In the recent “Great Neck Plaza finds toughest road to shovel” article from the February 4, 2011 issue of the Great Neck News, the Village of Great Neck Plaza clerk/treasurer notes that “budget shortfalls will have to be made up elsewhere” as it pertains to the cost of snow removal. And while the folks at Village Hall are probably hoping that Staten Island Chuck’s prediction of warmer days ahead is not far off, I thought I would take the clerk/treasurer’s concern as a call to action and help recommend the “where” from the “elsewhere” those funds should come.

There are a number of ways in which the Village of Great Neck Plaza could save money, including:

End the appointment of Richard Gabriele as village counsel and put the cost of those legal services through a competitive bidding process;

Strip all perks that cost taxpayers more than $200,000 a year in salary and benefits for part-time Trustee Gerry Schneiderman and his colleagues in Gussack Plaza;

Tell appointed Village Justice Neil Finkston that he does not deserve a pension for only working an average of 1.91 days per month;

Stop funneling Plaza tax dollars to the MTA for LIRR property repairs and a continuation of poor service;

Discontinue the wasteful spending habits of the electeds by taking away the part-time mayor’s full-time $50,000 plus executive assistant; let the mayor pay for ribbon-cutting ceremonies out of her political campaign account since those events accomplish nothing more than a photo op for the politicians; and start charging village employees who earn over $75,000 a percentage of their monthly health insurance premium. There is simply no reason that well compensated employees should receive free benefits!

If the mayor was to give a “State of the Village” address, she would most certainly conclude that the state of our village is a mess. She would probably point to the undemocratic way in which she has built the legislature over the years – in which she appointed five of the last five trustees. She would probably discuss the fact that these politicians have run amok in doling out special incentives that enhance and better only the lives of themselves and their families. And she would probably note that high commercial vacancy rates are good for the local economy because it reduces the workload of her staff in collecting tax revenue, thus making them more efficient in managing the bureaucracy.

If the mayor was to give a “State of the Village” address, she would most certainly state that transparency and accountability is void from “her” village for good reason and that “the change-agents” who are pushing for such things simply don’t understand. And if the mayor was to give a “state of the village” address, I bet she would have Donna Summers’ song “She Works Hard For The Money” playing in the background for all to hear!

Michael S. Glickman

Great Neck

As one of the first people to reserve a Museum Pass at the Great Neck Library on August 1, 2009, I was thrilled and excited to be able to visit my choice of five local museums without any out-of-pocket expense. Great Neck’s program was preceded by similar programs in many Nassau County libraries, including Port Washington, which has 14 museum passes and is planning to add more.

With the passes, I made several visits to the Nassau County Museum of Art and Old Westbury Gardens, sometimes with a friend. I assumed the program would not only continue, but, as I had been told by staff members, would expand to include museums in New York City.

So I was quite shocked when the library board recently voted to discontinue the program because they did not find it cost effective and the director “felt it would be more appropriate to have a museum docent doing programs at the Library.” Today, four of our five museum passes have expired and one remains for a few months. After that, the Great Neck Library will be one of very few local libraries without such a program.

The director’s study on cost effectiveness found the program wanting, although she noted there was no way to determine how many people actually benefitted, since passes could be used for up to 6 people. She said it was more cost effective to order 43 copies of the book The Help or 9 DVDs of Avatar, since public usage was much greater.

In my opinion, this program was barely given a chance. Museum pass programs are available in 38 Nassau libraries, expanding in most of them, and were called “one of the best programs available to the public” by a staff member at the Port Washington Library. Our funding was from a library bequest, not from taxpayer funds, and the program was just getting off the ground, perhaps because it was not effectively publicized, or because patrons found the online reservation process difficult. Since Jan. 1, when passes were made available at the front desk, usage has gone up.

In my view, nothing is comparable to first hand experience with art. No book, no reproduction, no slide, no lecture can ever compare with the unique experience of viewing actual art in a museum or on site. My parents taking me to museums as a child had a lifelong positive effect and there are many parents today who strive to provide the same benefit for their children. In fact, the single most popular Nassau museum pass is for the Long Island Children’s Museum.

