Michael Fitzpatrick For Suffolk County Executive

“Yes, I am in it and yes, I would like it.”  That is what Assemblyman Michael Fitzpatrick had to say when asked if he was screening to become the Republican nominee for Suffolk County Executive.    It is clear that Fitzpatrick feels the most important issue in this campaign is restoring fiscal health in the county.   “I am qualified to become county executive.  I have never been afraid of standing alone when it comes to taking tough positions on fiscal policy and matters that impact the public.  And, I have a record of saying no to wasteful spending. ”

When asked about the screenings he was emphatic, “I have attended all the screenings and I have enjoyed them. I’m looking forward to Smithtown’s screening on Thursday.  It has been interesting to hear Angie Carpenter (Suffolk County Treasurer), John Flanagan (NYS Senator) and Mike O’Donohoe (Suffolk County Commissioner of Jurors) articulate their positions and their rationale for becoming the Republican candidate.  But, my fiscal conservatism speaks for itself.  The public expects the county executive to make tough decisions, I have done that and I am doing it now with my proposal for pension reform. The first step in pension reform is removing those who benefit from its excesses and that means getting the political class out of the pension system. My proposal does this.”

Fitzpatrick points to other positions that set him apart. He was the only member of the Long Island delegation to oppose Tom Di Napoli becoming State Comptroller. He felt he was unqualified to deal with the financial crisis facing the state. And In January, he called attention to Speaker Silver allowing two staffers to retire and return to work creating a double-dipping scenario at taxpayer expense.  He believes double dipping is not atypical and places an unfair burden on the taxpayer.  

For Michael Fitzpatrick politics is a family tradition. His father was Smithtown Supervisor and Michael was a member of the Smithtown Town Council for 15 years from 1988 thru 2003, before becoming Assemblyman. He understands the challenges he faces becoming the Republican county executive candidate but he says he’s ready.  

WELCOME - YOUR NEW LIBRARY IS NOW OPEN

By Pat Biancaniello

Without much fanfare, at 10 am Thursday morning, the Commack Branch of the Smithtown Library opened for business. By 10:15 am the parking lot was almost full.

The library, which first opened in 1967, was closed in January 2010. The unscheduled closing was due to a puff back in the boiler.  During the fifteen months that the library has been closed the interior has been remodeled and updated. A three thousand square foot addition has been added. An entirely new children’s room was developed using fifteen hundred square feet of the new space.

Artist Jeff Fisher was commissioned to paint murals on the walls of the children’s room giving the room a sense of wonder and intrigue.  Everything from the ceiling tiles, carpeting, tables, computers, and the colors, were chosen to allow the children to connect with their surroundings. 

Library director Robert Lusack was determined to provide space for the young adult or teenage population, which he calls “the forgotten age group”.  Seating and a work area were created to allow young people to work together or independently within their own space. 

The outside of the building has changed as well.  There is a new vestibule and covered portico entrance in the back.  There are outdoor benches, and there is a shiny new book deposit and reserved parking for energy efficient vehicles.

Board members Sauer and Vallone were very pleased with the library saying that it exceeded their expectations.  They were quick to point out some important features.  The library meets all ADA requirements, which is very important to patrons with special needs.  There is a working elevator, a self-checkout, and new windows and lighting.  A 55-inch flat screen TV donated by Avon Press has been installed and the building has Wi-Fi.

“The goal was to make the building nearly seamless.  The architect, Roger Smith of Burton Behrendt Smith, did better than that… he made it seamless” said Robert Lusack.

S425-211 Requiring Disclosure of Chemicals Used in Fracturing Is Defeated In NYS Senate Committee

By Pat Biancaniello

On April 12, 2011 the New York State Senate’s Environmental Conservation Committee defeated S425-211.  This piece of legislation was designed to amend environmental conservation law regarding fracturing fluids. The Sponsor of the Legislation is Senator Krueger, Co-sponsors are Senator’s Montgomery, Oppenheimer, Perkins, Rivera, Serrano.

The bill according to the proposal would require the Department of Environmental Conservation to develop rules and regulations that would require the disclosure of hydraulic fracturing fluids.  It would also prohibit the use of hydraulic fracturing fluids containing chemicals that pose a risk to human health. The legislation would also prohibit the issuance of drilling permits for wells proposing to uses hydraulic fracturing fluids until the DEC has adopted rules and regulations.

The Vote on S425 was as follows, those in favor:  Avella, Espaillat, Perkins, Serrano, Stewart-Cousins (with reservations but still voting in the affirmative) Grisanti, LaValle.  Those opposed Johnson, Little, Marcellino, Maziarz, O’Mara, Young.  Committee member Oppenheimer was excused.  Eight yes votes were required to move the vote forward.

