EDITORIAL:
Urge, Reform In State
Election Law
Attorney General Louis J. Lefkowitz yesterday
urged that the 1969 Legislature amend the state's
Election Law to require national convention delegates
representing Congressional districts and at
large to sign a pledge to support a specific candidate
and to provide that the delegate's and candidate's
names appear in the same voting machine box so a
voter can be sure the delegate he selects will support
the candidate of his choice.
The Attorney General made his reommendation
in a letter to Assemblyman Alexander Chananau,
chairman of the Joint Legislative Committee on the
Election Law.
" Such a law would make easier the voter's decision
as to his selection of delegates and assure
him that the candidate of his choice will be supported
by such delegate if elected," the Attorney General
said.
Also included in the Attorney General's recommendations
to the Committee is a bill to require
the consent of a candidate for the office of President
or Vice- President to the use of his name on
the ballot.
The Attorney General also proposed that the
committee sponsor a bill to make the hours for
voting at primary elections the same as for general
elections. Other proposals would remove the
requirement that witnesses to signatures on designating
petitions and signers and witnesses on
independent petitions be registered at the last
general election. " Under Permanent Personal Registration
this would seem unnecessary. Such an
amendment would eliminate technical objections
which now result in petitions being invalidated by
the Board of Election and the Courts."
Attorney General Lefkowitz further urged that
bills he recommended to the 1968 Legislature,
which did not become law again be proposed
to the 1969 session. These include amendments
to provide for mandatory instruction of inspectors
of election and clerks, to provide identification
badges for inspectors and clerks, to permit the
separate use of paper ballots for voting on constitutional
amendments, the use of paper ballots for
delegates- at- large to a constitutional convention,
and to state that notice must be given to the Attorney
General and the district attorney of any failure
to file statements of campaign receipts and disbursements.
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Observer.
People, Places
& Politics
Caroline Bunting Klesh
Make a change in your address
book on Mrs. D. Robert Mac-
Dougall. Her new address is:
14480 SW 291st' Leisure City,
Florida, 33030. Mrs. Mac sold
her place in Sarasota and writes
that she prefers Leisure City,
. . ." this small country town
which I like better than the large
city. My brother and his wife
live next door. This is called
the ' Market Basket* spot of the
country and one can ride for
miles through agricultural land.
Florence Merritt MacDougall
was a Westchester Merritt, of
the Merritt Parkway descendent
of Thomas Powell and John C.
Merritt. She and her late husband
were former owners of the
Thomas Powell home.
Louis L. Tucker, Assistant
Commissioner for State History
of the University of the State
of New York just sent me a
communique that may be of interest
to someone in Farmingdale.
" When I became State Historian,
I had no idea that our
office would have dealings with
scuba divers. Boy, have we had
dealings! Here's a bit of background.
A lot of significant history
has taken place on the lakes
and rivers of New York State,
and much of the evidence relating
to this history now rests
upon the muddy floors of these
bodies of water. Consider, for
example, the naval battles on
Lake Champlain and George
during the colonial and Revolutionary
Wars. Over the years,
scuba divers have been diligently
plying their activity with the
result that a great many valuable
historical artifacts have
been found- and lost, from the
standpoint of the researcher.
There are laws dealing with the
recovery of historical artifacts
located under navigable bodies
of water, but, in the main, they
have neither been adhered to by
the divers nor enforced by
state authorities. And let's be
honest, this is an incredibly complex
and ambivalent area of law.
" Our office has become increasingly
concerned with the
problem of underwater research.
We are primarily concerned with
the loss of historical materials
which, by law, belong to the
people of the State of New York.
We are also concerned by the lack
of cooperation that exists between
the sports diver and the
serious researcher, be he archaeologist
or an historian. In
the past year and a half, we have
had a series of meetings. From
these come the appointm3nt of
a five- member, state- wide committee
on underwater research,
consisting of two divers, two
historians and a college president
who is concerned with the
broader aspects of underwater
research."
The preservation of local
history is important work; we
need someone to interest young
people in the project. The development
of source material
for our teachers in our schools
is a job waiting to be done.
( The study of local history is
required curricula by the New
York State Education Department.)
We urge the formation of the Mussa-pequa
Historical Society.
There are many * ine people
in Massapequa who hae a wealth
of material to give; a wealth
of information. These reminiscences
should be pi'. served
on tape; a collection of ta^
recordings can be very valuable.
This work can be ably done by
young peoplcall we need is some
one who can inspire young people
and organize the job. The collection
of historical pictures is
important. Think of Massapequa
the era of the Floyd- Jones; of
the days of Brady, Cryan and
Colleran in Massapequa Park;
the time when Massapequa was
known as a resort hotel area
and the Park was Stadtwurten-berg;
the days of the old pump
and water trough, Merrick Road.
Tax Views
By Stanley Feigenbaum
A very interesting series of
events occured two weeks ago. It
started with the adoption of the
new budget for the Town of Oyster
Bay, and the setting of the
new tax rates. The Town Board
raised the Town tax rates, in itself
not an unusual type of event.
However, in reporting the story,
one of the daily newspapers erred
in their calculations, and reported
that the new town general tax
for a house assessed at $ 7,500
would be $ 313.50, when the correct
figure is $ 31.35. The paper
printed the correct figures the
next day.
