No other newspaper besides the Great Neck News has ever asked for specific details of agenda items in advance of a Great Neck Village Board of Trustees meeting, according to Great Neck Village Mayor Ralph Kreitzman.

Pressed by the Great Neck News at a public comment section of a regular meeting Tuesday, the board offered little to anyone seeking advance information other than an agenda – which is usually void of specifics.

“How can I get more specific detail on some of this stuff?” asked the Great Neck News.

“I don’t know,” said Village of Great Neck Mayor Ralph Kreitzman. “No other paper has ever asked for anything like that and sometimes the detail just evolves ‘till the meeting, I don’t know.”

Legal notices are published in the Great Neck Record prior to meetings stating that specific documents are available at the village hall regarding upcoming agenda items,” according to Great Neck Village attorney Stephen Limmer.

But according to Kreitzman, sometimes things “will come up” that are not submitted to the village for meetings in advance.

It remains unclear how the village properly notifies the public and the media regarding last-minute additions to meeting agendas which are not posted in advance legal notices.

According to Kreitzman, the Great Neck Record “rarely comes” to village board meetings and has never asked for specific details of agenda items before a meeting takes place.

Mayor Kreitzman is married to Great Neck Record editor Wendy Kreitzman.

Seeking more details of village agenda items in advance for the purpose of meeting preparation and more detailed meeting questions, the Great Neck News was told that agendas are usually available about five days prior to meetings.

A Mineola woman confronted a burglar in the dining room of her house last Sunday afternoon, Nassau County Police said.

Police detectives said that a man broke a small rear window to gain entry into a Jerome Avenue house at 12:45 p.m. on Sunday. The female homeowner heard a noise and went into the dining room, where she found a white or Hispanic male who immediately fled the house through the same window he used to enter it.

There was nothing taken from the house and the woman was not injured, police said.

Detectives are asking anyone with information about this incident to contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-244-TIPS. All callers will remain anonymous.

Reach reporter Richard Tedesco by e-mail at rtedesco@archive.theisland360.com or by phone at 516.307.1045 x204

With the deadline for filing petitions passing this week, Trustee David Tanner is assured that he will be running unopposed for mayor of East Williston in the upcoming March 15 election. Tanner is part of a three-candidate Community Party slate with Chamber of Commerce of the Willistons President Bobby Shannon and attorney Bonnie Parente standing for trustee seats.

A third trustee candidate, Caroline DeBenedittis, is running independently for a seat on the village board. DeBenedittis is chairperson of the East Williston Recreation Committee,

Tanner announced his candidacy early last month after Village of East Williston Mayor Nancy Zolezzi decided not to seek another term in office. Deputy Mayor James Daw Jr. also announced his intention to not seek re-election. Since Tanner was also up for re-election, his decision to run for mayor left two other vacancies on the board of trustees.

Zolezzi has credited Tanner with playing a key role in developing the master plan for upgrading East Williston’s downtown and its new village hall. Tanner cites his 13 years of experience on the board as a prime reason that he said he is ready to “step up” and assume the mayor’s role.

Shannon and Parente were both recruited to run by Tanner. Shannon said he welcomed the chance to take on additional responsibility in the life of the community.

“In East Williston, you see a community who cares, a very traditional community. I’d like to take an active role. I like being involved,” Shannon said.

Shannon and Parente both want to create more activities in the village for youngsters in the village.

“I think it’s the tween-teen years that need to be addressed,” said Parente, a lawyer and mother of two.

A director of human resources for the New York Racing Association, Parente said she feels her experience there will help her as a trustee. In 2008, she was appointed an alternate to the East Williston Board of Zoning.

DeBenedittis has been chair of the recreation committee for the past seven years, and has also been an active member of the Parent Teachers Organization for the past 11 years.

“I have volunteered my time and service to this village because I strongly believe in the qualities that define our village and set us apart from others,” she said.

Having helped establish Friday night movies and game nights for youngsters at City Hall, she also wants to develop more recreations programs for East Williston teenagers.

In Williston Park, Trustee Barbara Alagna is running for election to her position after being appointed as trustee last April.

She said her mission is to work at keeping costs of running the village as low as possible.

“I am very much interested in keeping the costs of running the village down,” she said. “I’m looking at every aspect of the budget. We’re looking at everything, trying to cut costs wherever we can.”

A little more than one month after being appointed to the board of trustees, Scott Strauss is running unopposed to be the next mayor of the Village of Mineola.

