[originally transmitted 12/20/09]
So, let’s tally up; as of 8 PM today, Sunday, December 20th, we have had:
Hundreds of expensive red signs,
Multiple pages of ads in local newspapers,
Five very expensive mailings,
Two robo-calls on this very Sunday,
But no partridge in a pear tree?
The power brokers and money brokers seem intent on buying the votes of Huntington residents at the special referendum on Tuesday, asking us to vote “no” on Council Districts (also known, under New York Law, as a Ward System”) for Huntington.
Recalling that the year 2000 Census indicated that there were 65,917 households in the Town of Huntington, just start adding up what they have been spending, which I am now calculating -- after the fifth mailing, and the multiple pages of ads, and the additional red signs that have been popping up recently -- as between $125,000 and $150,000.
Remember that the builders, and union leaders, and lawyers, and Town Board members, and their Town Hall cronies, and their Huntington Democratic Party bosses, are combining in what I can only call an unholy alliance.
The independent politicians and media who have endorsed the proposal for Council Districts in Huntington include the following: County Executive Steve Levy (Democrat); County Legislator and Majority Leader Jon Cooper (Democrat); Assemblyman Jim Conte (Republican); Huntington Highway Superintendent William Naughton (Democrat).
It should be noted that Mr. Levy, and Mr. Cooper, and Mr. Naughton are known as very independent Democrats, and Mr. Conte’s Republican colleague, Assemblyman Andrew Raia, has indicated that he could not become involved since his mother is the Town Clerk of Huntington, and he must therefore remain impartial on the matter.
The media supporting this proposal includes News 12 Long Island, Newsday, the Times of Huntington, and the Times of Northport, all of which are independent of present or past Town politics, unlike The Long-Islander, The Record, and The Observer of Northport.
What makes it worth spending a small fortune to make sure you vote “no,” instead of having you vote “yes,” for greater representative democracy in Huntington?
Even the distortions from these folks are becoming stretched beyond credibility as they try to frighten us into staying with the cozy and convenient system that these power brokers all love so much.
One of the latest distortions that I have seen tries to make you imagine that there will be some lack of community integrity if we vote “yes,” for a Ward System or Council Districts.
What they don’t tell you is that our community, and others like us, are already served by more than one legislator at the County level and at the State level.
In Elwood, we have County Legislator Steve Stern and County Legislator Lou D’Amaro, and at the State level we have Assemblyman Andy Raia and Assemblyman Jim Conte.
But, whether we have one Council member or two, the important thing is that we have a legislator who knows our community, and knows our people, and knows our school district. The larger the area served by a legislator, whether Town, or County, or State, the less likely it is that this legislator will have that knowledge, or care as much about us.
Besides that, three school districts in the Town of Huntington even have part of their districts in other Long Island towns: Half Hollow Hills has part of the Town of Babylon; Commack has part of the Town of Smithtown; and Cold Spring Harbor has part of the Town of Oyster Bay.
But, my biggest concern is about this attempt at effectively buying an election, and what that means for the powers behind this campaign.
Why is it worth it to them to spend all of that money, hoping that you will vote "no"?
Remember to vote on Tuesday, December 22nd, at your regular State, and County, and Town polling places.
For my part, I will be voting YES, for a Ward System (Council Districts) for Huntington.
Jerry Hannon
About Me
- Jerry Hannon
- After a thirty year career at Chase, serving as a Managing Director and Global Relationship Manager, I took early retirement in the summer of 2000, and that enabled me to become active in community, school district, and town activities. Since 2004, I have been a member of the Elwood School District's Citizens Finance/Budget Advisory Committee, and since 2005 I have been a member of its Audit Committee, and serve on three other committees of the district. During the 2006/07 school year I was President of the Elwood PTA Council, and I remain active in PTA activities. In the community I serve as EVP for Community Affairs of the Old Chester Hills Civic Association, and served the Town of Huntington as a member of its Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee. For thirty five years, I have been a Director of the NY Council of the Navy League, and currently am Chair of its Audit Committee. A Vietnam Veteran, I retired as a Commander in the US Navy Reserve, and previously commanded two Naval Security Group reserve units.