Town Hall Rally – April 17th

April 13, 2012 11:06 am | Filed under: Around Town,News | Posted by:

A protest rally is being organized for April 17, 2012 from 5:00 – 7:00 pm, prior to the town board meeting.  According to the residents who organized the rally the purpose is to demand an audit of the town’s finanances.  They believe local taxpayers have a right to know how your tax dollars are being spent. They are encouraging others to show up for the rally and let the Town Council members know you want an audit.

According to newly elected Councilman Gene Cook, ” It has been more than 15 years since such an examination has taken place. ”  As a result of Cook’s first few months in office, it became clear to him that something is wrong and that town Government lacks transparency in their finances. Gene Cook stated, “One way to get to the bottom of any financial questions is a complete an audit of the town’s books.

After Gene Cook requested the audit, it appeared that Supervisor Frank Petrone was attempting to smear him in other local media sources.  Many residents felt this was an attempt to distract from the financial issues at hand. This also contributed to the anger and concern of the rally organizers. 

The rally will take place in front of Town Hall beginning at 5:00 pm.  For more info on the rally click here Visit Audithuntington.com

 

 

 

 

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11 Responses to Town Hall Rally – April 17th

  1. How do you interpret the town supervosor’s remarks as an attempt to “smear” Mr. Cook? Mr. Petrone certainly disagreed with him, defended the town administration and raised some interesting and valid points about the town’s finances. Instead of labeling I suggest you simply quote what was said and let your readers decide for themselves. Perhaps Mr. Cook is the one seeking a distraction from his self-inflicted building permit problems?

    wundaboy
    April 16, 2012 12:08 am at 12:08 am

  2. After a discussion and careful consideration we decided to use the word choice we did. Our efforts here at the Huntingtonian are to help the residents understand what has been going on at Town Hall for a very long time. Unfortunately, this is a pattern with Mr. Petrone. Mr. Petrone has some close connections in other local media sources who have proven time after time they will twist the facts of a story to benefit certain individuals and hurt others. This pattern has caused tremendous problems across our town and frankly it is a very scary use of government power. In addition, it is absurd to most people that Mr. Petrone would question Gene Cook’s garage when absentee landlords are blatently ingnoring our town codes and the accessory apartment laws are not enforced.

    Ilene Fucci - Editor
    April 16, 2012 7:17 am at 7:17 am

  3. I appreciate the thoughtful response Ilene but by not providing the complete story and facts you are actually not helping the residents understand what is going on in town hall. In fact, you are doing the same thing you accuse Mr. Petrone of doing: “twisting the facts to benefit certain individuals and hurt others”. Further, I’m sure you know that Mr. Petrone is not personally questioning Mr. Cooks garage (this has been a long standing issue in the building department allegedly caused by Mr. Cook’s failure to properly follow town code). Are you suggesting the town codes don’t apply to Mr. Cook? Comparing the alleged building code violations of Mr. Cook to other town code issues is silly and irrelevant. Your statement is the moral equivalent of someone stopped for speeding on the LIE and complaining that the cop should be arresting bank robbers instead of giving out speeding tickets.

    wundaboy
    April 16, 2012 9:30 am at 9:30 am

  4. I had no idea Mr Petrone’s job description duties now include knowing what is going on the the code enforcement department but only when it comes to a few select few. Of course the illegal homes, broken windows, overcrowding etc etc etc seem to never make it to his desk but god forbid someone makes some improvement of their personal property? He seems to be very well informed of that. The only one’s that get a free pass are the 90+ homes that are operated by absentee landlords that get filled up with people who could really care less about the property nor the quality of life of it’s neighbors.

    wunderboy seems to know an awful lot about Mr Cooks property that is VERY removed from general foot traffic. Also seems to know much about the specifics of the case. Makes you wunder…..

    FairyGyrl
    April 16, 2012 12:02 pm at 12:02 pm

  5. To Wundaboy:

    I am on the Code Enforcement committee. I personally gave a tour to the head of that committee,pointing out blatant code violations in Huntington Station, even recording the houses on video. Public Safety investigated 2 blocks and found multiple violations, just as I showed. It will remain to be seen what is done to correct them.
    As far as Mr. Cook’s garage. No one is above the law, including the Town Board. However, in this case, one must suspect something is amiss since Mr. Cook, who happens to collect antique trucks, and wants a garage on his very remote property to keep some of them in, is targeted with a code violation, when there are many blatant violations throughout Huntington, especially in Huntington Station. Since Mr. Cooks garage is not in view of any other home, one has to wonder… Just sayin….

    matt harris
    April 16, 2012 10:11 pm at 10:11 pm

  6. Matt:

    I apprciate and thank you for your service to the ocmmunity and don’t mean to disparage your good work or concerns.

