Limba

Rudy Fusco, Bio Diesel innovator / Sponsor- Mr Parking Lot
2006-03-31 00:00 (America/New_York)
Rudy Fusco, President of Mr. Parking Lot, made a presentation this morning about Bio-Diesel. Bio-disel has been around for a long time. When Otto Diesel invented the compression ignition engine he planned on using a vegetable derived oil.
With the advent of abundant and relatively inexpensive petroleum based oil, we abandoned the concept of “growing” our oil in favor of drilling our oil.
Today we have to rethink our approach to fueling our economy, and Mr. Fusco was very effective in making that case. We are faced with not only the questions of cost and availability of petroleum based oils, but of the consequences of the continued burning of these fuels. As we address the problems of air pollution we find that the petroleum based products are far more detrimental to our health than vegetable based oils. Bio fuels also have a lesser effect on the problem of global warming
But one could legitimately ask, why would the effect on global warming be different than burning petroleum? The answer was made clear in Rudy’s presentation. Bio fuels release carbon dioxide when they burn just like any other carbon based fuel, but bio fuels absorb carbon dioxide when they are grown. The net effect is that there is no net increase of CO2 when Bio fuels are used.
We considered the element of cost. The cost of bio-diesel is competitive only because it is subsidized. However petroleum is also subsidized by tax policy. But it is also subsidized by the military protection of the sources of oil that we provide through the use of our military. And, that subsidy is enjoyed by the entire world. Europe, China, India, Japan and every other industrial nation is aided by our costly military that serves to protect oil production. As Mr. Fusco pointed out it, takes one unit of energy to produce 3.2 units of bio diesel. The closing thought on cost was that, when the industry matures $1/gallon could be acheived without subsidy.
Mr. Fusco pointed out that Brazil, back in the early 70’s, embarked on a bio-diesel program and an ethanol program that has taken that country out of the grip of the international oil trade. Today Brazil produces most of it’s fuel from home grown sugar cane, and all of the money that is spent remains within the territory of Brazil, further enhancing that economy.
We also discussed the ability to use these new fuels in the engines we have in use today. Some modifications may be needed, but most engines can already handle a blend of bio and petrol fuels without modification.. And as Rudy pointed out the infrastructure for transporting these fuels are exactly the same. The implication here is that the introduction of these fuels need not be a long drawn out process.
The audience that attended was well versed in the topic, making the discussion quite lively. Andria Adler program Coordinator of “Clean Cities” .. Harry Davitian of Entek Powers Systems, Technical writer, Frances Whittelsey, and Alan Binder of VisionFuels were among the people contributing to the conversation.
Thank you Rudy Fusco, and the audience that added measurably to the discussion.

Round Table Discussion of Issues.
2006-04-07 00:00
Last week we had one of our periodic “round table” meetings.The purpose of these meetings is to hear the voices of the participants in order to form new directions.Here are some of the voices that were heard:John Howell mentioned that Pete McGowan, regardless of his personal prpblems in politics, should continue to be recognized for the positive steps he made during his tenure. Then reasserted the need for LIMBA to continue transportation solutions that are anwered by more rail freight. In addition the major centers such as the courts should be linked by rail. Extending the Port Jeff line east would better serve Long Island’s north shore as well. Rudy Fusco restated his belief in the opportunities in air polution and availability that bio-diesel would offer. There was some discussion on the iequity of the star program and taxes in general. Bookhaven National Lab -Has apparently been asked to explore solar power more by the federal government. I believe that means money has been allotted to that purpose. Of course this the right direction we should be going, At a conference at BNL last week the topic of improving solar power efficiency came up, or rather I asked the question. It appears that the potential for improving photovoltaic (PV) is enormous. They expect that the new technology would at least double the output. Mark Alessi was surprised to see no enacted evacuation plan. We need an economic fair share for LI.

