The County's Reliance On Sales Tax Is Detrimental During A Pandemic

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP

By Karl Grossman

 Suffolk County government is in terrible shape financially. As it has for governments widely, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on Suffolk, more so because almost 50 percent of the county government’s budget is based on the collection of sale tax monies—and people are spending less in Suffolk.

Even before COVID-19 hit, Suffolk government was in fiscal trouble. 

New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli emphasized in a recent report that the pandemic “could push more local governments into serious fiscal stress.” He noted that for “2019, pre-pandemic,” only four municipalities in the state were in “significant stress” financially: the cities of Poughkeepsie, Niagara Falls and the counties of Westchester—and Suffolk.

Mr. DiNapoli said “the pandemic has dramatically altered the fiscal landscape, and many communities are struggling to provide critical services and pay their bills.” He declared that “without aid from Washington the options are bleak for local governments trying to stay in the black, and many more local governments may be pushed to into serious fiscal stress.” 

The basis for the comptroller’s “Fiscal Stress Monitoring System,” explained a statement from his office, involved “year-end funding balance, cash-on-hand, short-term borrowing, fixed costs and patterns of operating deficits.” 

A centerpiece of the campaign of Suffolk County Comptroller John M. Kennedy for Suffolk County executive last year was his charge that the incumbent, Steve Bellone, was a terrible fiscal manager. Mr. Bellone denied the allegation.

In any case, already in fiscal difficulty, in this pandemic period the county’s financial situation is more severe. Mr. Bellone says Suffolk government faces a two-year $437 million budget gap and he has just submitted an operating budget for 2021 of $3.1 billion that includes cutting 500 county employees—out of a current 8,797—and elimination of nearly half of county bus routes. John Corrado, president of Suffolk Transportation Service, says this would be “devastating” to riders.  

Mr. Bellone says the cuts could be rescinded if the federal government provides sufficient financial assistance in the months ahead. The cuts are not to take effect until July 1 and before then could be cancelled. 

However, governments all over the nation are making desperate pleas for federal aid beyond the funds they received—Suffolk got $257 million—under the federal CARES Act of months ago. The U.S. Conference of Mayors, for example, last month issued a statement declaring: “American cities continue to face devastating budget shortfalls as a direct result of the pandemic and the COVID recession” and the “shortfalls threaten our ability to meet essential needs.” Many industries, too, are making urgent pleas, as are small businesses and people hurt financially by the pandemic.

Suffolk County government has plenty of competition.  

Also last month, the president of the Long Island Rail Road said without a $12 billion federal bailout the MTA would be forced to make draconian cuts—reducing LIRR service by half, eliminating branches and enacting substantial fare hikes.  

For Suffolk County government, it isn’t people not taking trains that is causing economic pain—much has to do with the sale tax issue. Mr. DiNapoli also just released the latest state figures on sales tax collections. For the most recent months tabulated, in June money received in Suffolk dropped 9.2 percent from last June, from $157.5 to $143 million, and in May the drop in Suffolk was 33.5 percent from last May.

We’ve long written in this column about the perils Suffolk County government was facing in depending, increasingly, on the sales tax—and quoting criticism in report after report by the Budget Review Office of the Suffolk Legislature of this ever-greater sales tax use.

Suffolk is among the counties in the state leading in high utilization of the sales tax, a tax that began here in 1969. Many Suffolk elected officials have preferred it because constituents are taxed slowly and don’t get the shock of one big property tax bill. But the problem with depending on the sales tax to run government is that it’s unreliable. In good economic times, sales tax collections are flush. With economic downturns, they suffer a corresponding decline. 

Now Suffolk County government is not just having a financial rainy day—it’s being hit with months of fiscal rain. Short of a federal umbrella, its financial condition is perilous.

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. 

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP - Bullying Is On The Rise

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP

By Karl Grossman

There’s been a “dramatic rise in bullying,” declares Robert Colarco, presiding officer of the Suffolk County Legislature, in the opening pages of a report issued last month by a Suffolk County Youth Anti-Bullying Task Force.

“Bullying has become more insidious and prevalent with the rise of social media,” says Mr. Colarco. “The psychological and physical toll affects students of all ages, from kindergarten through college.”

The task force, he notes, was established last year by his predecessor as presiding officer, DuWayne Gregory. Mr. Gregory had conversations with Devin Moore, “a student who was racially bullied” at school in East Islip. And from their discussions “came forth the idea to establish” the task force to “include teenagers from across Suffolk County.”

It’s also been a bipartisan effort. Messrs. Colarco and Gregory are Democrats, and a member of the task force was the legislature’s Republican minority leader, Tom Cilmi. In its opening pages Mr. Cilmi describes his being a victim of bullying. “I know a young man, a quiet, shy young man who, for years, cried about going to school,” he writes. “The verbal and physical bullying began in junior high school and continued through his first year of high school. It got so bad that the boy sometimes pretended to be sick to avoid going to school, and was often purposely late to avoid going to the bus stop. The young man is now a county legislator”—Mr. Cilmi himself. 