    I think when any resident wants to build a new structure (that it is for antique trucks or a cottage for orphaned children is irrelevant) they must get a building permit and subsequent inspections to ascertain that the work is in compliance with town code. That Mr. Cook is apparantly not in compliance doesn’t equate to his being “targeted” with a code violation. I admit I didn’t support his candidacy for town board and didn’t vote for him but, once elected, I was hopeful he would be an effective elected official. Shouldn’t we be little concerned that a person who was just elected to office doesn’t have the ability to have a garage constructed with the proper permits? Just sayin…

    wundaboy
    April 16, 2012 11:43 pm at 11:43 pm

  7. He will get his permits, and the garage will be built to code. period.

    Meanwhile, the Town has not had a State audit in 16 years, and Mr. Cook has very valid reason for concern. Does T.O.H. really need 5 tow trucks? Can anyone give an accurate parts inventory? Does the HART bus system really cost $115.00 per rider? Did the Comptroller really quit to take a job in a non-profit? Really? Time to get some real answers to the public.

    matt harris
    April 17, 2012 6:43 am at 6:43 am

  8. To Matt: When you end your first senence with the word “period” you are telling us that really don’t want to have have an honest discourse and that you know better and are smarter than us. I guess it doesn’t serve your purpose and agenda to examine the issues with an open mind. Too bad. If you really want to be taken seriously as a community activist you need to get the facts, learn to judge fairly and earn respect of those on both sides of the issue. You don’t do that by mindlessly supporting Mr. Cook or treating everyone in town hall as the enemy on every issue.

    wundaboy
    April 17, 2012 9:28 am at 9:28 am

  9. wunderboy, are you saying it would not benefit the town to prove the town books are in good shape? Seems you would rather correct grammar and punctuation on anyone’s posts who don’t agree with you or distract from the audit by bringing Gene Cook into the mix. Perhaps you should take your own advice and not so mindlessly support all your town hall buddies. Matt is doing a great job. You may not like his methods but too bad. Matt has always been open to an honest discourse. Try getting a new play book, this one is played out. And who is this “us” you speak of? I really hope someone traces your IP address and shows you for who you really are. Not everyone at Town Hall is the “enemy” in fact most of the real worker bees are scared shitless, paranoid and can’t even speak freely without fear of jobs being threatened. Thats not a healthy work atmosphere for this town at all. But it all extends from the upper echelon. Perhaps you need to focus on hearing the other side without bias, get the facts and learn both sides instead of posting on the tattler like a coward and now the Huntingtonian how WONDERFUL and peachy keen everything is at town hall. Practice what you preach before you post.

    FairyGyrl
    April 17, 2012 10:02 am at 10:02 am

  10. wunderboy, are you saying it would not benefit the town to prove the town books are in good shape? Seems you would rather correct grammar and punctuation on anyone’s posts who don’t agree with you or distract from the audit by bringing Gene Cook into the mix. Perhaps you should take your own advice and not so mindlessly support all your town hall buddies. Matt is doing a great job. You may not like his methods but too bad. Matt has always been open to an honest discourse. Try getting a new play book, this one is played out. And who is this “us” you speak of? I really hope someone traces your IP address and shows you for who you really are. Not everyone at Town Hall is the “enemy” in fact most of the real worker bees are scared crapless, paranoid and can’t even speak freely without fear of jobs being threatened. Thats not a healthy work atmosphere for this town at all. But it all extends from the upper echelon. Perhaps you need to focus on hearing the other side without bias, get the facts and learn both sides instead of posting on the tattler like a coward and now the Huntingtonian how WONDERFUL and peachy keen everything is at town hall. Practice what you preach before you post.

    FairyGyrl
    April 17, 2012 10:02 am at 10:02 am

  11. @FairyGurl: You don’t get my point but Matt will.

    wundaboy
    April 18, 2012 10:58 pm at 10:58 pm

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