A veteran firefighter, Strauss filled the spot vacated by Trustee Lawrence Werther, who succeeded Jack Martins as mayor after Martins’ certification as state Senator representing the 7th Senate District last December. Werther had served as deputy mayor under Martins, who declared the winner in December after a contested general election.

Werther had indicated his intention to run for mayor immediately after he took the position. But on the eve of the candidate filings, he decided against running for mayor, citing the demands of his job.

“My obligations here wouldn’t allow me to give 110 percent to the residents,” Werther said.

He will instead join incumbent Thomas Kennedy in running trustee.

A dark horse candidate, Christopher Wales of Jefferson Street, is also running for trustee. Wales filed his petition to run on Tuesday, the deadline day for receipt of all petitions.

Trustee Paul Pereira acknowledged that he had been encouraged to run for mayor, but decided against doing so because of family obligations.

Speculation had focused on Strauss even before his appointment to fill the vacant seat on the village board.

A life-long resident of the village, Strauss said he loves Mineola and just wants to

“I just want to help out. There’s a void. I’m going to try to fill it,” Strauss said. “We’re in a good financial footing. It’s an exciting time now.”

Strauss, 43, is a life-long resident of Mineola.

Strauss served as chief of the Mineola Fire Department from 1999 to 2005, and has been an active member of the department since 1978.

He is also a life member of the Mineola Volunteer Ambulance Corps. And he is assistant scout master of Boy Scout Troop 45, which is sponsored by the First Presbyterian Church of Mineola.

Strauss credits his parents for setting an example for him through their involvement in community service.

“They were always involved in the community. That’s how I got involved in the community,” he said.

Strauss retired as a detective of the New York Police Department in 2004 after more than 20 years on that police force. He is currently corporate director of security and emergency management for the LIJ North Shore Medical System.

His eldest son Bryan is also a member of the Mineola Fire Department. His son Christopher is a lieutenant in the Mineola Junior Fire Department.

A quarter of a mile away from the LIRR station that changed her life 18 years ago, Congresswomen Carolyn McCarthy spoke with students about reducing gun violence at Mineola High School last Friday.

“The reason I am passionate about this, is because Colin Ferguson, who was the shooter on the LIRR, had access to large magazines,” McCarthy told the students. “He had 15 bullets in a clip, and everyone of his bullets hit somebody. This is why I am fighting in congress right now, to reinstate that particular piece of the law, to ban large capacity clips.”

McCarthy’s husband and son were present when Ferguson armed with a 9-millimeter pistol opened fire on a LIRR train of passengers between the New Hyde Park and Merrillon Avenue stations on December 7, 1993.

McCarthy’s husband was killed and her son was left paralyzed on one side of his body.

McCarthy and Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice had been asked to advise students how they could help reduce gun violence in Nassau County. But the conversation quickly turned to McCarthy.

McCarthy told students that before the shooting she worked as a nurse and had little involvement with politics.

It wasn’t until local representatives in her area voted against the ban on assault weapons bill, she said, that she decided to run for Congress.

McCarthy was elected to Congress in 1994 and helped pass the 1994 federal assault weapons ban that outlawed gun magazines holding more than 10 bullets. She has fought for its reinstatement since the bill expired in 2004.

“I will do my job in Washington, but I also need young people to get involved in this issue, because it can effect you in a split second,” McCarthy told the student.

She urged students to use social media networks, including facebook and twitter, to spread the word on her bill, number 308.

“Let your voices be heard,” she added.

McCarthy stressed that her issue is not about taking away people’s guns. In the past the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled everyone has the right to own a gun. But McCarthy pointed out that guns do not need high capacity clips, and wants students to help spread the word.

Rice told the students that as the district attorney she saw the control of fire arms to be one of her top priorities.

“For the five years I’ve been the DA, one of my top issues has been guns, getting guns out of our community,” Rice said. “And its been a constant, constant battle.”

Rice said the county has gone into communities with high incidences of gun violence and partnered with churches and religious leaders to encourage citizens to turn in their illicit firearms. Illegal handguns are then turned in at local churches, and in exchange the donor receives $200 dollars. Since the program went into effect, more than 1,800 guns in Nassau County have been collected.

Rice also highlighted her office’s “Peacemakers” in which representatives of the DA’s office go into middle schools and teach students about non-violent conflict resolution.

