Marion Carll Farm

The Marion Carll Farm, a 9 acre oasis in the middle of Commack, was visited recently by the people who are working on bringing it back to being an educational and heritage center to further the understanding of the history of Long Island. The farm, which is located in Commack, has a history which dates from the pre-Colonial Native  American period to the 19th century agrarian era of our island. Visitors have included Suffolk County Legislator John Kennedy, Commack School Superintendent Dr. Donald James, Commack Community Association President Bruce Ettenberg, Shinnecock Nation representative Quantah’ Rose, Huntington Historian Robert Hughes, Huntington Historical Society President Toby Kissam, Suffolk County Commissioner of Public Works Gil Anderson, Suffolk County Director of Historic Services Richard Martin and members of the Commack Community Association.

Smithtown Businesswomen Beat the Economy

You Learn by Living,You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, “I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.” You must do the thing you think you cannot do. Eleanor Roosevelt

By Erica Jackson  

Despite reports by the United States Women’s Chamber of Commerce (USWCC) that women-owned businesses are doing poorly in the economy, local women business owners are touting  high sales.According to USWCC, women-owned business market share has dropped ten percent over the last decade with nearly 50 percent of all women-owned firms reporting sales of less than $10,000 annually.  However, Angela Poppe, president of the Smithtown Business & Professional Women’s Network, says those statistics don’t apply to her company or to a number of her Organization’s 65 member businesses.  She said, “Actually women’s businesses are doing pretty well.”

The question of “how” comes to mind: In this economy, businesses — whether owned by a male or female — are discouraged by declining business.  Poppe says women business owners know how to “get out of their comfort zone and get creative.”  They also, she said, “are good at going above and beyond for their family and children.” For example, Poppe says to keep her home-based wellness company above the water, she started thinking outside the box and rather than focusing on boosting sales, she put her energy into donating her products for fundraisers. The end result — increased sales.  “It was a way for me to give back, but in the circle of things,it helped my business.”

What also aided her three-year-old business was networking.  “Networking has become so important. Women supporting other women has really helped,” said Poppe. And that’s just what the Smithtown Business & Professional Women’s Network does — provide networking opportunities for women business owners. “We meet and focus on social networking and motivation every month. We keep people positive,” said Poppe.

The organization also has an unwritten rule to support member businesses.  Whenever Jennifer Ryan, a professional organizer and motivational coach, who owns her own home-based business, Create New Order, needs services, she pulls out a list of fellow Smithtown Business & Professional Women’s Network members.  “We support each other and have created an environment where we can learn and share with each other.”

Networking, said Ryan, who is a former president of the Smithtown Business & Professional Network, has certainly helped her business in these economic times, but so has thinking outside of the box. When the economy began to decline, Ryan said she sat down with her assistant to work out a new business plan. She knew that people weren’t going to spend their money on luxury items such as a personal organizer, so she shifted gears and beefed up her lectures and workshops and offered them a lower rate.  The increased  exposure from the lectures and workshops increased her business to the extent that she had to hire additional staff and has a waiting list of new clients.

“I have been very lucky,” said Ryan, who says she has seen other personal organizers lose their businesses in this economy.  “I am fortunate that I am broad and can not only coach and organize, but I can help businesses with their strategies.  I do commercial, residential and between the ears.”

Diane and Jennifer Dente, mother-daughter owners of Metamorphous, a women’s clothing store in StJames has also worked  through the economy, despite being classified as a specialty shop.

Yes, Diane said business did slow down, but she said as the economy started to dwindle, she and her daughter looked to lower their price point.  Where before, Diane said they bought and sold $3,000 gowns, the last few seasons they brought in more of a mix.  “We went into lines that were more price conscious,” said Diane.
It helped the business and Diane says the last few months she has seen a turnaround with more and more customers coming in to spend.

