Abolish The Town Board

October 23, 2012 7:43 am | Filed under: Around Town,News,OPINION | Posted by:
Peter Nichols

Peter Nichols

 Dear Editor,

How many more Avalon Bays, Meyer’s Farms or Oak Tree Developments must the residents in the hamlets of Huntington endure before they finally wake up to the fact that centralizing power down on Main Street just isn’t working?

Unlike councilmanic districts, which would have split the town up into four arbitrary districts while still preserving a centralized town board, a hamlet system of government will decentralize power from Main Street and ensure that those making land use decisions face the long term consequences of their actions.

As it is written in the Declaration of Independence, when any form of government becomes destructive “it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

In addition, the New York State Constitution has language that allows for villages and towns to dissolve themselves and become part of another government entity. These occurrences are rare, but the premise is that it is the people who are in charge and lawmakers only operate with the “consent of the governed.”

It has become obvious to most voters (which is why they stay home) that the choices we are given by the two controlling parties for public office are less than ‘optimal’. Without a fundamental change in the form of local government that we have now, we will continue to have low voter turnout and ‘destructive’ policies from elected officials who have no mandate from the people.

Peter Nichols
Melville Resident

Peter Nichols is co-founder of SaveHuntington.com

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3 Responses to Abolish The Town Board

  1. I disagree. Huntington is a great town and most residents enjoy life here and are proud of the town and our elected officials. It’s perfect, but better than most other places on Long Island. If you don’t like the elected town officials, vote them out and vote in those you like better; but beware of what you wish for.

    wundaboy
    October 23, 2012 10:43 pm at 10:43 pm

  2. CORRECTION: Second line should read: It’s NOT perfect, but….

    wundaboy
    October 23, 2012 10:45 pm at 10:45 pm

  3. I agree. Many people including myself move into Huntington for its culture, proximity to the water, the feel of the North Shore and the sense of community. I grew up in a very crowded Levittown, lived for almost 2 years in Manhattan and then lived 4 years in West Hempstead before moving to Halesite. I lived there for 9 years and have been in Greenlawn for 1. The reality is that residents in the township of Huntington pay a ton for the priviledges listed above. Prices of food, gas, property taxes etc are more expensive than other parts of the island. That is because it is a desirable location and people with moderate to upper income have moved in. Yes their are pockets where there are problems but in general it is a fairly upper middle class town. We want our open spaces. We don’t want to be in situations where they can cut down 12 trees and jam houses in between.

    Now we are seeing any open plot, whether a farm or empty space near the RR tracks being turned into a “senior” housing project or lower income housing. Why is that? Because the politicians feel it is PC to give the same opportunities that many of the residents pay through the nose for out to people that normally wouldn’t be able to afford living here. That may be snobby and NIMBY but it is reality. I would like to live in the Hamptons. I can’t afford it. They are not saying lets build a complex of half million dollar homes so average folks can get a taste of the rich life.

    These projects increase crowding on roads like NY Ave, Pulaski and Elwood Road. They increase the number of students in the school systems without getting taxes paid annually to offset the increase. Putting Senior housing in areas where then on a school budget vote can turn down an increase is asking for austerity in the future. Putting lower middle class housing in where they don’t pay taxes because they rent is basically getting access to schools for free. Yeah Avalon Bay may promise an upfront check to bribe them to agree to the deal, but then they walk away and look for the next community to screw. Plus they put housing in areas like Huntington Station which has a crime problem to begin with. So either it will be vandalized or become a magnet for more people that create issues.

    Just because there is open space doesn’t mean we have to cram housing in. This isn’t NYC. The politicians that usually push for these projects don’t even live around here. And as far as the town council, I would like to see who is contributing to their campaigns. Is any Avalon Bay money making it into their pockets? Are these councilmen in touch with contracters that would benefit on the side for the job? Vote it down.

    nk
    October 25, 2012 12:02 pm at 12:02 pm

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