GOOD FRIDAY -No Meeting
2006-04-14 00:00

Anthony Caserta-"Evacuating Long Island"
2006-04-21 00:00
This morning’s presentation dealt with the possible need to evacuate Long Island. This would be particularly difficult if the bridges and tunnels were not accessible. In the case of a tsunami the water may rise to the point where none of the bridge approaches would be passable because all of them are close to sea level.
Tony Caserta, a professional engineer with a wide experience in designing and building innovative designs, proposed a solution. His 35 years experience as an engineer with Grumman gives him a credibility that supports his projections. He has proposed a vehicle that would be a school bus, but would have the unique ability to allow the lower sides of the bus to spread out and act as pontoons. Inside these pontoons would be an engine in each pontoon. The premise is that there is no more a ubiquitous vehicle on Long Island than a school bus (estimated 7,000 in use). The vehicle would have a land speed of 60 m/p/h on land and a top speed of 24 knots on water. The fact that these vehicles are more or less evenly dispersed across the island and that everyone knows where the local school is lends to the attractiveness of this idea. The vehicle can operate as a land vehicle until it reaches the waters edge and instantly convert to its marine mode. Flooded streets are no obstacle either since the flooded street would become a launch ramp. Established launch ramps at the waters edge are available right now but would we would have to create a few more.
In the event that re supplying LI and not evacuation was the needed purpose, the fold down seats would create a large cargo bed. Mr Caserta’s company Inspecto Corp- Pontiphian Division recently received some funding for the idea, and a prototype will be built.
There were several people in the room that could have something to add in terms of the products they sell. Gerry Fitzpatrick represents Harley shipbuilding.and offerred his hull configuration as part of the pontoon design. Roger Ulanoff offerred his services as a video creator.

Paul Arfin Intergenerational Strategies, Neal Cohen
2006-04-28 00:00
This morning’s program was on a topic that I think more and more of us will be forced to contemplate. Retirement is no longer a sleepy interlude between the end of your work years and death. Paul Arfin, executive director of Intergenerational Strategies, titled his talk “Don’t Retire, Rewire” The program was sponsored by Merrill Lynch. Merrill Lynch recently did a study on what people expect to be doing in retirement as well as the realities they will face.

The program began with Neal Cohen of Merrill Lynch circumscribing the problems of retirement in an environment where people are expected to live into their eighties. Then Paul Arfin went into the strategies and programs that could be beneficial to those who are retiring

A thousand years ago life expectancy was 25 years, and that did not change much until the 1900’s. In fact when Otto Von Bismarck established age 65 as the retirement age, very few people lived that long. It would be the equivalent of establishing age 97 as a retirement age today.

Paul Arfin saw the need to assist in helping those retirees, and convinced County Executive, Steve Levy to form a commission on “Creative Retirement,” to address the concerns of this segment of the population. The number of years spent in retirement continues to increase. In retirement people often work, not for the cash but to keep active, feel young, or perhaps doing what they have longed to do, but never could, Arfin said..

According to Paul Arfin, living in a retirement community, may be fine for some people, but not very satisfying to others. Many retirees are looking for the opportunity to volunteer and help others for a variety of personal reasons, including altruism. According to the Merrill Lynch survey 42% of the retirees are looking to do volunteer work, and one of the functions of Arfin’s organization is to create a registry for that purpose.
Picture: Paul Arfin Executive Director of Intergenerational Strategies. On the right Neal Cohen representing Merrill Lynch

Congressman Steve Israel.- "L I -Center for Energy Research"
2006-05-12 00:00
The topic this morning was about creating “new” sources of energy. Most of what was discussed is not new. Solar photovoltaic, bio diesel, geothermal systems, ethanol, are some of the items that were discussed, and none of them are new.
What may be new is the desire to implement a changed energy environment.. Congressman Steve Israel was our speaker this morning and he is sponsoring a bill in Congress that will create incentives to dramatically increase the employment of these energy technologies. Israel calls his bill “Next Generation Energy Plan.”
According to Steve Israel the efforts to create energy independence is regarded as too hard. “John Kennedy did not take that attitude when we resolved to put a man on the moon.” We in turn must not shrink from the responsibility of changing to fuels and technologies, we either, presently have, or can produce.
Israel gave an example of a government program that funds new weapons research. The program is called DARPA. It allows for the research in many questionable technologies that sometime result in a more effective weapons. Mr. Israel questions why we do not create the same kind of funding for energy independence.
Of course in energy, we already know that there are many workable technologies. Implementing new technologies and changing infrastructure are the challenges, and those challenges, are small potatoes when you compare the effort that was needed when we went to the moon, or when we created of the original atomic bomb.
Some of the items in Israel’s proposal are really quite simple. When the federal government replaces 50 thousand vehicles next year, why not insist on them being hybrids? Or “plug-in hybrids? He asked what manufacturer would not build a car for that demand market? He is proposing a $230 billion “patriotic investment” in various technologies to rid America of the yoke of foreign oil.The $230 billion must be paid for, and the congressman suggests that merely canceling the latest tax break for those earning more than $400,000 per year would pay for it.
He proposes that municipalities, schools, libraries and other public buildings receive funds to retrofit their poorly performing energy systems. He proposes that reward grants be offerred as a prize for innovative developments, and he would not exclude major corporations from receiving this money as long as we can get the desired results.(We did this many years ago to create the energy efficient refrigerators most of us have in our homes today)
Israel said, in effect buying oil from the Middle East, puts us in the position of funding both sides in the war against terror. Putting our efforts into energy independence is an important contribution to our national defense.
We need, according to the congressman, an advanced energy support system to assist in the development of cutting edge energy research and development.
There were many energy professionals in the room and there were many questions from the audience. This is definitely a topic that must be revisited and encouraged. pictured: LIMBA President Ernie Fazio , Congressman Steve Israel and John Hritcko of Broadwater