For adults and families who may not be able to afford current museum admissions (up to $20), the museum pass programs have been an enormous boon. The Freeport Library provides 16 different museum passes to residents, including the American Museum of Natural History, the Guggenheim, the Brooklyn Museum and the New York Botanical Garden. Other libraries include the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Jewish Museum, among others. What happened to Great Neck, a community long known for its strong cultural commitments?

If, like me, you believe this program is both important and highly beneficial to Great Neck library patrons and should be given another chance, please contact the Library Board and Director and express your views. I’m not sure this decision will be reversed, but hope that for the sake of our residents, the Great Neck Library will not be left behind while other libraries around Long Island, New York State and the country, provide this tremendous benefit to their patrons.

Diane Coffield

Great Neck

I would like to make a suggestion, that after a snow storm neighbors would take it upon themselves to do alternate street parking. Right now it is impossible for cars, fire trucks and garbage trucks to pass along the side streets. I believe the ambulance had some problems and had to turn around and go another way losing precious time. It is only a thought. It doesn’t have to be a law just a suggestion.

Barbara Afonso

Williston Park

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s announcement appointing Mr. Ken Andrews to head the Empire State Development Corporation is not necessarily good news.

New York State, New York City, Nassau County along with many other cities and towns prospered and successfully grew prior to the explosive growth in the numbers of various city, county and state development corporations over past decades.

In many instances, projects supported by these government corporations have been heavily subsidized by taxpayers, commonly known as corporate welfare.

Between direct government funding, low-interest, below-market-rate loans and long-term tax exemptions — the bill to taxpayers in the end is greater than the so-called public benefits. There also a relationship between Pay-for-Play campaign contributions from developers to elected officials looking for favorable legislation, private property condemnation under eminent domain, building permits along with direct and hidden subsidies.

In some cases, town, county and state development corporations actually compete against each other attempting to outbid each other in offering potential investors the best deal. This translates to the highest subsidies at taxpayers expense.

Don’t forget the conflict of interest for senior staff from city, county or state regulatory and permitting agencies. Too many leave in the twilight of any mayoral, county executive or governor’s administration to become employees or consultants to the same developers they previously oversaw. Some developers try to purchase the support of local community groups by making so-called voluntary donations. They also make promises for capital improvements, which after the major project is completed don’t always appear.

Other commitments for creation of permanent new jobs and tax revenues frequently do not meet expectations.

If these projects are worthwhile, why can’t major developers use their own funds or obtain loans from banks, like medium and small businesses?

Real business people who believe in capitalism build their companies on their own. How sad that some don’t want to do it the old fashion way by sweat and hard work. They are looking for shortcuts in the form of huge subsidies at taxpayers expense and favors from elected officials.

Gov. Cuomo could create more jobs and economic growth by taking other actions.

Why not consider repeal of the Wicks law?

The Wicks law requires separate contractors for general construction, electrical, plumbing and heating. Coordination of work by these four prime contractors in many cases requires hiring a fifth construction management firm on the part of cities, counties and state to insure they all work together. Each of the four players can impact the others if they don’t meet critical milestones in any project. This is determined in a project’s construction critical path schedule.

The fifth independent management firm has to insure that all four other companies work closely together in a positive rather than adversarial way. All of the above frequently can add to any overall project cost. Construction contracts funded by New York State, Nassau County or the Town of North Hempstead along with other major cities, towns and counties frequently average from several million to several hundred million dollars.

New York City Mayor Bloomberg has been one of the few elected officials brave enough to call for total repeal of the Wicks law. Unions have consistently used their powerful political influence to kill off any real modifications or outright repeal. Abolishing the Wicks law could save taxpayers and government at all levels significant amounts of increasingly scarce funds which could be better spent elsewhere.

Larry Penner

Great Neck

Recently, the Williston Times featured an article about fights between Mineola and Wheatley kids at the train station.

In the past few weeks, teenagers have been kicked out of the train station on grounds of loitering.

Adults reading the paper don’t realize something important. Teenagers do need a place to socialize and congregate. Parents don’t like large groups of kids in their homes a lot of the time due to size limitation and other factors. Neighbors don’t like noise. Teenagers sometimes don’t have the money to spend at the pizzeria. But what is a solution you ask?

The train station truly is the perfect spot for teenagers to get together. It’s a public place in an open area, which prevents the teenagers from participating in illegal and dangerous behaviors. It’s wrong for them to be kicked out on grounds of loitering of all things!

