grossman

“ON A CLEAR DAY, YOU CAN SEE THE FUTURE,” is the heading of the full-page ad that’s been running in major magazines featuring a color photo of the first offshore wind farm in the United States.

Two weeks ago I visited this wind farm just east of Long Island off Block Island, on a trip organized by Deepwater Wind, its builder, and Renewable Energy Long Island, a group that has long urged the utilization of the wind that blows off our shores.

The day wasn’t clear—it was hazy—but it was clear upon seeing this first offshore U.S. wind farm that this is a major part of the energy future.

The use of offshore wind is especially important for the East Coast of the U.S. with its big cities and well-populated stretches between them, thus problematic for siting on-land wind turbines. 

The five-turbine Block Island Wind Farm is proposed to be followed by a 15-turbine South Fork Wind Farm 30 miles southeast of Montauk also constructed by Deepwater Wind—and the Town of East Hampton is already planning to have 100 percent of its electricity coming from this offshore wind source and solar energy by 2020. 

It’s a goal widely possible in this area: harvesting the wind and the sunlight that shines plentifully upon us—and achieve, as East Hampton intends in just three short years, a 100 percent renewable energy goal.

I’m more a lover of the beauty and grandeur of nature than most things people make—with exceptions like most sailboats and jet planes, certain sports cars, great architecture and, of course, very much so, great art. It took an hour on the boat to travel where the five turbines stood—their 240-foot long blades revolving slowly, silently, gracefully. 

“Awesome!” exclaimed one passenger on the boatload of local officials and environmentalists. “Impressive,” said another. “I’m struck by their silence and certainly those blades have a really elegant appearance,” said Suffolk County Legislator Bridget Fleming of Noyac.

“Beautiful,” declared another onlooker.

Indeed, the wind turbines were beautiful. And, I daresay, if they could be reduced in size and were able to fit into the Museum of Modern Art, they would have an honored place. 

“The U.S. needs more renewable energy, a problem felt on Block Island, RI, where residents paid some of the highest electricity prices in the country while burning a million gallons of diesel fuel each year,” says the Citibank ad. “Citi provided long-term financing to help Deepwater Wind build the first offshore wind farm in the U.S.—part of Citi’s $100 billion commitment to finance sustainable energy projects. The Block Island Wind Farm can help lower electric bills by up to 40 percent and reduce carbon emissions by 40,000 tons a year, ushering in a new era of American renewables.”

The Block Island Wind Farm is providing all the island’s energy needs and sending much of the electricity on to mainland Rhode Island. 

Each turbine generates six megawatts of electricity—significantly more electricity than on-land wind turbines which have to be trucked to where they are placed, going on highways, fitting under bridges, and this limits their size. Offshore wind turbines are assembled in coastal areas and barged out to be placed at sea—so they can be larger and harvest more electricity.

Europeans have been constructing offshore wind farms for decades. There are thousands of turbines in the waters off the United Kingdom, Holland, Belgium, Germany, Denmark—and on the other side of the planet, China is building them. At long last, the U.S. is doing it.

New York State has identified more than one million acres of offshore waters south of Long Island as possible wind energy areas, according to a report issued at the start of this month. The sites present, it said, the “fewest conflicts with ocean users, natural resources, infrastructure and wildlife, and the greatest potential for the cost-effective development of offshore wind energy to meet the state’s goals.” 

The New York State Energy and Research Development Authority is the key state agency and emphasizes, “Offshore wind turbines will be located far offshore and will not be noticeable from the shoreline”—an objection raised in earlier efforts to develop offshore wind both off Long Island and Martha’s Vineyard. A technological achievement of Rhode Island-based Deepwater Wind was to figure out how wind turbines can be placed in deep water—thus its name Deepwater Wind—and avoid these concerns.

As the boat neared Montauk on its return, Gordian Raacke, executive director of Renewable Energy Long Island, said: “We just saw the future of energy right off our shores.”

Karl Grossman is a veteran investigative reporter and columnist, the winner of numerous awards for his work and a member of the L.I. Journalism Hall of Fame. He is a professor of journalism at SUNY/College at Old Westbury and the author of six books.

Lawsuit Challenges County's Practice Of Fees For Revenue

Lawsuit Challenges Illegal County Fees on Long Island

NEW YORK (10/24/17) — For several years, Long Island’s Suffolk County has avoided raising general fund taxes by imposing new or increased fees on certain residents. Today, the Government Justice Center, an Albany-based public interest legal center, filed a lawsuit in the state Supreme Court to put an end to the illegal practice of raising general revenue through such fees.

Faced with the tough choice between raising taxes and cutting spending, Suffolk County has skirted the law by increasing fees far beyond their legal limit. Under state law, fees charged must not exceed the cost of service. Excess fees used for general revenue purposes are unauthorized taxes. Further, these fees unfairly target a subset of the population—new homebuyers, for example—to raise revenue for everyone.

The most egregious category is fees for filing real estate documents. For example, in Suffolk County, tax map verifications were projected to bring in $65 million in 2017—from an agency that costs just over $1 million per year to run.

“When government oversteps, the Government Justice Center exists to stand up for taxpayers and ensure that government plays by the rules,” said Cameron Macdonald, executive director of the Government Justice Center. “That is exactly what this case is about—if Suffolk County wants to raise revenue, it needs to do it legally, not by levying unauthorized taxes through excessive fees on a subset of residents.”
 

Click here to learn more and read the full complaint in Suffolk County.