Lisa Strahs Lorenc -- Long Island Works
2006-05-19 00:00
This morning our speaker was Lisa Strahs Lorenc, representing Long Island Works. LI Works was initially set in motion through the offices of LIA. The organization promotes the interests of businesses and working people.They have several programs such as the intern program, but this morning we discussed the problem of housing our workforce.
see www.nextgenerationhousing.com

Every major company on Long Island has difficulty securing good workers because the cost of housing is so high. Even though the wages, in many cases are higher than other states and localities, there is no way that a competitive business can afford to retain employees by matching wages with the cost of housing.

Ms. Lorenc went through the various strategies for providing reasonable housing. She cited a program at Grumman that helps support the down payment of an employee’s home.And there are several programs like the Grumman plan. There is also Habitat for Humanity, The Housing Partnership. and some private interest builders trying to make a dent in the problem. But the problem continues to grow. What is clear is that the problem will not be solved with one simple solutions, but rather a myriad of solutions. No silver bullets.

Lisa went through some of the “reasons” that more is not done. There is clearly an undertone that the people who would be populating these workforce housing arrangements would be flooding our schools with children, or they may disturb the racial make-up of the neighborhood, or that they would be people who would not strive to better themselves. All of these assumptions are myths. We will be providing for the people that are technicians, medical workers, and skilled people who, historically, have an excellent record of creating a better life for themselves.

Channel 20 will be airing a program that will address this issue and have Ms. Lorenc as a guest The program is Empowered Voices. It will be shown several times.

Great meeting, thanks to all who attended.

NO MEETING MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND
2006-05-26 00:00

Homeland Security - Ken Morelly
2006-06-02 00:00
Ken Morrelly, President of Long Island Forum for Technology (LIFT) made a presentation this morning on Homeland Security. The state of New York has allotted $25 Million to establish a center for the development of new products that will be used in the effort to protect the nation. This will not be an incubator. The idea is to use technology that is presently available and apply that technology to the needs of security. The physical plant will be occupied by 20 different companies around the state. There will be a high tech theater to illustrate the various ideas that will be explored. Each of the 20 cells will be peopled by 2 individuals from these 20 participating companies. The site will be linked with the various companies throughout the state.
The upper floor will be occupied by Northrop Grumman, and their mission will be homeland defense. They will have 150 people in the building. Some of the validation of present technology will have applications in defense. Otherwise the technology will be used to help create security systems. Mr. Morrelly pointed out to us the there is a distinction between Homeland Security and Homeland Defense.
They expect that in an environment such as this there will be cross pollination of ideas as well as a transference of ideas in systems that they are not presently using what is otherwise known. The chance that serendipity will come into play is great.
While working for New York Telephone company many years ago we did something like this quite by accident. When we deployed personnel to tend to an emergency situation in another city the crafts people traded information on procedures that were not used in their home districts. The learning process was amazing even though we all worked from the very same manuals throughout the country they were able to innovate, and those effective innovations were now taken home when the emergency was over. I expect we will see a similar transference of knowledge in this project.
LIMBA has as one of its action projects high speed ferries. Another is better access to rail freight. When asked if these issues would be able to benefit from this center, Morrelly said that transportation was not one of the issues that the center considered, but those issues do have a homeland security aspect.
Pictured: Ken Morrelly, President of Lift and Pat Howley Executive Director of LIFT

Civil Liberties Union - Dolores Bilges
2006-06-09 00:00
This morning we had a presentation from Dolores Bilges, Executive Director of the NY Civil Liberties Union. NYCLU is the local representatives of the national organization, ACLU.

