The-Leader_1981-02-26

              BAIDWINIIEWS
.Startf On Pagell '
F&5Zf?raT UEU.ORIAL LIBRARY
S UERRICK RD
FREEFORT H Y H'WO 6
FftKPORt
IMDWIN
ROpSIViLT
MiRRICK
FREiroRtjS
ofiiiini
NEWSFMPER
45th YEAR, No. 44 FREEPPRT.14EW YORKTFEBRUARY26.1981 PWCE Ztt'^PBRCOPY
II ites Meet In First Debote
Woodbines Tq Jvfp Siittes Appear Af
^ " • r " ^ NCPGA Candffdirtes' Fdhtm
SERVICE ACADEMY NOMINEES. Congrowman Norman F. Lent {c.>
eortgratulales i\\s nom}a4ea from Freeport to the U.S. service acad­emies
tftm FreeporJ/ ReceivlPB *he CenBresaman'a best wishes
are (I, to r.) Thomas Bensten, Merchant Marine; Dwayne Hidb,
Annapolis; Sandy Krigel; West Point; and William Scanlion, tha
,noinlnBea imgtnaw compete, with other young men and *omen from
a c r ^ the*fiaTOn;—
preference.
^6r appointment to the service academy ol ttieir
Village Board Meeting
Turns Into Political Hassle
FBEEPORT - The Monday night, February 23rd public meeting of
(he Village Board of Tiiistees ended with a commeni from one resident
present thai, "I really don't think this is the place to conduct a jwUtJcal
forum." Wall Petersen, a resident of Woodbine Drive; who was af «be
meeling to present a petition on his streets* repaying, w»s greeted with
applause from the few people there.
_. Petersen's remark followed a"^ ' '
somewhat lengthy dialogue be- ' When Seabtook answered
tween - —Democratic mayoralty thatoneof the-three is seeking"
candidate Eugene Devany and raly a S2!,000 salary. White"
FBEEPORT - After being hand­ed
a petition signed by 88% of
the r e s i d e ^ of the Woodbine
-Pfives. - Ui^^Wlage, Boaid- ef-
Trostees decided to survey the
two'struts before maldng a final
decision on whether they would
be included in the 198i. Street
Improvement Plan. - •
At their Monday night, Febru­ary
23rd public meeting, the
Trustees- were told by Walt
Petersen, spokesman for the
residents on the two streets, that
the petitions asked for the Wood­bines
to be considered "number
one priority" on the list for 1981
street repairs. Thirty-one of the
35. residents signed •the,petition
.subri>itteagtEetBisen..j' -;•-•' -
Petersen"' noted that last year
the Woodbines hart -been put o&
with a statement that they would
be included in the next year's
plan.. "Members of the BoJird."
he said, "next year has arrived,
-and we can no longer tolerate pot
" holes, lingering rivers of! water,
iced-over streets and the danger­ous
coiiditions that prevail."
However, one &sl Woodb.ine
Drive resident, Mr. Staudet,''toId
the Board that he hadn't signed
the petition because he was not
sure of the costs to the home­owners
and'ot|ier details. Notihg
that sidewalks had been "voted
down" by the Woodbine Drive
residents in an earlier survey
•because of tht-jmsU, Staudet
FREEPORT - Two of the three.slates of candidates in the forthcom­ing
village-wide election were present at the Candidates' Forum
-S|ionM>W!d-hy-the-Northeast_Byfp,irt rivip Assotfation fNEFP^)
Wednesday evening, February 18; at the Little Church of Zion.
." Acceptiiig NEFCA's invitation t&thc forum were Democratic candi­dates
Eugene Devany. ruoniog for Mayor: Gloria LeBIanc and Ira
Schildkraut, Trustee candidates;
Mayor William White, who is
running for re-election tohis third,
fetm in the March 17 election;
and,White and air-East Milton
Sbeet resident William Seabrook',
who said lie was the newly elect­ed
Executive Secretary of the
Taxpayers Party of "that great
American, Stan McCaffrey."
Seabrook was" the first of the
two tu spc^, as he qiiestioaed-
White about the M2,500"salary
for a full-time mayor. ^'How do
you jiistify .it," asked Seabrook.
"when the Mayor of New, York
City gets only $60,000?'' Sea­brook
claimed that White only
represented 10% of the people
in Freeport because "less thin
10%of the people voted for you
last time."
White explained that the entire
village population cant^ot vote.
"Yoii can only vote." said the
Mayor, "if you are over 18 and
if you are registered."
Seabrook then accused the
Board of deciding the mayor's'
salary in "executive session."
._ "U was done at a budget
meeting to which the people are
. always invited," answered
White. "All three candidates are
running for the full-time posi­tion,"
he pointed out.
answered "you pay for what you
get,"
White also explained that after
April I, five village employees'
(e.g. department heads) would be
receiving salaries of at -least
S41,000. "I don't think it is ex­orbitant
at all,*' cominented the
Mayor, describing the village's
budget size and complexities.