In general Steven Webber, executive director of the Kings Park Chamber of Commerce, said it seems that local businesses,which have onsite parking available are doing very well and things are starting to change for the better.  Executive Director of the Smithtown Chamber of Commerce Barbara Franco agreed:  “Its summer time and people are out on the street, shopping more than they did before.  The economy is starting to turn slowly.

NY League of Conservation Voters & Conservation Voters Action Fund Endorse Tim Bishop

FARMINGVILLE, NY – Congressman Tim Bishop is proud to receive the endorsements of the New York League of Conservation Voters (NYLCV) and the national League of Conservation Voters Action Fund, two non-partisan organizations that support elected officials with proven records of protecting our country’s environmental resources.

NYLCV held a news conference today at Ammann Riverfront Park in Riverhead to officially announce their endorsement of Congressman Bishop.

This endorsement recognizes Congressman Bishop’s ongoing fight to win federal support for projects that help preserve and renew Long Island’s diverse ecosystem. NYLCV President Marcia Bystryn praised Congressman Bishop for his record of reaching across the aisle to rally bipartisan support for environmental legislation that benefits all Long Islanders, regardless of their politics.

“Through his four terms in Congress, Tim Bishop has proven himself as a strong and steady advocate for the environment in Long Island and New York as a whole,” Bystryn said. “The League is proud to endorse him for re-election in 2010.”

This year, Congressman Bishop has helped draw federal attention and funding to environmental issues that New York’s state and local governments cannot handle on their own, like footing the costs of dredging river transportation routes or maintaining the infrastructure that keeps the Long Island Sound healthy and clean.

“Congressman Bishop has been a champion of clean energy legislation that will create jobs, curb pollution and reduce our dependence on foreign oil,” said LCV Action Fund President Gene Karpinski. “We are proud to endorse Congressman Bishop for re-election because he stands with the people of New York who need clean energy jobs now, and not with the Big Oil companies and special interests who are blocking progress in Washington.”

When environmental disasters struck Suffolk County during the past year—for example, when severe thunderstorms destroyed homes in Riverhead in March—Congressman Bishop fought tenaciously to bring home relief from FEMA. Bishop also spent months negotiating with state and local government to win permission and funding for an emergency dredging of Wading River Creek, which was made impassable by the March storms.

In July, Congressman Bishop joined forces with Congressman Peter King (R-Seaford) to bring home millions in federal funding for projects that will restore and protect the Long Island Sound next year. On the national level, Congressman Bishop sponsored the Clean Estuaries Act, which will improve the water quality of estuaries nationwide and help protect our country’s economy.

“In Long Island, the health of our environment is very much tied to the health of our people and the health of our economy,” Congressman Bishop said. “I look forward to continuing my work with the New York League of Conservation Voters and the National LCV Action Fund to ensure that New York remains a safe, clean and beautiful place to live.”

MTA Audit - NOW WHAT?

 NYS Comptroller Tom Di Napoli’s office released the long awaited audit of the MTA. Below is the summary included in the audit and a link to the report.

The objective of the audit was to determine whether the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has effectively managed and controlled its employee overtime costs.

(Click full report http://www.osc.state.ny.us/audits/allaudits/093010/09s88.pdf)

Audit Results–Summary
We found that the MTA has not eff ectively managed and controlled its overtime costs. Rather,there has been a culture of acceptance among MTA managers regarding overtime, and no real efforts were made to make significant changes in longstanding practices that resulted in routine, and often unnecessary, overtime. As a result, overtime has become the rule rather than the exception for many of the MTA’s employees, and the MTA’s already high overtime costs have continued to escalate.