There’s not a “No Loitering” sign.

If the teenagers keep fights and issues to a minimum and don’t disrupt train passengers, can’t they just be able to congregate at the train station?

Lauren M. Miceli

East Williston

We are lucky that we have the privilege of living in a society where the press is unfettered, and the open exchange of ideas, pro and con, are the cornerstone of our democracy.

I think you would also agree that those freedoms should go hand in hand with a degree of responsibility. There were many things which your newspaper could have chosen to write about after attending our Village Board of Trustees meeting in January.

Instead, you took statements out of context and mischaracterized entire conversations. Your headline and overall implication was that the tenor of our meeting was one where we criticized our neighboring villages and their officials. This in fact could not be further from the truth.

One would be hard pressed to find a community with a greater degree of inter-municipal cooperation than the villages on the Great Neck peninsula. It is to the detriment of the residents and officials of all the villages to print stories which could be construed as designed to foster ill will. You can and should do better.

Susan Lopatkin

Mayor, Village of Kensington

East Williston needs Dave Tanner!

This is not the time to experiment with the untried and untested to fill the vacancies left on the East Williston Village Board by the outgoing Mayor Nancy Zolezzi and Trustee Jim Daw.

In these difficult economic times East Williston needs the leadership and financial expertise of Dave Tanner. As a former trustee, I know firsthand how important it is to have people on the village board who are experienced in business and financial matters.

Dave has served our community as trustee for 13 years. I had the privilege of working with Dave as a fellow trustee in the past and now, as I am the president of the library board, I continue to work with him as he is the village library liaison. Dave watches every dollar and knows how to handle important financial matters for the village since that is his business. With the loss of Nancy and Jim we need someone who has been involved with the “In’s and Out’s” of our village operations.

Bobby Shannon is a successful businessman and attorney who is known throughout the community and is currently president of the Chamber of Commerce of the Williston’s. Bonnie Parente, a labor attorney, brings her expertise when it comes to negotiating contracts for the board plus providing the board with valuable insights with regards to village code issues.

Dave, Bobby and Bonnie will continue to maintain the quality of life that we have been accustomed to and to continue to meet the challenges of the future.

Joseph F. Masters, Sr.

East Williston

Five New Hyde Park firefighters were injured early last Friday afternoon and hospitalized for smoke inhalation after being trapped in a basement fire at a house on Sixth Avenue, according to New Hyde Park Fire Department Chief John Willers.

Willers said four of the firefighters have been released from the hospital but one remained in Winthrop-University Hospital this week.

The five men were struggling to extinguish the flames in the basement when the blaze suddenly erupted around them.

“They were down in the basement and the fire flared up on them blocking their exit out of the basement,” Willers said.

Two of the firefighters managed to scramble out on the basement stairs, and one was pulled out by firefighters through the basement window. The other two were rescued by New Hyde Park volunteers who went back into the basement and carried them to safety.

“We regrouped and went back in to get them,” Willers said.

Two occupants of the house, an elderly man and his home health aide, got out of the house without injury after calling in the emergency.

The New Hyde Park Fire Department responded with 80 volunteers at the scene. Units from nine other fire departments assisted, with Floral Park, Bellerose Terrace and Stewart Manor sending fire trucks. Units from Garden City Park and Mineola were on stand-by to assist, while several other units sent ambulances, including Manhasset- Lakeville, Willers said.

A total of 125 firefighters brought the blaze under control approximately 30 minutes after arriving at the scene shortly before 1 p.m. on Friday.

The fire is not considered suspicious, according to Willers, but the county fire marshal’s department has yet to determine the cause.

The mood was somber at last Thursday’s meeting Herricks School Board as board members and residents contemplated the prospect of a 2011-12 budget that would cut $5.73 million from the district’s current $96.4 million budget – and require significant program cuts in the process.

“We budget very tightly in this district. We do not have cushions,” said Herricks Superintendent of School John Bierwirth. “So the cuts go into programs.”

The cuts would allow Herricks to meet Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposed 2 percent cap on spending increases and would translate into a 3.75 percent or 4 percent tax levy increase.

