Townof Huntington, NY.........Part VIII

Our town………..                                         Part VIII

Such a nice place to live and raise a family

 Hey, Huntington! What’s up with these

 numbers? I guess we all forgot to vote,

 or, maybe, we just forgot where to vote,

 or, just maybe, we felt our vote wouldn’t

 count, so we just stayed home married 

to our “e-machines” and our "i-life”. 

The politics of this Town have been

 disgustingly corrupt for decades

 because folks just can’t seem to find

 the time to exercise their Constitutional

 right to vote every November.

                            *Suffolk County legislator (18th District)

                                  *Election districts reporting: 100% (78 of 78)

 

William R. Spencer 9,807 Votes D I WF WIN 55.93%

2,087 vote differential

- District wide -

Robert A. Conte 7,720 Votes R C 44.03%

17,527

               *Huntington Town council member (3 open seats)

          Election districts reporting: 100% (178 of 178)

Mark A. Cuthbertson 18,868 Votes ( D I SLTH WF WIN)   26.46%

564 vote differential

Tracey A. Edwards 18,304 Votes (D I SLTH WF WIN)       25.67%

838 vote differential

Mark L. Mayoka 17,466 Votes (R C)                                    24.5%

838 vote differential

Joshua C. Price 16,628 Votes (R C)                                     23.32%

   (first timer...came close!)

                           

                             71,266 - total votes cast in this category

               *Huntington Town superintendent of highways"

              Election districts reporting: 100% (178 of 178)

Peter S. Gunther 18,402 Votes R C IWIN   51.3%

960 vote differential !!!!!

William J. Naughton 17,442 Votes D          48.62%

35,844

                     *Huntington Town supervisor

Election districts reporting:

                                                  100% (178 of 178)

Frank P. Petrone 18,563 Votes D SLTH WF WIN      50.79%

                                        595 vote differential!!!!!

Eugene Cook 17,968 Votes R C I                                49.16%

36,531

71,266 votes for the Huntington Town Council seats is not a bad number (about 32% of registered voters in the Town. If that number cast a vote for Town Council seats, what were half of them thinking when it came time to use the felt marker for Town Supervisor and Superintendent of Highways? And, who gives a crap about our County Legislature? Come on, folks! If you care at all about where, how, and by whom your tax dollars are being spent, you really need to pay attention. You also need to follow through and fill in a complete ballot. Did anyone flip their ballot over? If you did, you saw your chance to weigh in on proposals and propositions that are going to cost you a lot more of what you already don’t enjoy paying.

        Please go back and take a look at the

              vote differentials, and then tell me your vote doesn’t count.

Wake up, Huntington

Town of Huntington, NY........Part VII

Our town……….

Such a nice place to live and raise a family

From the 2014 Town Budget with love and kisses from all the “Petronites”:

11/8/2013 - Board Approves Petrone’s 2014 Budget Proposal ^[1]

“The Huntington Town Board has approved Supervisor Frank P. Petrone’s 2014 Operating Budget, a $185.2 spending plan.... By the same vote, the Board approved the $8.8 million Capital Budget” ^[1]

Two very separate numbers that bring into play the exempting of borrowing in the Capital Budget. This was stated in proposition #5 as being solely for the Sewer District. Don’t bet that you were told the entire story on that one.

“Planned initiatives for 2014 and beyond include: the completion of Coral Park, the reconstruction of the Gerard Street Parking Lot, a new bulkhead at the Halesite Town dock, the construction of a new rowing facility, funding for technology initiatives and for protection of our environment.” ^[1]

This all comes under the “Capital Expenditures” category, which is separate from the main Budget. I didn’t know that everyone in the Town of Huntington was into rowing. The Gerard St. parking Lot make-over is going to yield perhaps four (4) more parking spaces; probably two. Technology initiatives and protecting our environment are gray areas where the spending can be easily hidden from the Public’s view, hence an increased possibility of misuse. I dare anyone to try to find out just who’s going to be doing all this “construction”. There exists a rather long-standing, insidious, corrupt history of “crony-ism” in this Town that will probably ensure that, for these projects, the correct construction company gets the job.

“…authorized sending a letter to the Zoning Board of Appeals supporting the Huntington YMCA’s plan for a new building and the construction of new parking facilities on Town land.” ^[1]

Remember the ballot proposal #7 on the back side of our paper ballots? No? I didn’t think you did. For those of us who did take a peek at the back side of our ballots, the ink wasn’t even dry before the special “eminent domain” kicked in for another expansion of the YMCA (on land the Town owns, or has the developmental rights to).

Here’s another example of the Petrone administration wasting no time exercising that #7 ballot proposal to deed land that the Town owns, or has the development rights to, over to private business instead of the stated public services option.