According to the newspaper,
only two calls were received concerning
the story, and in both
instances, the callers pointed
out the error. Many people, however,
called the Town Tax Office
to complain, belatedly. They
were informed about the error
and most seemed satisfied. And
that is the strangest part of the
whole story. They were satisfied,
did not complain further,
and accepted the information with
relief, EVEN THOUGH over- all
town taxes were raised by as
much as 80C per $ 100 assessed
value.
A school tax increase of this
size, or smaller, is sufficient
to bring people out in droves to
denounce the school board, school
administration, waste, frills, experimental
programs, staffing,
etc. Why was there not a peep
from the people so concerned
about their taxes? The Town announced,
weeks ago, that there
would be a tax increase, and invited
public comment and attendance
at the budget hearing.
There was virtually no public
comment, and practically none
turned up for the meeting. WHY?
Where were the people who
berate the school board for
raising taxes, who insist that
they can no longer pay the taxes,
and will be forced to sell their
homes?
We are forced to one of three
possible conclusions. One, these
people don't read newspapers.
Two, they do not realize that
Town taxes constitute a large
percentage of then* totaltax bill,
and the school taxes account for
only about half the total real
property taxes. Three, they
really don't care about school
taxes at all. They are just using
the issue to accomplish other
aims.
The great danger in this varied
reaction to tax increases is that
the legislature, seeing the public
docilely accepting those tax
increases on which there is no
public vote, will simply remove
the school budget from a public
vote. While this will not solve
the school financing problems,
it will solve one of the legislature's
problems, namely that
when many school budgets are
voted down, the legislature is
forced to do something, like it
or not. If we do not have the
right to vote on school budgets,
obviously there will be no turn-downs,
and the legislature will
not be pressured into providing
more equitable financing.
The more we follow the ir-tational
reactions to different
real property taxes, quietly accepting
those levied by some
boards, noisily protesting those
levied by otherboards, the greater
the possibility that we will
lose our right to vote on any
taxes.
AS WE SEE IT
By Paul Til ford
received 7% of the vote. Garden
We have just experienced City gave him 2% of their vote.
another election with its customary
buncombe and mis- representations.
One can easily visualize the
candidates as they sit down to
draw up a list of their previous
accomplishments ( if they are
incumbents) as well as a summary
of what they are promising
for the future. Some of the
candidates obviously must spend
many laborious hours in the almost
impossible task of contriving
such lists that will have a-semblance
of credibility.
Some of the interesting ex-cresences
of every campaign are
the numerous ephemeral organi-
It is interesting to consider
the reasons why Wallace's appeal
was so much more potent
to the citizens of Farmingdale
than it was to those of Garden
City or to the average Nassau
County community.
Again this column will not attempt
to explore the reasons. It
will merely point out the fact
and let each reader contemplate
the reasons for himself. We do
feel that there is much food for
thought in this election result.
Considering the reasons will be
a fruitful experience for all of
us. There may well be lessons
in this election which will have
zations which suddenly bloom to application in future elections-promote
candidates and causes, both local and otherwise.
( Continued next week)
Usually their demise is as precipitous
and unlamented as their
birth.
One of the interesting local
manifestations of this phenomenon
in 1968 was the " Committee
of 1000 Farmingdale Citizens for
Wallace." It burst upon our local
scene with newspaper ads and
letters to the editor.
One observation which can be
readily made is that this organization's
members were a*
fickle lot. We base this observation
on the fact that of the 1000
professed devotees of Wallace
in Farmingdale just 877 voted
for him. We are bound to have a
low opinion of people who would
encourage ( ieorge by joining an
organization pledged to his support
and then deserting him at the
polls when the chips were down.
Either 123 voters could not
stomach Wallace after joining
his committee or the committee
itself was a phony. Each reader
of this column must decide for
himself which of these alternatives
is the true one.
Incidentally, Wallace did considerably
better in Farmingdale
than elsewhere in Nassau
County. In the county as a whole
he got about 5% of the vote.
In Farmingdale he got about
8 1/ 2% of the total vote. Hicks-vilie
appears to have been his
next best Nassau area where he
Farmingdale Professor
Awarded Research Grant
Dr. Charles W. Laffin, Jr.
President of the State University
at F'armingdale announced
today that Dr. Violet Drexler,
Associate Professor in the Department
of Secretarial Science,
has been awarded a research
grant of $ 9,362 by the New York
State Ftfucation Department.
As principal investigator for
the research project, Dr. Drexler
will employ the funds to study
the graduates of specialized secretarial
curriculums— such as
medical, legal, educational, and
technical— to determine if these
graduates have obtained employment
in the specialized s e c r e tarial
occupations for which they
have been trained.
The State University at Farmingdale
will be used as the base
of operations for this research
project which will include all
public two- year colleges in New
York State with graduates from
s p e c i a l i z e d secretarial programs.
In addition to her position on
the academic staff at State Uni-v
e r s i t y at Farmingdale, Dr.
Drexler has served as research
consultant to the State Education
Department. She is active as
an officer and committee chairman
in professional organiza-
Page 6 FARM
tions.
: N30ALL: OBSERVER - Thursday, November 14, 1968
Farmingdale Public Library-The Observer 1968
