Different Interpretation

To the Editor:

Your recent story on the deferral of the vote on the St Paul's demolition study states that in the recent straw poll, "Demolition came in first with 2,272 votes." (45%) I think it is important to note that in that same poll, 2730 residents (55%) voted for something other than demolition!

Let us not move in haste to demolish an important irreplaceable part of what makes our village unique.

George Semke

The Budget Crisis

To The Editor:

On March 5th, I asked the Mayor to seek concessions from our public employee Unions to help us in this unprecedented budget crisis. He responded by saying he could not give me a response and didn't know when he could. When asked by The Garden City News when he would respond to me, the Mayor said "I have already responded to Trustee Lamberti's suggestion..." Welcome to Alice In Wonderland.

I suggested to the Mayor that he ask the Unions to either defer or forego wage increases. He told The Garden City News that he had "...serious reservations about the wisdom of wage deferrals which are really "loans" costing the Village more money in the long run."

The Mayor is in error. A deferral postpones an obligation without repayment. A loan is an obligation to repay. Let me illustrate. Our current CSEA contract requires a 3.7% wage increase commencing June 1, 2009. The cost of this obligation is $536,963 for the next budget year. If we were to postpone that obligation for 7 months, until January 1, 2010, there would be a $318,049 savings in the budget.

The Mayor does not comment on my suggestion that the PBA (police) and PFFA (firefighters) forego any wage increase for the next budget year. If they were to do that, there would be savings of hundreds of thousand dollars for which we would not have to budget and raise taxes.

It's dismaying that a Mayor who is a labor lawyer does not understand these concepts.

Our residents have lost jobs, their retirement savings have been decimated, and their home values have plunged.

The CSEA received a 15.4% wage increase over 4 years and the PBA received an 8.5% wage increase over the last 2 years. We have also paid for 90% of the increase for CSEA health insurance and 100% of the increase for PBA and PFFA health insurance. In addition next year we face a 5% contribution increase for their retirement plans, which are entirely paid by the Village.

The Mayor is the Chief Executive Officer of the Village and responsible for the negotiation of Union contracts. Why is he afraid of asking for Union concessions? The County Executive is not. The time to act is now, not tomorrow. Leadership is required and leadership is lacking.

Thomas M Lamberti

Contribute To Health Costs

To the Editor:

As I am a lifelong resident of Garden City with a 28 year career in government, I harbor no ill will for the salaries made by our local government and school employees. I too chose to pursue public service for those little recognized, esoteric reasons of contributing to the greater good and trying to make a small difference in the world - values instilled by my immigrant parents.

With that said, it remains incredible to me that these employees make little to no contribution to their very generous health care benefits. While our salaries don't compare to those in the private sector, it is hard to rationalize that contributing 10% of a $100,000 year position would be a hardship for anyone. In this day of layoffs, even in the government sector, and rapidly escalating health care costs, it seems to me that this should be a priority for our town to demand from these employees.

Who knows? Maybe paying a little on health insurance can save someone from losing their job and joining the ranks of the growing unemployed. It's time for our administrators and BOT to make some hard decisions and asking folks to contribute to their health care benefits should be the first no-brainer.

Margaret Castellano

GC Not So "Green"

To the Editor:

I have recently read two articles in Newsday regarding energy conservation and being "green" on Long Island, "A green model for LI" and "3 towns go green". It seems a shame, especially in these times of escalating energy costs and a national drive to go "green", that in Garden City, even after numerous efforts, it has proved impossible to get permission to put up solar panels on our roof. Apparently it does not suit the aesthetic requirements of the village, so much for "energy conservation". At least municipal buildings, schools and not-for-profit organizations, which have a higher rebate from LIPA, should be permitted, (no, encouraged!) to use solar panels.

Abe Corrie