Editorial
Will Be Missed
A familiar figure has gone from the local scene.
For many years, at practically every parade held
in Farmingdale, a portly drum major would lead
a band- playing group of youngsters. The same gentleman
would also man the booth every December
at the corner of Main and Conklin Streets and take
the costumed- part of you know who, to bring joy to
the hearts of youngsters.
In the middle 1950' s this unassuming gentleman
served as a watchdog in charge of building and
grounds on the Farmingdale Board of Education at
a time when the school district was going through
a major school building program. He became known
to workers on the job, by his daily on- the- spot visits
to make sure that the school district was getting
what it was paying for.
In more recent years, he would stop us on Main
or Conklin Streets and fill us in on the earlier history
of Farmingdale as he paused to refresh his
memory on the details which we posed.
The community will miss the friendly face of
William Hantusch, who passed away on Wednesday
of this week.
Letters To The Editor
A Shocker
Wow, what a blow District 22 suffered this week
in having the assessment drop at the nearby Republic
Aircraft facilities. The School Board was
stunned at the news as were the taxpayers who
were present at Monday's Board meeting. The
18 cent increase over the estimated June figure
was a necessity under the circumstances,. but drew
sharp criticism by three school boards members
of the Town of Babylon officials who were charged
with keeping this information hidden from them.
The answer we received from Babylon Town officials
on the matter was that a school board r e presentative
was present at the annual Grievance
Day hearings. The Board of Education feels that it
should have been apprised of the various negotiations
that took place behind the scenes over the past
two years. They also claim that letters written to
the Town officials were never answered. To further
compound the problem, the next day, news broke that
Pan American had leased the airfield. This also
came as news to the school board. The situation
became further complicated when the Metropolitan
Commuter Transportation Authority told this newspaper
that the State is analyzing the possibility of
acquiring the airfield for regional general aviation
use.
An MCTA official told us that the operation of a
regional general aviation airport is generally not a
profitable venture. The big question being considered
is whether the economy of the area would profit
from the venture. In any case, the chances are slim
that District 22 will receive school taxes from the
airport if the state takes over. A provision might
possibly be made in a lease drawn up by the State
to have the school district reimbursed to a certain
extent by a future operator of the field when the State
takes over.
The whole matter has certainly broken wide open
at the expense of school District 22 taxpayers. I-ronically,
the Oyster Bay portion of the school district,
which makes up the majority of the taxpayers,
will have to pick up the brunt of the blow.
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Published every Thursday by
THE OBSERVER. INC.
MYrtle 4- 6367
Frank J. Klesh - Caroline B. Klesh
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Vol. 5 No. 5
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the view of I he Observer
To The Editor:
With all the information that
had been disseminated relative
to the Farmingdale Public Library
Budget in the past few months,
it was amazing to find that there
really isn't a shortage of funds
with which to work.
Did you know, that the Library
has a bank account with a balance
in excess of $ 34,000 from fines
and fees? Did you know that
this money could have been used
for this years operating budget?
Basically it was the Trustees
choice - of using this $ 34,000 to
reduce the Library's Operating
Budget, or to spend, in excess
of this amount, to improve Mr.
Earner's building. ( Mr. Farber
owns the building that houses
the South Farmingdale Branch
Library).
The Trustees made their decision
to improve Mr. Farber's
building, which is certainly within
the scope of their authority,
but I question their failure to
let the public know about this
' slush' fund, when they campaigned
for an increase in the operating
budget.
True, it had been brought up
in a Library Trustees meeting,
but did you read anything about
it in the information disseminated
by the Library when they
solicited your vote for a $ 29,740
increase in the operating budget.
My purpose in writing is to urge
all eligible voters to attend the
the Library Trustees meetings
to learn what is going on. Obviously,
with all the mailings by
the Library to the voters, when
they are asking for more money,
they are not telling everything
they are doing with the monies
they already have.
Warren W. Altmann
74 Beechwood St.
Farmingdale
To the Editor:
I write this letter not as a
personal complaint, but as a
presentation of what might
possibly be an example of political
prejudice in the hiring of
employees to serve in a public.
institution. I make no claims
against anyone. I ask the citizens
of Farmingdale to consider
my case and decide for themselves
whether there is a possibility
that political discrimination
is being practiced in an institution
which they support with
their tax dollars.
For five months, I worked as
a page in the Main Street library
building. Because of the defeat
of the library budget, my position
was abolished and my services
terminated as of July 1, 1967.
When the library budget was finally
approved, certain employees
were reinstated in their positions.
I was not.
I visited the library to ask why
I was not reinstated. When I a r rived,
I saw three new pages
at work who had never worked
in the Main Street library before.
My five month's experience apparently
counted for nothing.
I spoke to the library director
and asked him why I was not r e instated
in my position, as another
employee of my acquaintance
had been. I was told that
the quality of my contribution to
the library was not what it should
be as compared to that of other
employees. Yet librarians and
clerks told me that I was a dilli-gent
worker. On several occasions,
I saw those with whom I
was compared by the library
director, ( and one of whom was
re- instated - others never lost
their jobs because of seniority
Which later did not apply to me)
relaxing, talking to friends ( often
on the library telephone), and encouraging
me to " take it easy."
When I asked a clerk why I was
not reinstated, the reply was that
the library director did not think
that I was getting along well
with the other pages, that I didn't
' socialize enough.' If anyone
could have criticized my work,
it was this clerk. She supervises
all pages, and assigns and
checks their work. And yet, she
made no reference to the quality
of my work. It is true that I
generally did not socialize while
on the job, but I was on good
terms with all other employees.
The library is not a social club,
and I never acted as though it
were while I was employed there.