We, or at least I, had the image of a large organization with an active agenda. Not so! The NYCLU is a small organization with no legal staff. When they get a complaint and need a lawyer to bring suit, they hire one or more lawyers. There is however an active board of directors. What surprised me was the makeup of the board. Seventy percent of the board are registered Republicans.

According to Ms. Bilges, the Civil Liberties Union has only one client, the Constitution of the United States, and in particular The Bill of Rights. Any suit brought on behalf of any person or group of persons is principally designed to protect those guaranteed freedoms

We discussed the PATRIOT Act in some detail. The CLU actually supports the bulk of the provisions in the act. However they take exception to the ability to harvest library records, medical records and other personal information without a warrant. At the same time the PATRIOT Act forbids the person or institution that supplies records from disclosing that the records have been turned over..

When we began the Q&A portion the discussion was lively to say the least. There were some that felt that as long as you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to fear. Others were more adamant about keeping the ordinary citizens secrets, just that, secret. As the discussion continued there were nuanced rejoinders, where participants were able to agree that some basic freedoms can be, and must be, protected, while at the same time aggressively tracking terrorists.

As we were thanking our speaker, I said that this was a good and honest debate from people who had differences on the topic. This is the debate that never took place in Congress. After 9/11 we were all so eager to stop the carnage demonstrated by the savage blow delivered to America. In their haste and fear Congress approved what many people now see as an over reaction. Of course, not all the audience saw it that way, but many of them on both sides of the argument said they were pleased that they attended.

Roger Corbin
2006-06-16 00:00
“The taxes are so high it’s ridiculous” That was the opening statement from Nassau County legislator Roger Corbin at LIMBA this morning. Mr Corbin admitted that what was needed to change things would be difficult.Taking a page out of Ronald Reagan’s book when he could not advance his programs because he was faced with a Democratically dominated congress. said “I’m going to the people” Corbin quoted Reagan. And that’s just what Mr. Corbin is about.
The tax disparity in the various tax districts are substantial, leaving the poorer districts with little industrial and commercial taxes to support them suffering. That, according to Corbin, must be corrected.
Roger cited the cost of schools and the many school districts that the schools that make up the system. He has the firm belief that the schools can be consolidated, and save an enormous amount of money without adversely affecting the quality of education. He cited as an example the school system in Montgomery County, Maryland. Since consolidation the schools system is far less costly, and improved in quality. Recently an evaluation of those schools put them among the 5 best systems in the country.
Mr. Corbin brought to our attention the numerous fire districts citing the ludicrous duplication and inefficiencies in the structure of the this ad hoc creation of these departments. Libraries were another example of inefficiency. Comparing Long Islands balkanized libraries to the citywide system of New York City. “In New York City you can borrow a book in Manhattan and return it in Staten Island.” stated Corbin. “It’s one system.”
According to Corbin these are 19th century policies, and must be changed Paraphrasing Reagan Corbin said “knock down these tax walls”
Among the other topics Roger spoke about was energy independence. He suggested that municipalities should step up and use the solar electric opportunities that presently exist. He said NY State, and more specifically Long Island should be manufacturing solar panels.
The Corbin’s articulation of the numerous opportunities that we are squandering reminded me of LIMBA’s founder, Paul Townsend, when he was writing his weekly column.

Trevor Davis -Small Bus Financial services
2006-06-23 00:00
This morning’s informative breakfast meeting was about banking. Not traditional banking, but the kind of banking that can and does help the small business person.

Time was, according to Community Development Corporation’s Trevor Davis, when your banker could make an assessment of the lender that would take into consideration unusual and non-recurring events. For example a bankruptcy that was caused by a tragic health problem, would put a small business lender out of consideration in the traditional banking community. However a loan officer in CDC could make a lending decision based on more complete knowledge of the borrower.

Prior to the time that bankers went to a numerical rating system, the traditional bankers would do that too, now those otherwise credit worthy applicants are referred to banks like CDC.

Mr. Davis said that there are four kinds of small businesses entrepreneurs and all are important
1) Survival – I’m in business because I lost my job at GE and I have to survive
2)Lifestyle – I’m doing what I love and great wealth is of secondary importance
3)Serial – Create businesses and later sell them or close them depending on viability.
4) Growth-Here the purpose is to create personal wealth, and community wealth, with an eye toward creating a large company, perhaps even going public.