NYS Senator Kruger issued the following statement: “Once again, an important bill has fallen victim to the intellectually dishonest debate that unfairly pits environmental issues against job creation. My bill (S.425), which today failed to pass through the Environmental Conservation Committee, would implement common sense measures by requiring gas companies to disclose all chemicals used in their hydraulic fracturing fluids and would ban the use of any substances deemed carcinogenic. However, instead of taking critical steps to ensure basic safeguards are put in place to protect all New Yorkers, my Republican colleagues have decided to stall this bill under the false pretense that it will hurt jobs in the upstate area.

“Let me be clear: the need for job growth and creation in Upstate New York is very real, and much needs to be done to help those areas suffering most from our struggling economy. However, as my Democratic colleague Senator Bill Perkins said, this is not the way to do it. If we are not good stewards to our environment, and allow practices that poison our water supply and in turn our communities, then all other issues are moot. What good does job creation do for a community, whose members are so sick they cannot work? In these circumstances only one group wins: the big gas companies, who have reaped the benefits of our land without paying any of the consequences of their actions.

“I applaud my Democratic colleagues who voted in favor of this bill, which would have brought this issue to the floor for further debate. I only wish that just one of the six Republican on the committee, particularly Senators Marcellino and Johnson, whose districts in Long Island would suffer tremendously from the contamination of New York City’s drinking water, would have voted aye and thought more of their constituents and less of big business interests.

“I remain confident that common sense will prevail, and hope to successfully bring this bill back through the Environmental Conservation Committee. But in the meantime, I hope all New Yorkers from Upstate, Downstate and Western New York realize that this is not an issue of jobs vs. the environment; this is an issue of health and transparency vs. big business interests and secrecy.”

Note - Senator Oppenheimer a co-sponsor of the bill is recovering from surgery and was unable to be present for the vote.  Due to rules of the Senate delaying the vote was not permitted.  

Hundreds Rally In Albany To Protect New York's Water & Community From Fracking

ALBANY, NY (04/11/2011))— A broad coalition of organizations descended on the New York State Capitol today to call on state leaders and elected officials to safeguard vital water resources, public health, and the environment from dirty gas drilling by means of hydraulic fracturing or “fracking.” The groups were joined by hundreds of New Yorkers who traveled to Albany from across the state to meet with members of the State Legislature and voice concerns about this controversial drilling practice, which has poisoned water supplies in other parts of the country. Josh Fox, director of the Academy Award-nominated documentary film about fracking dangers, GASLAND, ecologist, author and cancer survivor Sandra Steingraber, Ph.D., and artist Marc Black spoke at the rally. Senators Tony Avella and Liz Krueger, and Assembly members Steve Englebright, Brian Kavanagh, and Barbara Lifton, also spoke. Natalie Brant from Buffalo, NY, and Craig and Julie Sautner of Dimock, PA, shared first-hand experiences with dirty drilling and fracking.

“New York State leaders have a chance to show the nation how to protect our water from fracking-by choosing safe and healthy drinking water over poisoned wells, destroyed property values, and devastated communities,” said Kate Hudson, Riverkeeper Watershed Program Director. “The oil and gas industry is eager to drill and now our leaders have a choice to make. We’re calling on Governor Cuomo and the State Legislature to put the long-term health of our communities and our water, air, and land ahead of short-term gas profits.”

The organizations present, which represent a wide range of community, environmental, public health, conservation, sportsmen, and good government interests from across the state, are calling on Governor Cuomo and the State Legislature not to rush the Department of Environmental Conservation’s environmental review and the agency’s revised guidelines to determine how fracking proceeds in New York. The groups want to ensure the agency has the time and resources necessary to correct the fatal flaws that plagued the initial draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement, and to ensure that the full measure of risks to public health and the environment are thoroughly investigated.

“Today, the public’s demand for clean water-not dirty drilling, will be heard loud and clear,” said Adrienne Esposito, Executive Director for Citizens Campaign for the Environment. “Citizens will rally for our new Governor to uphold his campaign promise to keep New York State’s drinking water safe. This day of action provides us the opportunity to put our voices together and be heard above the enormous money interests of energy companies.”

During visits with more than 180 state lawmakers and staff, rally attendees called for the passage of three measures that will do much to protect New York’s water from fracking, including:

• (A.2922/S.425) legislation that would direct the Department of Environmental Conservation to create regulations requiring the gas industry to disclose the chemical components in fracking fluids and prohibit the use of fluids that pose a risk to human health. This bill would also direct the agency to withhold permitting until such regulations are adopted.

• (A.3245/S.3472) Legislation that would govern industrial gas drilling under home-rule zoning rules in addition to statewide regulations. Communities that want a say in determining how towns and cities develop should have the power to oversee drilling as they do other industries.

