Editorial
Budgets
So much emphasis has been placed on the
recent story of the Farmingdale Public Library,
that the very important issue whether
the school budget will be passed or not has r e ceived
little attention.
We understand that for the past five years,
Farmingdale's school tax has risen proportionately
lower than other school rates in Nassau
County school districts. The school tax had
risen 71 cents compared with an average increase
of $ 1.30 in 56 Nassau school districts.
The District 22 Board of Education and the administration
has had a comparatively good record
in Nassau County in holding down the tax rate.
It was brought to our attention that the operating
cost per pupil in District 22 is below the
average for other Nassau Districts. In Farmingdale
it costs $ 804 per pupil while the Nassau
County average is $ 822.
The budget was reduced by $ 60,000 and with
increases in revenue, the revisions will mean a
19.7 cent reduction over the original tax estimate.
What would happen if the budget is turned
down again and the district had to go on an
austerity budget should be of concern to parents.
Taxpayers would end up by paying more in the long
run and would put up with a host of inconveniences.
Transporation services would be limited to the
state manadates which would mean that transportation
for K- 8 would be limited to children
living over two miles and grades 9- 12 to over
three miles. It would practically eliminate parochial
school transportation. School lunches
and milk programs would be eliminated. Textbooks
nor instructional supplies would be provided.
Nobody would be able to use the buildings
and grounds except the PTA. Additional
library books would not be purchased by the school
district. Summer school would be virtually elim-.
inated except for remedial courses. Most of
adult education courses would be eliminated except
for English for the Foreign Born and Citizenship
courses; additional instructional material
could not be purchased. Only emergency repairs
to buildings would be allowed to be made.
All interscholastic athletics would have to be
discontinued.
No parent really wants an austerity budget.
Yet to many it sounds like an unpopular State
threat. It is imperative to vote ' yes* for the
school budget on June 10. And if for any reason
one is not registered, an additional registration
takes place on June 3 at Weldon E. Howitt Junior
High School.
* * *
Plainedge school district resubmits its budget
for voter approval on June 3. Registration is
scheduled for Saturday, May 27. The Plainedge
school board considered the budget to be carefully
planned, without frills of any kinds. An
austerity budget would satisfy no one. The same
recommendation holds true in this case.
^ armingM? © luamirr
Published every Thursday by
THE OBSERVER, INC.
M'.' rtle 4- 6367
Frank J. Klosh - Caroline H. ' Clesh,
Editor and Puhlisaer
Vol. 4 No. 40
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Letters
To The Editor
To The Editor:
Along with about 100% of the
residents of Farmingdale, I
strongly object to the antics of
Library Trustee- elect, Carl Gorton,
not only for the action itself
but because of a grave concern
for its motivation. It appears
to be more of a quest for
publicity for Carl Gorton and the
John Birch Society is potentially
far more dangerous to the youth
of our community than one debatable
passage in an obscure publication.
Inadvertently, Mr. Gorton is
performing a great public service.
Far too often we citizens
exercise our voting privilege in
ignorance without taking the time
and effort to study and understand
the candidate or the issue. It's
a hard way to learn a lesson, and it
appears that we can look forward
to a bitter five- years paying the
consequences.
Unless, of course, Mr. Gorton
would like to perform another
public service and resign from
the Library Board. I'm sure his
resignation would be gratefully
accepted.
Roy B. Jones
74 Birch Ave.
East Farmingdale
Dear Editor:
The recent appearance of our
newly elected Library Board
member, Carl Gorton, on the
Allen Burke television program
attests the ability and qualification
he has in defending his
role as a private citizen interested
in the improvement and
integrity of his home community.
His election has caused great
consternation among the close
knit minority who, over the past
years, represented employees'
interest rather than economic
Library operation. The large
registration and the increased
number of voters, this year,
bodes well for the overburdened
taxpayer who, now, have a qualified
representative. Mr. Gorton
lias withstood the smears and
innuendoes of his opponents with
gentlemanly courage, fortified by
the knowledge that the truth will
ultimately prevail.
Francis A. Collins
18 Clifford Drive,
Farmingdale
Dear Editor:
Having lived in the Farmingdale
School and Library District
for 30 years and always
proud to reply that I am a member
of this community, it distresses
me to see neighbor shouting
at neighbor every couple of
years. I've always felt that the
people of the community were
good clean living, moral beings.
It would follow then, that the
reading habits of the community
would be the same.
The director of the library
is paid a fine salary of over
$ 15,000 a year to know the reading
habits of the community and
to select accordingly. In the last
few years it seems his selections
do not meet the standards of the
locality. Surely after having been
the director of the library for
more than a dozen years it seems
he should be taken to task for
spending the taxpayers money on
books that " collect dust" until
a controversy starts. I think
that the director should ask the
library board to accept his resignation,
I'm sure there must
be some other area that would
be glad to have his expert know-
IGCTG
Margaret Colwell
59 Cedar
East Farmingdale
To the Editors:
The recent attacks on Mr. Carl
Gorton prompt me to say " Let's
take a look at the other side of the
coin."
Some of the facts seem to be
clouded over by the liberal element
and pseudo - intellectuals
breathing sound and fury about
" freedom to read" and " censorship."
Mr. Gorton's action was
not intended to take adult freedom
away, but was directed at
the availability of certain literature
to underage children and the
, Library Board's refusal tore-view
same.
At recent meetings the treat-
People, Places
& Politics
m0* 0* 0^ By Caroline Bunting K l e s h ^ ^ ^ ^ *
Had the good fortune of attending the National Foreign Policy
Conference for Editors and Broadcasters given by the Department
of State in Washington, D. C.