An alternative budget that the district is referring to as a “shaved stand-pat” budget” would represent an 7.65 percent budget increase and maintain all programs, Bierwirth said. The tax levy for the “stand-pat” budget would be 2 percent to 4 percent above that 7.65 percent budget hike

Bierwirth said the district faces several built-in budget increases as it attempts to stay within the 2 percent cap including a 3.5 percent hike in teacher’s salaries,

In addition, the district’s contribution rate to the Teachers Retirement System and the Employees Retirement System will rise by one-third to 11.7 percent and 16 percent, respectively. And health insurance costs will grow by 13.75 percent to $1.6 million.

Based on Cuomo’s budget presentation last week, Bierwirth said his “best guess” is that the district will lose between $1.1 million and $1.3 million in state education aid, far higher than the $500,000 the board put in reserve last year in anticipation of a state aid shortfall.

The board had asked Bierwirth and his staff to draft two budgets for a basis of comparison. The 2 percent budget would include cuts to the district’s highly acclaimed music program, special education and sports programs, while eliminating 36 classroom teaching positions. Nine high school teachers, 6.5 middle school teachers, two music teachers (one each from the middle school and high school), and eight elementary school teachers would be eliminated, along with five teaching assistants.

John McNeur, Herricks music and performing arts director, said the high school orchestra and band ensembles would each be reduced to one large group. Overall there would be an overall from six musical instrument groups to four. Music composition would be removed from the high school curriculum. The middle school would have larger sectional section for band and orchestra, with possible combinations of the 7th and 8th grade orchestras and instrumental teachers teaching general music sections.

“It pains me greatly to contemplate disassembling any part of it,” McNeur said. In response to one resident’s question, he said the high school jazz band was “up for grabs” too.

Bierwirth said consideration had been given to start musical instrument training in fourth or fifth grade instead of third grade as is now done but he said it was felt that move “would hobble the program for a long time.”

Herricks athletic director Jim Petricca, said 7th and 8th grade boys and girls basketball and baseball teams would be scaled back to single combined 7th and 8th grade teams, while the high school would be reduced to single varsity squads.

“We’re not eliminating sports. We are eliminating teams and opportunities for the kids,” Petricca said, calling it a “very painful process.”

Special education teachers and language teachers would have greater course loads with anticipated cuts in teaching positions, which have not been targeted in terms of subject areas. That would partly depend on what student course requests.

“This is just the start of the process,” Bierwirth said.

Comments from board members and residents indicated how wrenching a process the likely reductions would prove to be.

“It’s very painful. Doing $5 million in cuts is throwing it in the trash to us,” said school board vice president Richard Buckley. “This is just not acceptable and I think we need to work together here.”

Board member Paul Grisafi concurred, adding, “It’s beyond painful. This is a different school system. This is not the Herricks school district that we see.”

Dr. Sanjay Jain echoed Buckley’s allusion to district employees considering wage freezes by observing “It would be nice to hear everybody sharing in the pain.”

In response to a question from a parent on how much a wage freeze on all salaries would represent, Helen Costigan, Herricks assistant superintendent of business, said a total freeze would mean a $3.5 million cut in costs. Asked what the percentage budget-to-budget increase would be with the corresponding 3.5 percent wage freeze, Costigan said it would be approximately 3 percent for the “stand-pat” budget that would maintain all programs.

Residents raised a litany of questions – including one Bierwirth said he could not answer on what percentage of each departmental budget was reflected in the cuts – but most of the people made comments rather than raised questions.

They deplored the cuts in the sports and music programs, the reductions of teaching positions, or simply vented on the need to face the harsh economic reality and accept the necessity of making cuts.

“I’m telling the board I don’t know if the budget is going to pass,” said Virginia Pzena. “I’m telling the teachers’ union we’re all up against it.”

The Great Neck Plaza Business Improvement Dis- trict is offering Valentine’s Day shoppers a chance to win a $1,000 shopping spree.

Shoppers spending $15 dollars or more in any Great Neck Plaza stores made be- tween Feb. 12 and 14 are eligible to enter a drawing to determine the winner of the shopping spree.

“The friendly atmo- sphere of Great Neck Plaza is the perfect setting to pur- chase your Valentine’s Day gift for that special someone and, in doing so, become eligible to win a shopping spree,” said Ron Edelson,

Great Neck BID executive director.