“Its about teaching kids about how to resolve conflicts about your peers and other people without resorting to violence, without thinking it’s okay or cool to have a gun,” Rice said.

Rice also encouraged students to get involved.

“You have the power to do that, you have the ability to get involved with that movement.,” she said. “You have an opportunity to get on board, and become activists when it comes to this issue.”

Reach reporter Timothy Meyer by e-mail at meyerj.tim@gmail.com.

Mineola voters Tuesday soundly defeated a proposed $4.4 bond intended to help consolidate schools in the Mineola School District by expanding the Jackson Avenue School and eliminating two elementary schools.

The 1,074-to-708 defeat of the bond measure was the second proposal turned down by voters and triggers a so-called default plan under which two elementary schools will still be eliminated over the next two years. In late October, Mineola voters turned downed a $6.7 million bond proposal by a 4-1 ratio.

“The people spoke and we said we’re going to the default option,” said school board president Terence Hale. “We already voted on it.”

The school board reaffirmed its intention to go to that default option at a public meeting preceding the bond ballot in a 3-2 vote, with Hale, board vice president Christine Napolitano and board member William Hornberger voting in favor and board members John McGrath and Irene Parrino voting in opposition.

If the bond vote had succeeded, all students in grades 3 through 5 would have been located at Jackson Avenue, which required more space to accommodate them. The board’s default option for consolidation only requires additional space at the Hampton Street School, which will be one of two district schools to teach students in grades K through 2, along with the Meadow Drive School.

The default option also includes plans to move the fifth grade to the Mineola Middle School and the eighth grade to Mineola High School, which was opposed by many parents.

“The parents told us this was very important, so we gave them the opportunity to vote and this is it,” Napolitano said.

The board has approved the use of $1.7 million in the district’s capital reserve fund to make the improvements at Hampton Street, which will be included in the school budget for 2011-12. That figure could increase to $2.4 million based on upgrades to the library at the school proposed by Mineola Superintendent of Schools Michael Nagler.

“The Hampton project will go on,” Nagler said.

While Nagler had favored the $6.7 million bond option, he acknowledged on Tuesday night that the first option was viewed as “too radical by many people.”

Nagler has emphasized over the past several months that any of the consolidation plans would result in significant savings for the school district. The school board initiated the process a year ago, voting to close two elementary schools because of declining school population in the district over the past several years. Based on an analysis produced by a voluntary finance committee of residents last summer, the default option would produce $5 million in savings over the next 20 years.

“There’s more than one way to do it,” Nagler said. “We gave the community two different times to vote on the configuration models. Tomorrow we go to the default option.”

Nagler is already proceeding with negotiations to lease the Cross Street School to a Solomon Schechter School next fall.

“We’re progressing nicely with the lease,” said Nagler. He added that he was confident of reaching an “amicable solution” with Williston Park Mayor Paul Ehrbar over concerns he raised about parking space around Cross Street for the 25 buses that will be there daily.

The district plans to close the Willis Avenue School in the fall of 2012 for classroom use. Some space may be retained for district administration offices now located there. Since the $10 million bond used to build the school is not yet paid, the school district can only lease space in the school to a non-profit entity.

Nagler said his primary concern now is the lead time he has to “repurpose” six rooms in the high school for eighth graders from rooms that had been used for home economic rooms in the past to science rooms as the consolidation transition begins.

“The physical move in a short period of time will be the biggest challenge,” he said.

Napolitano expressed a feeling of relief at having concluded the process of enabling residents to express their preferences on the consolidation options.

“I’m glad it’s over because this has been such a hard process,” she said.

But it’s not necessarily over yet. The school budget vote will also be a referendum on the $1.7 million – or $2.4 million – capital improvement project for the Hampton Street School.

So if the budget fails to pass, the school board would be left in limbo, facing the prospect of other options to consider.

The spirit of Rube Goldberg’s bizarre cartoon creations of overly complex machines designed to accomplish simple tasks comes to life at the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City this Saturday, Feb 12, in a contest bearing the wry illustrator’s name.

Nine teams from Long Island high schools, including Baldwin High School, Wantaugh High School, Lynbrook High School and six teams from Riverhead High School will compete in a regional run-up to the national high school finals at Ferris State University, in Big Rapids, MI on March 19.