The MTA provides public transportation in and around the New York City metropolitan area. It employs about 71,000 workers at an annual cost of about $4.6 billion. In accordance with its enabling legislation, the MTA is expected to be financially self-sustaining, and generate enough fare and other revenues to cover its expenses. However, in recent years, the MTA has consistently operated at a financial deficccit.
Between 2005 and 2009, the MTA’s annual overtime costs increased from $468 million to $590 million, an increase of 26 percent. We examined records showing the amount of overtime pay received by the MTA’s employees. We found that many of the employees are being paid significant amounts of overtime, as their annual overtime pay is approaching, and in some cases exceeding, their annual salaries. For example, in 2009, there were 3,274 employees whose total overtime pay for the year equaled at least 50 percent of their annual salaries, including 147 whose total overtime pay exceeded their annual salaries. There were 10,909 employees (more than 15 percent of the workforce) whose total overtime pay for the year equaled at least 30 percent of their annual salaries. When we examined why the employees at four of the MTA’s seven constituent agencies were working such significant amounts of overtime, and whether the overtime was, in fact, necessary,we found indications that the overtime often was not necessary. For example, routine track maintenance work is often performed by workers on overtime, because the workers’ regular work shifts coincide with peak service periods when the tracks are not available for routine maintenance.

In addition, many of the employees who work overtime are replacing absent workers, especially workers who have called in sick. Much of this overtime could be eliminated if absenteeism were reduced and absent workers were only replaced when necessary. We also found that many of the employees working overtime have no valid justification for doing so, and some may not actually work all the overtime hours claimed. If corrective actions were taken to eliminate the unnecessary overtime identifi ed by our audit, we estimate the MTA could save more than $56 million a year in overtime costs.

The MTA Central Office, together with the management of the seven constituent agencies, is responsible for overseeing the agencies’ operations. However, we found that these officials have not eff ectively managed and controlled the agencies’ overtime costs. For example, the agencies’ overtime budgets are seriously flawed, because past overtime inefficiencies are routinely incorporated into the current year’s budgets, and the Central Office routinely accepts the budgets, without question. Also, the Central Office has not worked actively with agency management to reduce overtime costs, even though the MTA has consistently faced serious budget shortfalls. Prior to our audit, neither the Central Office nor agency management had proposed reduction goals for overtime costs, such as a 10 percent reduction. Such a reduction would result in savings of nearly $60 million annually for the MTA, which could help off set
planned fare increases, cuts in service, and/or cuts in capital improvements.

When we discussed our observations with Central Office officials, we were told that, prior to the current administration, the management of the constituent agencies was left to agency officials. Officials in the current administration state that they plan to take a much more active role in managing and controlling employee overtime, and further indicate that some actions have already been taken to reduce overtime costs. According to officials in the four constituent agencies we examined, employee absenteeism and union work rules are the primary drivers of overtime. However, we note that only limited eff orts have been made by management to reduce absenteeism and address unproductive work rules,and management needs to be more proactive in these areas. We recommend MTA offi cials consider adopting some of the best practices of other public transportation authorities that have been able to control their
overtime costs.

Our report contains a total of six recommendations for improving the MTA’s management
and control of employee overtime. MTA offi cials are in general agreement with our fi ndings
and recommendations and intend to pursue them as part of their internal eff orts to reduce
overtime.
This report, dated August 5, 2010,

Demos - "I once again call on Randy Altschuler to come clean"

George Demos said:

“Instead of admitting that he was plagiarizing releases from another candidate, Randy Altschuler is compounding his plagiarizing scandal by lying to Long Island’s families.  Altschuler cynically instructed his consultant to assure us that plagiarism is standard practice because “when you’re in politics there’s only so many ways you can word stuff.”  Contrary to these bogus assertions, the press releases unambiguously state “Randy Altschuler said.” 

In the span of a few years Randy Altschuler switched from bragging about his outsourcing of our American jobs to India to now being ashamed of it.  He switched from the Green party to the Republican Party.  He switched from trying to run for Congress in New Jersey to now trying to run on Long Island.  Altschuler switched from being fervently pro-choice to now claiming to be pro-life.  

Randy Altschuler doesn’t know who he is or what he believes, and apparently he doesn’t know what to say about the issues either.  All he knows is that he has millions of dollars made from outsourcing our American jobs to India and that he wants to be a Congressman. 

I once again call on Randy Altschuler to come clean and release the press releases he scrubbed from his website.”