Not all of the above, perhaps none of the above, would qualify for traditional lending

Traditional bankers have a loan loss expectancy of 1%. The CDC has a default rate of about 4%. I asked if that rate of loss was sustainable, and the answer was, yes, for various reasons including, that there is no obligation for his bank to show a profit. Other reasons are that there are grants and donations from government and traditional banks to help CDC perform a valuable service.. The good news is that 96% of the loans are paid back, and that has a social value to the region because many of these small businesses exist because of lay-offs caused by a constantly changing economy.

Mr Davis brought up an interesting development that is now being supported by Walmart and Home Depot. Walmart has been offering training for businesses. With the idea that both the local retailer and the big box store can co-exist. Indeed I have seen it happen several times. If you need a supplier that can also answer many of your question, chances are you’ll be heading to your local hardware store, not Home Depot. Perhaps the pressure exerted against these retailing giants has borne some significant fruit. These small, in town stores, are the natural clientele of the CDC, and it is important good news that there appears to be a stabilization. That stabilization is aided by the resources made available by banks like the CDC.

NO Meeting
2006-07-07 00:00

Hank Ulrich- Port Security Technology
2006-07-14 00:00
At this mornings meeting a presentation of port security was given by Hank Ulrich. Hank Ulrich created E2E Consulting (E2E =End to End) to market a technology that he has developed. There are many vulnerable points in the journey of a cargo, the loading dock, the trucks and rail links that take cargo to the ports, the ships and the final destination. Each of these transitions have varying degrees of opportunities for mischief.
There has been relatively little done to protect the ports up until now, but this technology as it is proving out, will be able to track each container that is in transport.
This electronic monitoring device is small. It fits across the locking device on the container and is about the size of a carton of cigarettes. The E2E monitor reads all the cargo in the container. It can detect radiation, but not in a lead shielded environment. However after a cargo has been sealed at the point of origin it will detect any unauthorized opening of the unit, holes being drilled in the container, and any deviation of the predetermined route. Where there is a deviation from the predetermined route a secondary device inside the container reports the position of the container by use of GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) accurately pinpointing the location of the container on the globe to an accuracy of 5 feet. (similar to LoJack)
What is particularly compelling about this technology is that it relatively inexpensive. The insurance companies see this as a theft mitigation device. The cost of installing this equipment could be totally offset by lower cargo premiums.
Mr. Ulrich plans to build the system right here on Long Island. If the E2E company can add jobs, and contribute to the local, while protecting our ports, I would say that this is a win all around

Round Table Discussion
2006-07-21 00:00
At Round Table discussions we speak about advancing established goals as well as new things that we should consider. Always interesting

Freight Rails Update - Fred Krebs
2006-07-28 00:00
Our speaker this morning was NY & Atlantic RR’s president, Fred Krebs. Mr Krebs began freight operations on Long Island about the middle of year in 1997. Since then the increase of freight has been relatively constant with the exception of the balance of 2001 and 2002.(due to 9/11)

In 1998, which was the first full year 9468 freight cars were moved off and on Long Island. This year we are on schedule to move 21,500 rail cars. This resulted in 956,175 truckloads being removed from our highways.

Two years ago Coastal Distribution built a Transload Center as an agent to service the railroad’s freight distribution which includes, lumber, appliances, stone aggregate, steel, and many other commodities, as well as demolition removal business. After carefully designing and incorporating the required dust suppression and all other requirements they (Coastal and NY&Atlantic) approached the town of Babylon to get any permits that may be needed. The town said they were on railroad property and exempt from local control. The facility was built and went into business. That facility alone removed more than 37,000 truckloads from our highways since it opened two years ago.

According to Krebs, after the fact, the Town of Babylon got a “stop work order” The case went to court and the town lost. The case went back to court in a higher jurisdiction and the town lost again. The magistrate said that Coastal and the railroad had every right to operate in accordance with the federal rules.

Our position at LIMBA has been that freight rails can and must replace as much long haul trucking as possible. The damage to the roads, the air pollution caused by the trucks, and the road congestion is not tolerable.

Recently, the town went to a friendly state Senator, Owen Johnson and Legislator, Robert Sweeney to write legislation that would give the town the powers to regulate the railroads. According to NY & Atlantic president Fred Kreb “There is not a single thing that you can do damage the movement of freight than this legislation.” It appears that the owners of Pinelawn Cemetery are behind this legislation.