These days, says Mr. Cilmi, “Sadly, the consequences of bullying have escalated as well, with self-harm and suicide attempts unimaginably common even among middle-schoolers.”

Devin Moore, now 16, whose experiences inspired Mr. Gregory to create the task force, and was also member, writes in the report’s opening pages about how he “went through horrific bullying during my middle school years.” And he affirms: “Bullying prevention is a serious matter—one that cannot be ignored.  Please consider implementing these recommendations. They will make an impactful change in an effort to prevent bullying.”

The recommendations focus on action: by Suffolk County, by school districts and by New York State.

For Suffolk, they include:  

• The county expanding “services provided at suffolkstopbullying.org, a website that was set up after the Suffolk Legislature in 2014 authorized it. 
• Providing to “all schools in Suffolk” an online “Suffolk Stop Bullying Resource Guide” put together last year, which was also an initiative of Mr. Gregory.
• Setting up a county “standing, student-led advisory board” on bullying. 

Recommendations for school districts include:

• Having “dedicated high school clubs that focus on bullying.”
• Having “student governments” take “a more active role in establishing bullying awareness programs and events.” 

Recommendations for the state include:

• State legislators working “to extend the provisions of the New York State Dignity for All Students Act to cover religious and other schools that are currently exempt from the law.”
• Having the state “work with school districts to ensure that recertification training for teachers’ licenses includes segments and courses related to cyberbullying and how to identify bullying.”
• Working “with school districts to ensure that the Dignity for All Student Act’s requirements are followed.”
• Working “more closely with students, student-led organizations and nonprofits.” 

The founder and executive director of a non-profit group The Long Island Coalition   Against Bullying, Joseph Salamone, himself a bullying victim, was a member of the task force. Mr. Salamone writes in the report: “Our organization is asked all the time how we can really combat bullying and will it ever end. The answer is always the same. Bullying CAN end with focus on respect and engaging all stakeholders in the discussion.” 

To read the report—its formal title is “Suffolk County Youth Anti-Bullying Task Force Final Recommendations Report”—visit the coalition’s website at https://www.licab.org/TaskForce 

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. 

Suffolk Closeup - Legislator Gonzalez Confronts Smoking

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP

By Karl Grossman

The Suffolk County Legislature since it was established 50 years ago has been a governmental trailblazer enacting first-in-the nation laws—then replicated through the U.S. These have including a ban on handheld use of cellphones while driving and sale of the drug ephedra,Legislator Sam Gonzalez creation of a bottle-deposit system and many measures barring smoking in public places.

And now, a new member of the Suffolk Legislature has introduced what would be the first-in-the-nation law to, as its title declares, “Increase the Legal Smoking Age To 25 in Suffolk County.” It would do that by banning the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products to persons under 25 years old.

“I’m trying to protect the future of the kids who are living in Suffolk,” says Legislator Sam Gonzalez. “I don’t want to see them suffer later on from lung cancer, throat cancer and other cancers.” 

If Suffolk County passes his measure, “I’ve spoken to legislators in Nassau County, and if we pass it, in a matter of time, Nassau would, too,” and then there would be the possibility of action by New York State, he says. 

If a person doesn’t smoke before he or she is 25, says Mr. Gonzalez, it’s highly likely that he or she will never smoke.

Meanwhile, says Mr. Gonzalez, “I’ve been getting calls from every major tobacco company.” They don’t like his legislation.

But Mr. Gonzales is used to uphill fights.

As his legislative biography states: “Sam has spent his career as a labor advocate fighting for workers across New York State. He started his career in labor as a shop steward with the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, and was promoted to lead organizer. Recognized for his ability to inspire and lead, he was recruited by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in 2012.” Before becoming a Suffolk legislator, he was president of IBEW Local 1430.  As a union president, he spearheaded “many of the union’s organizing drives across the state. With more than 36 years of experience in the labor movement, Sam has proven to be an exceptional leader, dedicated to charting a new course for the labor movement.”

He was elected a legislator last year in a special election and then the general election to succeed Monica R. Martinez who had won a seat representing south-central Suffolk County in the New York State Senate. They both live in Brentwood.

Mr. Gonzalez has a second measure on smoking pending before the legislature. “It just needs one more vote to pass,” he told me. This bill would prohibit smoking in multiple-dwelling buildings.

In 2015, the Suffolk Legislature, among its many bills restricting smoking, barred it in common areas of multiple-dwelling buildings and in close proximity to their entrances. Then, in 2016, it banned smoking within 50 feet of such a building.