For the uninitiated, Rube Goldberg was a nationally syndicated cartoonist who started publishing his humorous multi-step machinations to accomplish common tasks in the New York Evening Mail. For example, his solution for how to tee up a golf ball without bending over involves firing a gun to startle a groundhog into jumping back into its hole, which triggers a cannonball tied to the groundhog to drop on an atomizer, which sprays a shirt tied to a set of tongs, which – as the shirt gently shrinks – drops a golf ball onto a tee.

You get the idea (see illustration). Goldberg, who held an engineering degree from the University of California Berkeley, worked for the San Francisco Sewers Department before deciding it would be more fun to draft cartoons of his imagined sequential inventions. His name is now a dictionary adjective for unnecessarily complex devices.

The idea of the annual contest is to challenge young engineering minds to implement like-minded constructions for real. The objective in this year’s contest is to water a plant in a sequence of at least 20 steps, with points awarded for general impression, explanation, style – how well steps are designed to use everyday items – and extra points for creativity.

“Because we stress science and engineering, what better thing to do than to have these kids create these wacky inventions,” said Rick Angler, an educator at the Cradle of Aviation Museum. “This gives science clubs a perfect outlet to compete against other schools.”

It also provides an opportunity for visitors to the museum to view what are certain to be an amusing conglomeration of machines that will be set up for two-minute demonstrations on Saturday morning by teams of 10 to 14 students each. They are gathering to have their inventions judged by a panel, including museum docents and engineers from Grumman Corp. – real-life rocket scientists who helped design the NASA lunar module.

“While the judges are tabulating the results, the public gets to walk around the machines, ask questions of the teams and see the machines in action,” Angler said.

The fun starts when the museum opens at 10 a.m. It’s serious fun for the young engineers, with each team putting up $300 to enter the contest. The national winner will likely enjoy a cameo appearance with David Letterman or Jay Leno, and the regional winners will at least advance with the certain knowledge that they have concocted a perfectly ridiculous way to water a plant.

If you can’t make it to the museum this weekend, there is more fun in store in programs targeted for youngsters during Green Energy Week, Feb. 21-25, that winter school break week when parents may be seeking ways to keep the kids amused.

In the Cradle’s Wind Workshop, from noon to 4 p.m. daily that week, visitors will be able experiment with different types of propeller blades to see how they spawn wind power.

“It’s timely and it’s relevant to see how these things work,” said Angler, who added that the demonstrations will seek to convey the importance of developing alternative energy sources to replace fossil fuels.

Kids can go on a treasure hunt to see how many propellers they can find in the museum.

There are a lot of them to find, including a Bleriot, one of the earliest flying machines that was actually used on the nearby Hempstead Plain as a vehicle

testing wannabe pilots for the first licenses issued. There is also a World War I era Curtiss-Jenny that was repaired by Charles Lindbergh.

The museum’s family craft corner assumes a “green” theme, providing the materials to make takeaways, including koi fish windsocks, breeze spinners and working windmills.

Museum staff members will also be roving around with “discovery carts” of real-life equipment for a hands-on experience, including space suits and helmets to be examined and tried on by visitors.

In a more passive space-age vein, visitors can check out the museum’s prototype of the lunar module that transported astronauts to the surface of the moon.

So there are plenty of opportunities to enable visitors’ imaginations, both young and old, to be transported through time in the museum’s myriad exhibits on the history of man’s realizations of that age-old aspiration to take flight.

Watch out for the Lady Highlanders!

Coach Glenn Lavey’s varsity basketball team is once again pillaging the countryside (countyside). At 10-2 overall (5-2 in league play) these no-names have been leaving their mark in Nassau County.

So far they have won two tournaments. They defeated Clarke in the opening round of the Herricks Tournament fleecing the Rams 69-37. Then they chained up the Hewlett Bulldogs 41-31 in the finals with sophomore Alison Ricchiuti scoring 25 points. Ricchiuti was named tournament MVP, and Marisa DiRienzo was named to the all-tournament team having scored 20 points over the two games.

“The New Hyde Park Tournament was a real great highlight for the girls,” Lavey said proudly. They suppressed the Great Neck South Rebels 47-30 in the opening round, but found themselves trailing the New Hyde Park Gladiators 12-0 in the finals. Then the defense stiffened up and Ricchiuti took fire scoring 26 of her 30 points in a 10-minute span over the second and third quarters. Junior Kim Givelechian led the way in disarming the Gladiators with 12 rebounds and the Highlanders came away with a 51-43 victory (considered to be a decent upset win).