Krebs told us that there has not been a single complaint on the operation in two years of operation.
I wrote a letter to governor Pataki asking him not to sign this legislation. It is our position that the players have to talk to each other, and if there are any legitimate concerns, work them out. A copy of the text of that letter is attached.

Later in the day I spoke to a Town of Babylon employee in the supervisors office, and asked that the supervisor come to LIMBA and explain what, at the moment, appears to be inexplicable. If the town is bending to the wishes of a well connected individual, that is in appropriate. Legislation should have the welfare of the general public in mind and not the parochial interests of an individual. I hope Mr. Bellone sees fit to speak to us. We will give the same opportunity to state his case on this issue, as well as any other issue he has on his mind.
Pictured: Joe Rutigliano, Coastal Distributors,Kevin Gershowitz, Gershow Recycling, Fred Krebs, NY&Atlantic RR, Martin Sternberg, Coastal Distributors

Steve Jones "Water and Land Use Principles"
2006-08-04 00:00
Today’s meeting sponsor, Cliff Sondock, the Executive Director of The Land Use Institute, and Steve Jones, CEO of Suffolk County Water Authority, presented a program to dispel myths about water and land use.

According to Mr Sondock, water quality preservation is being used as an excuse to limit how land may be used. Whatever arguments are being used to limit development, water should definitely not one of them, according to our presenters.

Mr. Jones went into a fairly detailed explanation of how water is extracted and treated. There are several aquifers that can be accessed by the water company. Each of them having their own benefits and cost. However in all cases the water being extracted can be treated and used, it’s really just a matter of cost. In most cases it makes sense to avoid contamination by creating wells where the water has not suffered any adulteration. The SCWA’s operating principle is to extract water at the lowest cost without compromising quality.

Some of the myths that were cited are;
Development is always harmful to the water supply
Development near drinking water well is especially harmful
Too much development will cause us to run out of drinking water
Underground aquifers once polluted can never be cleaned up

The water that is stored in the vast sand bank of long island is believed to be 100 Trillion gallons. It would take 300 years to run out of water at our present use rates if it never rained during that period. Long Island with an average annual rainfall of 40 inches is far more than is needed. Less than 20 inches is needed to replace the water we use.

This ever accumulating dome of water leaches out into the ocean and the sound despite the fact that we are constantly using it. Each of the “myths” are not true mostly attributable to this overflowing vast supply water. Where contamination is found, remedial methods may prove too costly, and that well will be abandoned.

Pictured, from left to right: Steve Jones – CEO Suffolk County Water, Vivian Viloria Fisher- Suffolk County legislator, Cliff Sondock -Executive Director, The Land Use Institute:

Dr Matt Cordaro, Dean of College of Management, LIU
2006-08-11 00:00
Dr Cordaro, Dean of the School of Management at LIU, gave us an overview of the courses that are being offerred at the LIU, which included criminal justice, social work, and not for profit. But that was the usual list of special training. What I thought was more interesting and important was the approach to teaching at the graduate level.

Matt spoke of accreditation. Accreditation is a big item, and standards are adhered to, to create the quality of education that is widely respected. Universities on Long Island are very competitive. Most of them are keenly aware of the need to excel. According to Cordaro, this results in lifting the standards of all schools.

The MBA oriented “Accelerated International Business Program” is a concept that I thought was particularly interesting. The IABP is a one year program beginning at the Post campus, continuing in London, and completing in Paris. It is easy to see why a program such as this would be popular. This is the kind of innovation that teaches a lot more than the formal course work.

There is globalization of education has students coming from all over the world. There is also cooperation in teaching. There is a US and China university program that results in a diploma being issued from both LIU and the Chinese counterpart.

Cordaro spoke about the “non traditional” student. The older person, the retired person, and the otherwise fully employed. Accommodating these students is challenging, but there are courses available to them, and they are not only are taught in the evening, but Saturdays and Sundays. There are also on-site programs that are being developed for large companies, and these programs have been around for some time. As our lives, and perception of our needs continue to change, these programs are expanding and becoming more numerous.

One of my questions to Matt was; How does higher education teach “common sense”? I was surprised to hear that common sense is a consideration. And while being a rote student may lead to high marks, a good education requires a sense of all things, in total being considered.