But also needed is halting smoking in apartments in multiple-dwelling buildings, says Mr. Gonzalez. The smoke from an apartment, this bill says, can travel “through lighting fixtures, cracks in walls, around plumbing, under doors, and in shared heating and ventilation.” Says Mr. Gonzales: “It can get into the apartment next door where an elderly person might be using an oxygen tank; it could get to children.’

The bill declares that “individuals in Suffolk County should have the right to live in their own homes without breathing in second-hand smoke from sources they cannot control.”

Mr. Gonzalez once was a smoker himself—“a two-pack-a-day Newport smoker”—from the time he was 14 until he was 31 and “I first found out that I was going to be a father.” Now 59, he has not had a cigarette since.

“I ran for public office because I care about our community. I want to see our youth succeed in life—and be healthy. I want a healthy county, a healthy Long Island,” he says.

And, if his measure increasing the legal smoking age in Suffolk County to 25, introduced last month, “doesn’t get through,” Mr. Gonzalez vows: “I will be bringing it up every year.” 

There is Suffolk Legislature history in increasing the smoking age in the county. In 2014 the legislature increased it from 19 to 21. 

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. 

Give Workers A Break - Don't Drive Around Construction Barriers!

By Pat Biancaniello

Road work on Lake Avenue in Saint James may seem endless but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. According to project manager, Dave Clark, there is a chance that the  project may finish up by the end of October; not a moment too soon for Saint James residents.

Currently, Lake Avenue is being paved in segment, crews are working from north to south and trying to pave at times when traffic is historically light.

A section of Lake Avenue was paved Sunday, October 4th. For months, during the construction, the road looked like a war zone.  While it is now possible to drive on the road, paving will continue in segments with partial road closures in areas being paved until completion of the project.

Paving the road requires several large and smaller vehicles to be on the road, deliveries and manual spreading of hot asphalt. Paving also requires highway department workers. To protect the workers, barriers, barrels, tape and signage is set-up informing drivers to stay off the road. Despite incorporating every safety procedure possible some drivers find their way around the barriers and onto a construction site.

On Sunday a driver managed to go around all the safeguards ending up in the Lake Ave repaving construction zone. Quick thinking prevented injuries to the driver and workers. Nevertheless, what if the determined driver was not noticed?

Disregarding the barriers causes unnecessary risk to roadworkers and motorists. Drivers must use common sense, pay attention and follow directions. Everyone must do their part to keep Smithtown’s roadworkers safe; follow safe driving practices, including slowing down.

 If a road is barricaded, if there are barrels up, if there is signage indicating that the road is closed and lastly if you see heavy equipment and workers with bright shirts working on the street do not drive around them.

"Back The Blue" Rally In Hauppauge

By Pat Biancaniello

The Suffolk County H. Lee Dennison Building was the backdrop for a “Back the Blue” rally in Hauppauge Sunday, October 4th. More than 1,000 people, some masked and some not, gathered to show their support for police and to show support for the reelection of Donald Trump in November. 

Before the politics began, a very courageous young woman, Genesis Villella spoke about the horror of having her mom “assassinated” because she wore a police uniform. Genesis Villella is the daughter of NYPD Detective Miosotis Familia, the mother of three children, who was shot and killed while sitting in her police car on July 5, 2017.

“It is so important for me to be here to talk about my mother and what she meant to me and my siblings. My mom was my very best friend  and it is so important to talk about who she was as a person, especially since all these violent attacks taking place around the country on innocent police officers because of their uniforms, just like my mother was targeted. It is so important to support all the police officers across the country and in NY to let them know that we have their backs and will always be here to support them.” 

Genesis VillellaIf there ever was a message that would resonate with everyone, regardless of political affiliation, it was Ms. Villella’s message. It was heartbreaking.

Also speaking was Suffolk County resident retired police officer Kathleen Vigiano, president of Survivors of the Shield and widow of Detective Joseph Vigiano. Detective Vigiano wasKathleen Vigiano killed in the line of duty on September 11, 2001. Ms Vigiano addressed the crowd and challenged the press to report the numbers and challenges police officers face every time they make a radio run or put their lives on the line taking illegal guns off the street. She encouraged the audience to do more than “Back the Blue”, telling the audience to make sure they vote for candidates who support safe communities and the police who patrol them. Vote for DA’s who prosecute criminals and politicians who will give police officers the tools needed to do their jobs.

But this was a political event. This was a Police Benevolent Association (PBA) sponsored event and Democrats were the enemies. President of the PBA Noel Di Gerolamo hit the Dems hard, blaming them for creating an abyss. “It’s gonna get political.” “People who wear the blue uniforms, they’re not from any particular party, but we saw one party over the last six months totally abandon every single member of law enforcement, did nothing but vilify the people who went out day after day. They sheltered in place but guess what? They’re the enemy now. Because blue is gonna paint this state red.”