Eligible stores include but are not limited to Plaza florists, jewelry stores and confectionary stores on the west side of Middle Neck Road from Gussack Plaza to Cedar Drive.

“Plaza residents and shoppers from across the re- gion are invited to participate in the Valentine ‘s Day draw- ing,” added Jay Corn, Great Neck BID Vice President and chair of the BID’s promotions committee. “This is a chance to participate in the unique shopping experience Great Neck Plaza offers.”

Shoppers must include their name, address, phone number and e-mail and at- tach the receipt and mail it to Great Neck Plaza Business Improvement District Valen- tine’s Drawing, 5 Bond St., Great Neck, N.Y. 11021 or fax both to 516-829-8354.

For further information, call 516-829-1301 or visit www.shopgreatneck.com.

All participating mer- chants are within walking distance of the Long Island Railroad Train Station. Park- ing is available on-street, in municipal parking fields and garages.

The Great Neck Wolverines Hockey team, sponsored by Great Neck PAL, moved to 12-2-2 with a 7-4 win against Sewanhaka last week.

It was a heart-pounding game with a lot of energy from both sides.

Great Neck came out fast, as they did the night before in their 5-0 win vs. Massapequa. They took a 3-0 lead on Sewanhaka early in the first period.

Late in the period the lead was cut to 3-1. The Wolverines came up big in a crucial time of the game when they were down two men to start the second period for a full two minutes.

Sewanhaka brought everything they had, but the Wolverines penalty killing was spectacular, and they managed to escape the shorthanded time still with a 3-1 lead.

From there, Great Neck was able to fend off Sewanhaka to come out with a 7-4 win. The Wolverines also played a game this past Monday, Jan. 31 at Parkwood, go to Facebook, Great Neck Wolverines, for game results.

The Wolverines now have a week off as they prepare for the remainder of the season.

With one significant goal already achieved, the chance to play for a state championship in Ithaca in March, the Wolverines are concentrating on two other major goals.

The first is to win the regular season of the High School Hockey League of Nassau County, JV division,.The other is to do well in the playoffs and win the league championship.

The Wolverines know neither will be an easy task. The team continues to keep its collective eyes on the prize. They plays each game as if it were the last, full of passion and energy. They have become well disciplined, and are not easily distracted.

Their core philosophy stems from their experience in the fall league, before the games even counted. They have been building all year for this moment. They have been planning on playing big games in March 2011, and we are almost there. The Wolverines need to keep up the intensity and not let up. All the teams in their league are solid, and compete hard.

Come out to Parkwood on Monday Feb. 14 and cheer on your Wolverines as they take on our neighbors of Roslyn.

Great Neck holds a 2-0 lead in the season series. Both games have been tough, hard fought, close scoring affairs. This one should be no different.

Hockey town is abuzz these days as the season moves into playoff time.

The Wolverines look forward to seeing Great Neck at Parkwood on Feb. 14 as they keep the momentum building all the way to the state tournament.

Go Wolverines!

A door-to-door outreach program sponsored by the Citizens Campaign for the Environment will take place in the Village of Lake Success between March 24 and May 1.

At a regular meeting Feb. 7, the Village of Lake Success Board of Trustees said the upcoming canvassing campaign by the CCE is intended inform residents on topics such as preserving land, water and air resources.

The goal of the organization is to educate the public through citizen campaigns on key environmental issues such water and air quality, according to a letter CCE sent to the board.

Residents who wish not to be contacted by CCE during the village campaign, are permitted be put on a do not disturb list, according to village officials.

“Everyone has a form they were given to fill out if they don’t wish to be disturbed,” Village Administrator Carol Pogrell said. To ensure people’s right to privacy, Pogrell and Trustee David Milner will be sending letters to village residents informing them of the CCE’s actions and informing them their right not to participate.

According to the website, www.citizenscampaign.org, the CCE was formed in 1985 by a small group of concerned citizens who recognized the need to provide public involvement to advance stronger environmental policy.

After 25 years as a not-for-profit, non-partisan advocacy organization, the CCE has grown to an 80,000-member organization with offices in Farmingdale, White Plains, Albany, Syracuse, Buffalo.

Village of Lake Success Mayor Ronald Cooper participated in the meeting at village hall through a speaker phone.