—5«abrook thfn n^iPfl WbitsL
about a recent artifle in THE
LEADER concerning Columbia
University students doing a
survey on The Mall. He ch^gcd
• that this "shows you lack the
experience to wprk on the Mall...
Why can't you solve the problem
yourself?"
Seabrook declined to answer
White's question about the size
_ of the Freeport Taxpayers Associ-.
alien: "Enough (people! was all
he would say. Later, in answer to
another question put to him; Sea­brook
admitted that he had been
at previous board meetings otiiy
when Police Chief Anthony
Elar's position wzs discussed.
Then Seabrook went on with
his questions. "Would you say."
he asked White, "that Freeport
is in a better way now than it
was in 1973?"
(Cont. on Page 9)
said, "I am in favor o^.the side­walks
now to get it done, but what
will we gelT"^UUdet went oi
ask about the residents who had
put in sidewalks recently, and
those with fire hydrants in front
of their houses. While in favpr of-the
plan advanced by the vQiage
engineers in the originally pro­posed
1981 plan, Staodet said he
wanted everyone ' to "clearly
understand wtiat will be done."
White answered that the Board
shared the same concerns. "No
way .".the Mayor said, "can we
accept a petition where the '
residents do not know what it
entails."
Trustee Al Sirlin went throtigh
a history of past surveys on the
iwo streets. "If the people
want it," Sirlin said, "you would
have my vote." ~
Mayor While proposed that the
Village send the residents an
information bulletin explaining
the costs to thfcm. He suggested
that the wording be worked out
with the Village Oerk, the en­gineers
and a committee of
two of the residents. Mr. Staudet
and Ken Bagatelle. Mr. and Mrs.
Petersen and Rose Bagatelle
suggested that they would
(Cont. on Page 16)
and Marvin Cohen, candidate (or
.Village Judge; i>nd the Nu Citi­zens.
Party's mayoralty candidate
Sal Imburgio, and ,t»'o candidates
for Trustee, Elizabeth Bowen
and Marvin Iskols. The Nu Citi­zens
Party is not fjelding a candi­date
for. Village Justice in the
election.
The four candidates a the
Republican/Village Parti cJoiUi-tioa
— Mayor Waa»ni.HJ.WJiite.
Trustees Dorothy Storm and Al
Sirlin, and Village Justice Ralph
Franco - had a^atently declined
the invitation.
Marvin Cohen, the first speak­er,
in his initial remarks^jsaid he
believed h? cpold be-"part jjf the,
solution to the itniesoIVed ph^-
iems in the village." A 17-year
resident of Lena Avenue, the
Democratic candidate said he
knew that the vigorous enforce­ment
of the tillage's bailding.
code Is "of great concern" to
the auiHence, a ' concern" be
shared as a "parent and home­owner."
Cohta. explained that because
his law^ractice was based.in
New York Gty, his business was
not tied in any-way to village or
iiuiity officials.
Nancy Hemberger then asked
him, "What type of penalty
would yon givea-homeowoer or
tenant who does 6ot taJce caie of
his property?
Cohen answered that the fines
shotild • have been "consistent"
for the past few years, not differ­ent
just before Election Day,
referring-to a recent LEADER
article about a large fine levied
in Village Court. Cohen ptnnted .
out that if the fines were ''con­sistently"
handed down, people
.woul4 l i ow that "in Freeport you
don't' get .'away . with^ jhose
things."- . - • - ; '^ ~
The four candidates for trustee "T"
positions spoke next. " •*
Nu Citizens Party candidate Liz
Bowen outlined what she called -
"an important part of our pla't-
" form." Bowen <»IIed foreach of
the iour trustees to be elected,
:not at-Iirgeas at present, but
from'each of four districts:.south- "
.west, southeast, northeast and
northwest.'Bowen said this would
make each trustee "more respon­sive
to the aniqne composition of
.the neighborhood...The trustee
ata lobby in your behalf," -she
ti^d the residents. She claimed
that the system would "piit an-end
to the trustees being a rubber
stamp for tSe">.Iiyot."
' At the saifle time — calling for
the election of her party's entire,
slate.—^ Bowen sakl '-'It is^impor­tant
to- have the majority of
peo{dc on the'Board who think the
san>^«*y."
In answer to a questioti, Bowen
(CoritonPagefi)
tj
PRESENTEO WITH A PI.AQUE. Richard Miranda (2nd from r.),
Town of Hempstead's Deputy Commissioner of Conservation and
.Waterways, was honored with a plaque at-a recent freeport Ct\aml>er
of CommercB luncheon al Mario's C^asa Dl Sanu Maria II. Miranda had
t>een helpful In several maior.Chamber events, svich as the Canoe.
Races and the Boat Show and in the Power Boat Races h«td in (he
village. Malting the presentation were Chamber president Lionel
Socolov (r.) and Presldent-«lect Jo Cona (2nd from I.), while Village
Associate Justice Charles Mehrmann (1.) program chairman, looks on.