Briefings were held by Dean Rusk, William F. Bundy, Assistant
Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs,
Sol M. Linowitz, U. S. Representative to the Council of the Or-gani
ation of American States, with the rank of Ambassador,
Zbigniew K. Br/ ezinski, member of the Policy Planning Council
of the Department of State; Herbert J. Waters, Assistant Administrator
for War on Hunger and attended a special seminar
on International Trade Problems. Ground rules were set up to
present background information use only in many cases, so remarks
made will not be attributed to anyone specific.
After hours of note taking, I got the impression that we were
no longer in the Cold War, but in the area of organi ed peace, and
that there was hope for this world. To sift through the thousands-of
words, several messages stand out. Communism is vastly
different in the world today than it was a decade ago. How much
meaning can the phrase ' world communism' have when Red
Guards riot at the Soviet Embassy in Peking and the Chinese
Communists charge the Soviet Union with conspiring with the
United States to betray North Vietnam. Communism is no longer
the Monolith of Stalin's time. We see Eastern European countries
pursuing individual national interest and identity. As one government
official put it, " The winds in Eastern Europe are freeing the
ice floes of the tcold war. They can be warm winds. They can be
trade winds." We should use trade negotiations with these countries
in the pursuit of our national interest as well as world peace. It
is not likely that trade with the United States would release
Soviet resources for additional military spending. ( While all this
was going on, war cloudswere beginning to build up in the Middle
East).
We learned that the War on Hunger is one of the greatest concerns.
We're barely able to feed the world population today and
with the present rate of increase, we'll have to produce twice
as much food to feed the world. The world population is doubling
every 35 years. Hungry people are an explosive people. For the
United States own security, we must feed those who are hungry
and certainly we should for the sake of humanity. The appropriation
requested this year is for one billion dollars. We must
develop other food products and look into the harvesting of the
sea. At least fish flour is a break through of a high protein concentrate.
Our aid is based on countries which are doing something to
help themselves. The aid program is not that expensive. At 2 1/ 2
billion dollars it is one third of one percent of our gross national
budget. The aid program serves our interests.
It is important to get the young people in Latin America excited
about the Alliance for Progress. The future is brighter since Punta
Del Este and a meeting of all the Presidents.
The State Departments biggest concern was recent developments
in Hong Kong and getting legislation through Congress on the war
on hunger.
DATEBOOK
FRIDAY, MAY 26
8- 11 p. m. St. Kilian's Teen Club
dance at K of C hall, featuring
" The Physchodellic Believers"
SATURDAY, MAY 27
8 a. m. MemorialServices at Long
Island National Cemetery.
8 to 11 p. m. St. Davids Teen
Canteen Dance.
10 a. m.- 10 p. m. School District
18 registration for the June 3
school budget vote.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 31
3: 00 to 9: 00 p. m. Nassau County
Board of Elections mobile
registration unit will be at
Mid Lawn Shopping Center,
North Mussapequa.
THURSDAY, JUNE 1
12: 30 p. m. Women's Club of
Farmingdale annual picnic at
home of Mrs. Erling Lunde.
Armed Forces
Army Private First Class Stephen
G. Czacher, 21, son of Mr.
and Mrs. Adam Czacher, 129
Midwood Ave., Farmingdale, was
assigned to the 9th Infantry Division
in Vietnam.
Pvt. Czacher, a rifleman in
Company C, 3rd Battalion of the
division's 60th Infantry, entered
the Army in October 1966 and
was last stationed at Ft. Jackson,
S. C.
He is a 1963 graduate of Farmingdale
High School and was employed
by Grumman Aircraft in
Bethpage, before entering the
Army.
Vincent Scarfone, 21, son of
Mr. and Mrs. Domonic A. Scarfone,
496 Syracuse Ave., North
Massapequa, was promoted to
Army private first class near
Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam, where
he is assigned as a specialist in
Headquarters, 87th Engineer
Battalion.
Pvt. Scarfone entered the Army
in November 1966 and was stationed
at Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri,
prior to arriving overseas
last April.
Scarfone is a 1963 graduate of
Plainedge High School, and he
attended the University of Iowa.
Army Private Francis J. Fit-terer,
19, son of Mr. and Mrs.
Francis J. Fitterer, 30 Ridge
Road, Farmingdale, completed a
field communications crewman
course at Ft. Jackson, South
Carolina.
Private Richard J. Alimonte,
19, son of Mr. and Mrs. Anthony
Alimonte, 171 N. Walnut
St., North Massapequa, completed
a 12- week communications
center specialist course at the
Army Southeastern Signal School,
Ft. Gordon, Georgia.
Steve Eisner, sophomore at
Farmingdale High School and son
of Anita and Albert Eisner, 122
Sunrise Drive, North Massapequa,
has been elected to membership
in the ninth program of
the National High School Institute
to be held at Northwestern University,
Evanston, Illinois, July
2nd. to August 5th.
ment afforded Mr. Gorton was
not in the best tradition of open-mindedness
and fair play. To the
critics fearing Mr. Gorton foisting
his political philosophies upon
them, I might ask why the political
philosophies of the other Board
members are not subject to the
same criticism.
We put our confidence in the
people we elect and I feel they
have undermined this confidence
by not judging for themselves
the whole basis of Mr. Gorton's
complaint from the start! At
present, a second copy is available
to adults 18 and over so I
must conclude Mr. Gorton has
finally made a point.
Mrs. Wm. Hansen
Page 4 Farmingdale OBSERVER Thursday, May 25, 1967