“The Huntington Station-related resolutions set December 10 public hearings on zoning measures related to two Huntington Station revitalization projects: the Columbia Terrace housing development at Railroad Street and Lowndes Avenue and the possibility of a hotel across the street, as supported by the community in the recently adopted Huntington Station development strategy. If adopted, the resolutions would change the zoning to a more appropriate category for the envisioned 14-unit Columbia Terrace proposal and adjust the zoning on the property that is now a municipal parking lot to allow for construction of a hotel. Sitting as the board of the Community Development Agency, the Board also approved hiring Jeffrey A. Hartman, P.C., for design and engineering services for the Columbia Terrace development. ^[1]

And, the lack of transparency never ceases to amaze.

“…set a public hearing for 9 a.m. December 6 on a proposed local law that will grant one-time property tax relief for homes damaged by Super Storm Sandy.” ^[1]

December 6^th is a Friday. And, who in their right mind set a 9 AM as a time for a homeowner to grieve on relief of anything? Come on, folks, they are treating this as a joke!! I find it unfortunate that folks in Huntington didn’t have the foresight to check into this before the elections last week. Perhaps, next year (2014) we can get the word out with sufficient lead time to educate the population of Huntington, our “All-American Town”.

___________________________________________________________________________

Toenotes:

[1]   http://longislandernews.com/town-unveils-185-2-million-budget/

Town of Huntington,NY...........Part VI

OUR TOWN….

SUCH A NICE PLACE TO LIVE AND RAISE A FAMILY.

I have bone to pick with Town Hall, again! I ran across an article in Newsday, by Deborah S. Morris which I will post in its entirety, and provide a link to the complete article. Ms. Morris has captured some little nuggets that the residents of Huntington might want to have a look at. This is all about our tax dollars, aka your money, which is being stolen right out from under us by a corrupt administration in Town Hall. And, it’s also about who we elect to run our Town government. Prior to seeing this article by Ms. Morris, I had a chance to read through the newly adopted Huntington Town Budget for 2014. It took me a while to find what I was looking for, and another while to get through it all. What I did find is that our money is going places you wouldn’t imagine in a million years. (I will address that in my next post.) Does it bother anyone that just three days after the “head of the beast” was re-elected, with the ink on the ballots from Tuesday still wet, there was a Town Council meeting to vote on next year’s Budget? Heaven forbid the meeting should be well advertised and well attended! Come on, folks, there should be standing room only at these meetings, and, until there is, our Town government will exercise free reign on spending our money.

“Huntington Town board narrowly approves 2014 budgets”

[Monday November 11, 2013 7:30 AM by Deborah S. Morris]

Photo credit: James Escher | Huntington Town Supervisor Frank Petrone posing for a portrait inside the clubhouse of Hamlet Golf and Country Club. (June 26, 2013)

“The Town of Huntington has approved its spending plan for next year by adopting operating and capital budgets for 2014.The adopted $185.2 million 2014 operating budget calls for a net zero increase across the town’s 14 taxing funds. But there will be hikes in two of the top three funds. The general fund will see an increase of 3.6 percent, and there will be a 1.7 percent rise for the Consolidated Refuse Fund.

The Highway Fund will see a decrease of 4.65 percent. The budget calls for no reduction in services or layoffs; and raises will go only to those under a collective bargaining unit contract.

Spending is up 2.2 percent, but the amount to be raised by taxes stays at the same level as last year — $109,686,705.

“We spent a lot time putting this budget together; we got a lot of input and obviously the board thought it was fine and thought it was the proper budget for this next fiscal year,” said Town Supervisor Frank Petrone, also the town’s chief financial officer. “The two people who voted against it did not offer any amendments so I don’t know where their concerns are.”

Both budgets were adopted 3 to 2 with Mark Cuthbertson and Susan Berland voting yes and Mark Mayoka and Gene Cook opposing the plans.

Cook cited discrepancies in the costs allotted for outside attorney fees and to settle various lawsuits against the town.

“I just didn’t believe the numbers and I couldn’t vote for something I didn’t believe in,” Cook said.”

The $8.8 million capital budget was also approved 3 to 2. The capital budget includes building a boathouse at Centerport Beach, $350,000 is earmarked for that expenditure.” [1]

__________________________________________________________________

Items of note:

    Watch out for those “general Funds”. That’s where the largest increase occurs, and that’s the category most often used for corrupt spending.

    Looks like the new Highway Superintendent is in for a rough ride. His budget got slashed, and he hasn’t yet taken office. Oh, did I mention, he’s a Republican who unseated the worst Democratic Highway Superintendent the Town has ever had?

    “…obviously the board thought it was fine and thought it was the proper budget for this next fiscal year.” Well, actually, two (2) out of five (5) board members thought it stank to high heaven.

    “the head of the Beast” is also the chief financial officer? You gotta be kiddin’ me!

    I thought Centerport has its own “Beach Association”. I know for a fact there are plenty of tradesmen in Centerport. Why does the entire Town have to pay for their boathouse?

__________________________________________________________________

Toenotes:

[1] http://www.newsday.com/long-island/towns/long-island-now-1.1732330/huntington-town-board-narrowly-approves-2014-budgets-1.6414729