[originally transmitted 12/10/09]
The Power Brokers Have Been Unleashed
WOW!
The money interests, and the power brokers, are really ganging up on the minimally-funded grass roots effort to create council districts, known in official State jargon as a “ward system,” for the Town of Huntington.
Look at the number of signs (think $$$$) around town that use the catchy phrase “Keep Huntington Whole,” which is about as meaningful a phrase as including the word “democratic” in the “Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea,” which is the North Korean government’s name for itself.
Look at the mass mailing (think $$$$) which the anti-district forces, or anti-ward forces, recently sent out, making a number of wild and unsubstantiated inferences about what the proposed change would do to Huntington residents.
Look at the core group which is behind the anti-district movement; they are dominated by a bunch of politicians and allies who have historically been major factors in the cozy and in-bred town government which people in Huntington have had for decades and decades.
Many of them are the heart of Huntington’s “Old boy and girl” network, the “You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours” crowd, the self-perpetuation brigade that simply does not want change in Huntington.
And look at the endorsements behind the movement. You will see the personal muscle bearers of the Dix Hills and Melville communities, as well as a number of chamber of commerce powers, as well as a senior officer of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Nassau and Suffolk County.
And this morning I read an E-mail, sent to me by someone on the distribution list of the Long Island Builders Institute (LIBI), which has them jumping on the bandwagon of anti-district/anti-ward forces.
Look at this key statement which leads one of the paragraphs in the LIBI message: “The ward system is emblematic of why it takes so long for anything to get done on Long Island.”
Oh, now I see. The builders want to prevent a district/ward system in Huntington, so that they can speed their development proposals -- and maybe their over-development proposals -- through the current cozy Town government, which they expect will be more builder-friendly than dealing with Council members who will legislatively represent their own district on the Town Board.
I’m sorry, but I still believe in democracy, and in allowing people to be proportionately represented by a legislator who can advocate for his or her own district within the Town Board. The power brokers will always have their power, but the people should themselves be empowered by a more democratic system -- with better response to smaller communities -- than we have right now.
It’s good enough for our State Government, and it’s good enough for our County Government, so why shouldn’t it be good enough for our Town Government?
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.