Bethpage-Tribune_1979-06-07

              BETHB»CE
OLD BETHWVGE
also serving ISLAND TREES
PLAINVIEW PLAINEDGE SEAFORD
VOL. 13 NO. 31 Thursday, June 7,1979 10 cents per copy
Photos-In-The-News Purcell -
kH^-k Reject Bill
H l i f t /
Assemblyman Lewis J. Yevoli (Old Bethpage) replaces street light
bulb after waiting four weeks for the Town of Oyster Bay Lighting
Dept. to respond. Backlog has left thousands of residents in the dark
since Town took over street light maintenance from LILCO in Mid-
March.
REMEMBERING: Oyster Bay Town Councilman Salvatore R.
Mosca (left) joins in a moment of silent rememberance during
Memorial Day ceremonies in Bethpage. Also on hand to mark the
solemn occasion were Kay Mazzie, Secretary of the American
Legion Auxiliary, and Charles Schwarz, parade chairman.
Marge Fink <r.) and Ginni Wolski, both Woman's Club of Bethpage
members, have their hands full displaying some of the arts and
crafts entered in the recently held Cultural Arts Festival. The
paintings were submitted by B.H.S, students Anne Cooney and Judi
Ortiz and the rag dolls by JoAnne St. George.
County Executive Francis T.
Purcell today called on the State
Assembly to reject a bill ex­tending
binding arbitration for
police for another two years.
The current law expires on
June 30. The State Senate voted
last week to renew it and the
proposal is now before the
Assembly.
Purcell accused the legislature
of ducking the issues by simply
considering another two-year
extension of the existing binding
arbitration process. He noted
that the law was extended two
years ago under the pretext of
giving the state more time to
evaluate its effectiveness.
"Serious flaws have been
pinpointed, such as taking the
power to spend taxpayer money
out of the hands of elected of­ficials
and the law's failure to
define the taxpayers' ability to
pay excessive arbitration
awards," Purcell said. "These
flaws are now in the process of
being institutionalized by the
simple extension of the current
law."
Purcell called binding ar­bitration
"one of the worst of all
the state mandates because it
turns the arbitration panel into a
substitute budget office for local
governments. "It robs local
elected governments of their
authority and responsibility to
make fiscal decisions that affect
taxpayers in their counties."
Noting that two of the three
members of a binding arbitration
panel are appointed to represent
the municipality and the public
employee union, Purcell said that
the system puts the power of
decision in the hands of a single,
so-called neutral panelist. But the
neutral is not so much neutral as
indifferent, Purcell added.
"The neutral member is an
unelected official who is ac­countable
to no one, who can
make his decision in a vacuum
without weighing any of the other
financial burdens and obligations
of the municipality, and who can
walk away from his decision
without worrying about raising
the taxes that will be needed to
pay for it," the county executive
said.
In 1975, he said, a so-called
expert retained by the
P a t r o l m a n ' s Benevolent
Association (PBA) had testified
that Nassau County could prove
its inability to pay only by
defaulting on its debts or failing
to meet its payroll - or if 20 per
cent of the county's homeowners
lost their homes because they
couldn't afford to pay the taxes.
Purcell said that the present
three-year PBA contract, which
expires this year, and which was
imposed by binding arbitration,
made Nassau County's police
department the highest paid in
the nation. The county is now in
binding arbitration on a 1979
contract with the PBA.
Grumman Scholarships
Awarded
ROBERT SCHODER of Bethpage, one of twelve winners of 1979
Grumman Science and Engineering Scholarships - each worth
$12,009, is shown with proud parents, Use and Armin Schoder, on
hearing the goods news.
Robert J. Schoder, son of Mr.
and Mrs. Armin J. Schoder of
Bethpage, has been awarded one
of twelve 1979 Grumman Science
and Engineering Scholarships.
Each award is ordinarily worth
$12,000 in tuition assistance, the
largest industrial scholarship on
Long Island and one of the largest
in the United States.
More than 450 honor students
from all over Long Island
competed this year ~ largest
number of entries in the 36-year
history of the program.
The grant will allow young
Schoder, a senior at Bethpage
High School, $3,000 a year for four
years toward tuition at any ac­credited
engineering college of
his choice. He plans to study
mechanical engineering at the
Massachusetts Institute of
Technology.
He will also get a summer job
at Grumman for his un­dergraduate
years, plus access to
an advisory committee of
company officers and an in­dividual
advisor throughout his
college and braining periods.
Scholars employed by the
company after graduation will
offered full tuition for evening
studies toward a master's
degree.
Schoder was the 1978 recipient
of the George Washington
University School of Engineering
and Applied Science Engineering
Medal, and recently won a
Westinghouse award for science.
He belongs to Mathletes, to the
varsity soccer, baseball and
swimming teams, and also lists
snorkeling and scuba diving
among his interests.
IRA S. LEHRMAN of Bethpage, one of the 12 winners of 1979
Grumman Science and Engineering Scholarships, each worth up to
$12,000.
Ira S. Lehrman, son of Mr. and
Mrs. Bernard A. Lehrman of
Bethpage, has been awarded one
of twelve Grumman Science and
Enginneer ing Scholarships.
Each award is ordinarily worth
$12,000 in tuition assistance, the
largest industrial scholarship on
Long Island and one of the largest
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