The Lady Highlanders have a huge long-standing rivalry with the Vikings (pretty much the way history went as well) of Port Washington. Trailing by five in an early season Viking raid with only minute remaining Ricchiuti scored the last seven points hitting a foul-line jumper with three seconds on the clock for the 35-33 win.

They defeated Port again in a raid of their own. The Highlanders trailed 18-10 at the half in the Vikings’ home fiord, but once again the Herricks defense came up big holding Port to only six second half points. Michelle Weinman (“the toughest competitor on our team”) scored eight points in the second half for the 32-24 win.

While Ricchiuti has carried the team thus far offensively averaging 17 points per game, timely scoring and gritty team defense is moving this team toward playoff contention. Thanks to the combined efforts of Alissa Kokinakis (sr.,), Kalli Mamais (sr.), Sabrina Telmo (so.), Victoria Marano (so.), Julia Buckley (so.), Barbara Nictas (fr.), and Erin Rivera (8th) the Highlanders are for real.

Their latest victory over the perennial county powerhouse Hicksville Comets 39-34 underscores the Highlanders’ credentials and sends a loud and clear message out to the rest of the county. Ricchiuti had 14 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. Givelechian grabbed 11 rebounds, and Weinman tossed in eight huge points.

Meanwhile, the Highlander matmen completed their 27th winning dual match season since 1978 at 10-3. They ventured south to Long Beach High School for the Conference Championship Tournament, which is known as the qualifying tournament, where they competed against East Meadow’s Jets, Mepham’s Pirates, Glen Cove’s Big Red, Lynbrook’s Owls, Plainview’s Hawks, and the host Marines for All-Conference honors and bids to compete in the county championship tournament. Initially ranked fourth among this assemblage, the Highlanders finished third, 15 points out of second and well ahead of the fourth place Pirates by 69.5 points.

Four Herricks matmen punched through to the finals. Ryan Singh (sr.-112) was 4-0 on the day with a pin, a technical fall, a major decision, and a 6-3 decision victory in the finals over Long Beach’s Matt Gray, who was third in the county last year. Singh has moved well up on Herricks wrestling’s career leader boards in several categories; and he leads this year’s team with 34 victories, seven tournament finals appearances, and five championships.

Anthony Rosa (jr.) continued his hot pace by going 3-0 with two pins (one in the finals) to win gold at 189. He has placed in all seven tournaments this year, and since he has gotten down to 189, he has been in five straight finals winning three straight championships.

“Anthony has become an X-factor,” Coach Cliff Forziat noted. “He has emerged from out of nowhere to become a dangerous opponent. He pays attention to his coaches, and all of his heavy off-season work is really paying off.”

Both Kevin Ryersen (sr.-171), who bumped up from the 160 class, and Tom Gonzalez (sr.-152) brought home silver. These four finalist and their teammates drew plenty of notice from coaches and wrestlers who had not seen them all year.

“I told them at the ranking committee meeting that Herricks should be higher,” former Glen Cove Head and Nassau County Ranking Committee member Coach Steve Kocienda remarked several times as the long day progressed.

In all, 17 Highlanders won all-conference honors.

Joining Singh, Rosa, Gonzalez, and Ryersen are: Corey Iuculano (so.-96), Matt Grandelli (fr.-103), Andrew Farrell (so.-112), Dan Grandelli (sr.-130), Mike Vespe (so.-130), Tom Dunn (sr.-135), Carlos Rodriguez (sr.-135), John Temperino (so.-140), Chris Farrell (sr.-145), Eric Kautz (sr.-189), Solomon Aziz (fr.-215), Bill Rynne (jr-215), and Mike Lopez (so-285).

Mark Holuka (fr.-112) had two pin victories, Will Rodriguez (jr.-119) had two major decision victories, and Samir Licul (fr.-130) added a hard-fought decision win. They plus Jason Liarikos (fr.-140) and Will Dowd (jr.-215) fell one round short of All-Conference honors. Justin Frangione (fr-96), Joe Tadros (fr-125), John Dunn (fr-125), and Dan Akhtar (so-125) ran into heavy duty competition early, but they all agreed that they were glad to have been in the show.

“We [the coaches] keep an open end on our upward expectations for each member of the team,” Forziat said. “We believe in their strength and their potential. We make note of any deficiencies and work hard to eliminate them, but the bottom line is that no one really knows how good they can be and how many things they can be really good at simultaneously until they truly try. We strive to get every eligible wrestler directly involved in this high level varsity competition as early in their careers as possible so that they can get past any trepidation that comes from the perceived mystique surrounding this level, and can gain the confidence that hard work and paying attention to this fine coaching staff can enable them to achieve success wherever they choose to go after it.”

