Letters To The Editor
Email: editor@ gcnews.com

Fields Are Needed

To the Editor:

I refer to the [letter to the editor] of village resident Scott Kiley in last week's edition and applaud him for bringing to the attention of the residents the seemingly unknown fact that our Village Trustees have entered into a contract for decades with the Town of Hempstead to lease our Cherry Valley ball fields. Is it a fact that the Village receives only $12,000 per year under the lease? If so, this appears to be the best kept secret in the Village. Receiving $12,000 in annual rent for fields worth millions of dollars is no bargain; certainly not for the residents of Garden City.

I do not know Mr. Kiley but I, as a parent and as a coach of numerous of my children's sports teams, do know the same thing that most Garden City parents know: that field space is minimal and that quite often our children don't have the chance to play make-up games due to this shortage of playing fields. I live in the Adelphi Estate section and wonder why my children often have to play baseball and softball games at Nassau Haven Park on makeshift fields carved out of dirt with balls from one field of play flying onto the next field because the fields are too close to one another or why we have to endure the lack of parking at the Stewart School fields or why games are played out at Grove Street Park when we have ball fields just down the street on Cherry Valley Ave. I've heard other parents commenting of having to travel to Wantagh on Sundays at 9:00am to play games when these same games could be played on Village owned fields right here on Cherry Valley Ave. The Cherry Valley fields are fully functional, have lights which would increase the amount of available playing time for our children, and is conveniently located next to the Village pool. Why shouldn't our children play on Village owned fields rather than leasing those same fields to the Town of Hempstead? With the middle school fields currently out of service, the need for additional field space is even more apparent. I see no reason why the Village taxpayers should subsidize the Town's use of playing fields?

If you too didn't know that the Village owned these fields, join the club. Given that the average house in town rents for more than $2,500 per month ($30,000/yr) we should all ask our local Trustees why the Village receives only $12,000 annually for fields that our children so badly need. Thank you.

Martin O'Brien

Accountability

To The Editor:

For many years now, the Parent Teachers Association (FTA) has not been a critic of the Garden City Educational System. It gives it a pass in the area of accountability and responsibility and excellence in the classroom. Further it refuses to criticize that we are administratively top heavy. Hence, ever escalating budget.

Similarly, to date the POA's have expanded most of their efforts in the areas of LIRR third track, Stewart Manor Station air flight pattern and additional lights for St. Anne's church rather than on internal checks and balances. With one exception, the cost of government and the increase in expense over the year has not been an area of concern. The only thing that was accomplished was to create a committee to look at overall expenditures. The recommendation for an independent auditor has not as of yet been embraced. However, with Mr. Olivo at the helm I do not believe this is a problem. There has been no real effort to look at private industry and how it might be able to cut village costs.

It is trusted that my request for a Code of Ethics with teeth will be looked at carefully and recommended to our trustees.

The Code of Ethics of the Village of Lynbrook is so far superior to ours that to compare them is an exercise in futility.

Newsday says that few residents pay attention to such matters and that's just the way government wants it.

Joseph A. Calamari

PS: Tom Souzzi is looking into the consolidation of water, sewer in fire districts. We should cooperate to cut taxes.

Wake Up

To the Editor:

Do nothing about the Long Island Railroad's propane freight train and they will come. If you let the LIRR build a third track for dangerous, hazardous freight, it will destroy our beloved village.

Everyone needs to understand that by doing nothing, you allow the LIRR to do everything and anything they want.

Do you want the LIRR workers parked on our streets all day and night for this ten-year project? Do you want your children exposed to the fumes, garbage, and the presence of strangers as they build this unnecessary third track near their playgrounds and schools?

There are very few reverse commuters but many LIRR abusers.

Please Garden City, wake up and smell the propane! Propane is the LIRR's gain and the end of Garden City as we know it. Let's mobilize and get Garden City in good shape.

Kent Reiter

Fiduciary Duties

To the Editor:

The following excerpt is from the May 25th. edition of the Garden City News:

"In other news, some trustees want to see entire contracts before they vote to renew. Two contract agreements are up for renewal, two one-year agreements with Adelphi University for the use of parking fields at Community Park, and a one-year agreement with Cathedral Nursery School that allows them to lease the cottages on the St. Paul's campus. The Board will vote on renewing the contracts at the next meeting on June 7th. Deputy Mayor John Mauk said the entire agreement is not needed; instead, Village staff should provide trustees with a summary of the essential contract elements before they are asked to make a decision. Village staff will look into possibly making contracts, as well as summary sheets, available to trustees online."

I think Mr. Mauk and anyone who agreed with him should resign their positions as trustees. They are not performing their fiduciary duties. You are going to let a "staffer" extrapolate and interpret contracts that can end up costing the taxpayers of this town money. Oh, maybe you are going to use the "staffers" that graduated from contractual law school and are now working for the village? The Village counsel should be doing this job, not "staffers."

Are they out of their minds?

Robert Reid