• Legislation that would close the hazardous waste loophole in current state law and require that all wastes produced by oil or gas facilities that meet the definition of hazardous be considered hazardous for the purpose of transport and treatment. This bill has not yet been introduced.

“Governor Cuomo and our legislators must act to stop fracking’s devastating impacts on our drinking water,” said Eric Weltman, Senior Organizer for Food & Water Watch, a national consumer advocacy group, which is calling for a national and state ban on fracking. “The effects fracking can have on public health and the environment are just too costly for New York to bear,” added Weltman.

“Nationwide, a wave of gas development has left severe damage in its wake,” said Nadia Steinzor, Marcellus Regional Organizer for EARTHWORKS. “New York is currently unprepared to regulate and hold industry accountable, and policymakers must prioritize protection of communities and the environment when deciding how to proceed.”

Early in his tenure, Governor Andrew Cuomo extended an Executive Order that put a temporary timeout on horizontal wells for fracking for natural gas through July 1, 2011. The Governor has said that “We should not pursue it unless and until we know that environmentally it is safe.” The July expiration date for the order also marks the release of a revised draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement, which outlines permit conditions for gas wells that are already fracked.

The Executive Order made New York the first state to insist on protecting the health and safety of its citizens and drinking water before allowing drilling to proceed. Last year, the State Legislature overwhelmingly passed stronger bipartisan legislation outlining a moratorium on both horizontal and vertical wells.

Many of the rally organizers are also sponsors of a media campaign, the “New York Water Rangers,” which includes a digital billboard above the Times Union Center, radio spots, and online and print advertisements, all set to air for the first time today. The ads invite viewers and readers to join the Water Rangers and step up to protect New York’s most valuable resource, our water, from fracking. Ads are available at www.CleanWaterNotDirtyDrilling.org

“Everybody is a body of water and that’s why homegrown super heroes like the New York Water Rangers are standing up to protect our water and communities from documented fracking dangers,” said Robert Moore, Executive Director, Environmental Advocates of New York.

The New York Water Rangers advertising campaign will run through the end of the Legislative Session. Coalition partners say they are prepared to continue the campaign for a longer period of time if the session does not end as scheduled in June.

To frack a gas well, millions of gallons of water, sand, and toxic chemicals are pumped deep underground at high pressure. This fractures the rock that has trapped the gas for millennia and allows it to escape. But when fracking wastewater is pumped back to the surface, sometimes bringing with it radiation hundreds of times the limit considered safe for drinking water, it’s difficult to dispose of safely and there are no facilities in New York ready to treat it.

From start to finish, gas development that relies on fracking is an industrial process that threatens our water. State after state, from Wyoming to Pennsylvania, has documented its dangers. New York can’t afford to put short-term gas profits ahead of the long-term health of our water and our communities.

Fracking Day of Action endorsing organizations include Adirondack Mountain Club, Advocates for Cherry Valley, Back to Democracy, Binghamton Regional Sustainability Coalition, Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy, Catskill Mountainkeeper, Citizen Action of New York, Citizens Campaign for the Environment, Committee to Preserve the Finger Lakes, Concerned Citizens of Tioga County, Croton Watershed Clean Water Coalition, Damascus Citizens for Sustainability, Delaware Action Group, Delaware Riverkeeper Network, Dryden Resource Awareness Coalition, EARTHWORKS Oil & Gas Accountability Project, Environmental Advocates of New York, Environment New York, Food & Water Watch, Frack Action, Friends of Vestal, Gas Drilling Awareness for Cortland County, Gray Panthers, NYC Network, Highland Concerned Citizens, Keep Cochecton Green, Keuka Citizens Against Hydrofracking, Landowners Against Natural-gas Drilling, Lumberland Concerned Citizens, NOFA-NY, New Paltz Climate Action Coalition, NYH20, Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation, New York Residents Against Drilling, New Yorkers for Sustainable Energy Solutions, Otisco Lake Preservation Association, Otsego County Conservation Association, People for a Healthy Environment, Riverkeeper, Schoharie Valley Watch, Shaleshock Action Alliance, ShaleshockCNY, Sierra Club - Atlantic Chapter, Sullivan Area Citizens for Responsible Energy Development (SACRED), Sustainable Otsego, Sustainable Tioga, Three Parks Independent Democrats, Tusten Concerned Citizens, and United for Action.

(Statement released by Citizens Campaign for the Environment)

Steve Bellone Meets With Smithtown Democrats

Over one hundred people showed up at a breakfast hosted by the Smithtown Democratic Committee on Sunday morning.  The breakfast, held at the IBEW building on Motor Parkway, was attended by many elected officials but the real draw was the guest of honor Babylon Town Supervisor and soon to be the official Democratic candidate for Suffolk County Executive - Steve Bellone.