Mike Miller is Forziat’s assistant coach this year, but Forziat treats all of his coaches as valuable varsity assistants including Jake Phillips and Chris Auriemma from the Middle School, and interns Tom La Maida and Bill Reavy.

They attend the numerous county coaches’ meetings and seeding meetings thereby gaining valuable experience and credibility among the members of the Nassau County Wrestling Coaches’ Association.

The Highlander coaching staff is quick to praise first year senior Sidney Kang. With no prior wrestling experience he attended some in-house clinic sessions last spring, then went to camp with a large contingent of the team in June. “Sid came every day [attendance is taken], did everything that we asked of him, and nobody worked harder than he did,” Forziat said. “He is bright, perceptive, industrious and persevering. His only drawback has been his lack of experience, especially at 160 and 171, but despite that he contributed eleven victories to the team. We are extremely proud of him.”

Village of New Hyde Park Deputy Mayor Robert Lofaro and Trustee Richard Coppola are both running unopposed for re-election to four-year terms for their respective seats on the village board.

Both incumbents have served on the board for the past 12 years and are running as independent candidates.

Lofaro is the board liaison to the Department of Public Works the village Beautification Committee and oversees village facilities. Coppola is the board liaison to the New Hyde Park Fire Department the Nassau County Police Department, the village auxillary police department and the village Parks and Recreation Committee.

They were both members of the village board that swept into office with an agenda to turn around the troubled finances of the village. Prior to their election, there had been a campaign afoot to dissolve the municipality.

Lofaro has overseen the financing and planning of the extensive upgrade of the roadways in the village over the past decade.

Coppola is currently overseeing improvements to the village Memorial Park, which will include installation of new basketball courts, and the ballfield at Nuzzi Park.

The problems that have plagued the pool at Michael J. Tully Park are persisting, as a 10-day period of repairs to the pool has been extended indefinitely.

Initially, Town of North Hempstead officials said the pool would be closed in mid-January to repair leaks in the liner of the pool in the newly renovated Aquatic Center. Then the reopening date of Jan. 25 was changed to Feb. 7, but the pool still isn’t ready for use.

A spokesman for the town said repairmen discovered that the drains in the pool were faulty and needed to be removed and reinstalled.

“We had to make sure those drains were working before we let anybody in there,” said a Town of North Hempstead source. “We’ve got to get this right. We can’t open the pool until the drains are functioning properly.”

The town is now giving Feb. 18 as the new target date for reopening the pool.

“The pool liner company retained by subcontractors to the town was not available to complete their work prior to the date set for the pool to be re-opened. They will continue working on the project again on Feb. 9,” said Town of North Hempstead spokesman Collin Nash. “Unfortunately, the parks department will not be able to begin filling the pool until Feb. 13. It takes a couple of days to fill the pool and then several days for the water to be ready for swimming. The pool is now scheduled to be open on Feb. 18,” said Town of North Hempstead spokesman Colin Nash.

Nash said residents of the town who have already purchased subscriptions for the first session will get credit for upcoming sessions.

“It’s unfortunate. It’s really unfortunate because the community does use the pool,” said Marianna Wohlgemuth, president of the Lakeville Estates Civic Association. “I hope that it can be repaired, that there is a solution.”

The pool has been reopened on Oct. 9 following an 18-month period of repairs to fix a problem with the pool’s filtration system and extensive repairs to the recreation center that were not anticipated at the time. The concrete poured for the new pool reportedly had to be redone due in part because of the building resettling.

“We wanted to build a facility that would stand for a long time,” Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Jon Kaiman said at the time.

The projected cost of repairs on the facility undertaken by the Town of North Hempstead was $12.7 million, but the litany of structural problems not anticipated pushed the final figure to $14 million, according to official sources.

Democrats demanded Monday that County Executive Ed Mangano stop a potentially costly lawsuit against the Nassau County Interim Finance Authority – just before Republicans ripped NIFA’s price tag to taxpayers.

“Today we are calling in the county executive to put an end to the lawsuit,” said Deputy Minority Leader Kevan Abrahams (D-Hempstead). “Quite frankly we can’t afford it, we are a cash strapped county which doesn’t have too many resources.”