At any rate, this was the official
explanation of why I was
not reinstated in my position.
I would, however, presentother
evidence which may shed more
light on the subject.
On Saturday, August 19,1, along
with several others was distributing
pamphlets to encourage
the defeat of the third library
budget. The library director
was out in his car that day and
happened to notice our group.
He asked us for one of the
pamphlets which we were distributing.
He looked at me and
at everyone else in the group.
When it came time to reinstate
employees, my contribution to
the operation of the library was
not as valuable as that of other
pages.
I emphasize the fact that I
make no charges against anyone.
Indeed, I can hardly do so because
I have no definite proof.
I only know what I have here
stated. I ask the people of
Farmingdale to consider this situation,
not as it relates to me,
but as it relates to them. Is
their public library being administered
to by people who hire
their public servants on the basis
of their political beliefs?
David Simek
object is political rather than
educational. If the billions now
confiscated in taxes for our extravagantly
expensive government
schools were left in the
hands of the people, there would
be enough money in every community
to build an operate all
necessary educational institutions.
Also, consider that those in
governmental positions dictating
public education policies are
sending their offspring to the
private schools. The reason is
obvious when the true facts are
known.
Francis A. Collins
Dear Editor:
In 1904, John Dewey, became
head of Teachers College at Columbia
University. He was r e s ponsible
for bringing Socialist
theory and revolution to American
schools. By 1945, many
American public school systems
were converted to Dewey's pro-gressivism.
Many educators
scorned basic education and
stressed life- adjustment at the
expense of real learning, group
to- getherness instead of academic
d is c ipl ine. A lthough hav -
ing the costliest and most elaborate
system, yet, it was graduating
students who could not spell,
write a correct sentence, work
simple arithmetic or read with
understanding; who had not been
disciplined in work habits; who
were ignorant of history and
tradition of their own country.
Suddenly, when Soviet Union
" Sputnik # 1 was launched on
October 1957 then those who
previously had defended our educational
system, now cited the
launching as proof that the
American system was lagging.
President Eisenhower urged
Congress to pass the National
Defense Educational Act as an
emergency. Excellence, instead
of limiting curricular to life-adjustment
programs, were to be
the goal of public education
systems. However, in May, 1962
the U. S. Office of Education
announced a return to the old
system of education in social
advancement and human welfare.
Both the Kennedy and the Johnson
Administrations expanded the
federal role in education and in
1965- 66 academic year alone,
Congress authorized seven
billion dollars for federal spending
on education. Although, in
1965, a survey indicated that educationists
had returned to goals
announced in the 1958 National
Defense Education Act, however,
1966 saw the reversal of the
goals because the " track system"
which separates youngsters
according to ability was
objected to by Negro leaders.
This meant the forcing of all
children down to a low level
of mediocrity, squeezing them
into a common mold prescribed
by agitators, sociolgists, and
politicans. Striving for personal
distinction, superiority, and excellence
were being replaced by
crowd culture which makes
human beings blind conformists
in all things involving intellect
and spirit, but renders themvio-.
lent anarchists when seeking
gratification of animal appetites,
*> r acting as faceless factors in
a mob.
What can be done? We can
abolish government schools and
build free schools, free from
governmental control whose
To the Farmingdale Electorate:
I wish to express my gratitude
to those local, independent citizens
who have taken the time to
investigate for themselves what
the noise is all about over the
public library by attending board
meetings. It is only in this manner
that it is possible to obtain
an undistorted view of how your
elected representatives act in
your behalf.
My election to the Library
Board resulted in a traumatic,
panicky reaction by the other
board members and the local
' ' l i b e r a l " left whom they represent.
Why? Can one member of
a five man board change policy?
NO! The answer is that my position
now enables me to oppose and
expose their machinations and
irresponsibility so that the
majority of local taxpayers will
recognize what has happened
through their apathy and the
determined, organized efforts of
a minority clique.
I can only promise to continue
my efforts, despite the villifica-tion,
harassment, defamation and
threats directed at me. I believe
that my confidence in the judgment
of an Informed electorate
will be fully justified in the coming
years.
Your faithful trustee,
Carl Gorton
To the Editor:
For anyone who has never been
to a Library Board meeting I
would like to say that it is an education
to attend one. Yes, an education
in all the principles that
are abhorrent to our justice- loving
way of life. Never have I witnessed
such bias and just plain
rudeness on the part of those who
follow the Board majority. The
Board itself is to blame for encouraging
such bigoted dissent.
They, themselves, prove no better
example of prejudice than when
practically all motions made by
trustee Carl Groton go unsecond-ed
and never even receive the
dignity of a vote. He is a duly
elected official and as such should
receive the same courtesies from
his fellow Board members as they
show each other. Such is not the
case.
When certain fiscal questions
were being brought up, and the
proceedings were difficult to
hear, one woman was heard to say
that she wanted to hear what was
being said because she was a taxpayer.
An anawer of'so what'was
given to her from one of our
better- known Library employees
in addition to others landerousepi-thets.
As a taxpayer who helps
pay this person's salary, I deeply
resent such a ' taxpayer be
damned' attitude.
I urge all of you to make an
effort to come see for yourselves
- observe and then judge.
Perhaps there are other things
you would rather do the next
meeting night, but please remember
that " All that is necessary
for the triumph of evil is that
good men do nothing."
June Hansen
Columbiettes To Meet
There will be a regular meeting
of Columbiettes of Farming-dale
Council Knights of Columbus
on Monday evening, October 2.
A Theater Party, sponsored
by the Columbiettes will be held
on Sunday, October 22.
Mrs. Leonard Oliveri is ticket
chairman.
Page 4 Farmingdale OBSERVER Thursday, September 2 1 , 1967
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