Abrahams said Moody’s, which performs financial research and analysis on commercial and government entities, indicated that a possible downgrade is possible because the Mangano lawsuit suggests that there is no collective leadership in the county.

Standing with nine members of the legislative Democratic minority in Mineola, Nassau County Legislator Judi Bosworth (D-Great Neck) said she is troubled by the county executive’s decision to sue NIFA.

“It’s going to be costly. It will be lengthy and just and it’s just going to embroil us in litigation for the foreseeable future,” Bosworth said.

Mangano’s lawsuit challenges NIFA’s recent decision to implement financial controla over Nassau’s finances.

Bosworth and other Democrats complained that some of Mangano’s attorneys listed in the suit are from his former law firm, Rifkin-Radler.

Minutes after the Democrats spoke, Nassau County Legislative Presiding Officer Peter Schmitt (R-Massapequa) reaffirmed the Republican position that the budget is balanced and NIFA’s action is unwarranted.

Schmitt said a 1 percent deficit is a low threshold for invoking the takeover by a control board of a local government, according to Fitch, an international bond ratings agency. He said Standard and Poor’s, which publishes financial research and analysis on stocks and bonds, affirmed Friday Nassau’s A-plus credit rating and stable outlook.

“We’ve heard a lot about Moody’s. I think Fitch and Standard and Poor’s have weighed in here and reaffirmed what I have said all along … that the 2011 budget is balanced,” said Schmitt.

Schmitt demanded that NIFA reveal the amounts of the contracts that have been entered into with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, LLP & Affiliates, and the accounting firm of Grant Thornton.

“What it costing the taxpayers of this county per hour?” said Schmitt. “Why did they find it necessary to go out and hire two of the most expensive forms in the country?”

According to Schmitt, the law firm of Skadden-Arps, home to NIFA outside-counsel Judith Kaye, charges upwards of $1,100 per hour for legal services and is know to be one of the most expensive law forms in the country. Grant Thornton, is the fifth largest accounting firm, and is know worldwide for its revenue-generating capabilities.

Schmitt called on NIFA to vacate their rented office space on Franklin Avenue which he said was the most expensive real estate in Nassau County.

“It is the county resident’s sales tax dollars that they are spending. It needs to stop.”

Schmitt said if NIFA fails to disclose the information regarding the contracts he will ask the county comptroller to audit their entire operation.

Democrats said NIFA’s legal fees were not the issue.

“No one has balked at the fact of what they spent in terms of their staffing or their legal fees for 10 years,” said Abrahams. “Obviously now they felt the need to gear up in regards to change from oversight board to a control board.

They felt the need to add more lawyers … we have no problem looking into that.”

The article in the Jan. 28, 2011 edition, EW joins suit to keep county guarantee, dealing with the elimination of the county’s guarantee of tax refund payments, does not mention the fact that Nassau County is the ONLY county in the state, maybe the nation, to repay taxes erroneously paid to school districts, towns and special districts due to incorrect assessments.

Since the 1940s the county has picked up the tab for this. Nassau County receives about 17 percent of the real property taxes collected countywide, but must pays ALL of the refunds for tax grievances.

Nassau County Schools receive about 70 percent of the taxes collected; they pay NONE of the refunds for tax grievances.

Nassau County towns and special districts receive approximately 13 percent of the taxes collected; pay NONE of the refunds for tax grievances.

Why should the county pay for refunds for other municipalities? The cost of tax refunds is paid by homeowners whether it is in their county, town or school taxes.

Presently with the county guarantee, residents of East Williston pay for refunds for taxes paid to other school districts throughout the county.

Residents of our district, which has a smaller commercial tax base, unfairly pay the cost of refunds to districts with large commercial tax bases. Taxpayer in the East Williston School District now pay for refunds of school tax paid by large commercial entities and, at the same time, the East Williston Union Free School District never receives a dime in taxes from these large commercial entities.

Since East Williston School District has a relatively small commercial tax base, ending the guarantee will mean that East Williston residents will no longer pay refunds for school taxes that East Williston never received.

Once again, the superintendent and the board of the East Williston School District are not acting in the best interests of the taxpayers of the East Williston School District.

Taxpayers in the East Williston School District will be forced to pay for litigation initiated by Superintendent Lewis and the East Williston School Board which is not beneficial to the district taxpayers.

Business as usual for the East Williston School District.

Anne Reiser

East Williston