When Dr Cordaro has spoken at LIMBA in the past the topic was electrical energy. We didn’t let him go without him addressing at least one question. According to Cordaro, LIPA has done a good job of increasing the amount of available power. He feels they have fallen short of the mark when it comes to cycling out old transformers and other infrastructure. The system is vulnerable because this kind of maintenance must be on schedule, or failures will come with the stress of hot weather appears.

Pictured: Mike DeLouise, Dowling College, Terry Townsend, Dowling College, Dr. Matthew Cordaro, our speaker From LI University

Dr Lee Koppleman, Planning and the Region
2006-08-18 00:00
Dr Lee Koppelman spoke at LIMBA and it has been about 12 years since he last spoke there. The master planner was generally in good spirits about the way Long Island has developed.
He began by citing the economic importance of the Long Island region. Suffolk County, for example, is still the largest agricultural county in the state of New York. Long Island with an annual Gross Domestic Product of $130 billion is bigger than more than half of the states in the union, and bigger than most of the counties in the world.

He proudly pointed out the Hauppauge Industrial Park as an important contributor to this healthy economy. According to Koppelman It is a model for the rest of the country, and possibly the most important facility of its kind. Lee reminded us of an earlier time when Long Island lost 110,000 skilled jobs with the demise of the then, robust defense industry, but it was that defense industry that provided Long Island with the intellectual assets we needed to transform this economy and diversify. Dr. Koppelman expressed some concern about outsourcing, but not because of call centers popping up in India, but the loss of the good manufacturing jobs.

Dr Koppelman is the author of several pieces of legislation that protects open land, and while he is happy that those measures were adopted, in most cases the voters were more interested in arresting growth than aiding conservation.

Lee was less concerned about immigration than some of the pandering political types, pointing out that as far immigration is concerned we’ve been there before. The Italians the Irish, the Germans and the Jews were all “threats” in their time. The threat is not what it seems was the essence of his message.

Dr Koppelman was enthusiastic about our educational institutions and our world renown facilities at Cold Spring Harbor and Brookhaven National Labs. The future, he feels will be very much shaped by these quality institutions and schools. And that future is heading in a positive direction.

He was less than sanguine about the prospects of rail freight when I asked a question about improving it, citing objections from the passenger division and rail infrastructure deficiencies coming into NY City. (some of those problems are being addressed presently).

Dr Koppelan spoke breifly about the floating gas facility proposed by Broadwater and suggested that we allow the full process to proceed, and learn as much as we can to see if this facility represents a net gain for the region. (That, by the way, is the position of LIMBA)

His biggest disappointment appeared to be the lack of sewers that will be needed to support better growth. The Southwest Sewer District scandal, still has politicians running for cover whenever the topic is broached. Saying sewering to a politician is a little like Bud Abbot saying “Niagara Falls” to that maniac in that old comedy classic film. (Sorry, you have to be old enough to remember that bit)

Pictured: Judy McEvoy and Dr. Lee Koppelman

Vivian Viloria Fisher
2006-08-25 00:00
Today our speaker was Vivian Viloria-Fisher. Vivian is a Suffolk County legislator. The conversation was focused on an important emotional issue involving illegal immigrant labor.
There is bill that requires that all Suffolk County contracts use legal labor. Viloria-Fisher was very good at presenting the issue and the various slants on the issue. Her presentation was a fair exposition of the motivations for voting on this issue, whether you are for it or against it. Here are some of the implications
This bill is presented as having no cost. No cost? How then do you enforce a law that does not estimate the cost of enforcement, which is required? The contractors that do business with the county who are operating on the up and up, often expose the “cheaters” as they refer to them. Thereby rendering the law redundant. The law appears to supersede the federal immigration laws, which is prohibited, and lends this law to endless challenge and expense defending it. On the other side.
There is a perceived or real problem that deprives legitimate businesses of the opportunity to deal with the county on a level playing field. There have only been a few complaints against the county for engaging contractors who were hiring these illegal, and therefore an expensive exercise in solving a problem that really doesn’t exist. Labor is divided on this issue and many of them think this legislation has the aura of racism associated with it.
At the end of the discussion Vivian gave us her feelings, and she believed it was inappropriate for the county to adopt this legislation, and was against it. The votes at the moment are 14 for, and four against. It looks like a go.
Another piece of legislation that was discussed was a proposal to regulate scrap recyclers in a the same way as pawn brokers. The idea behind this legislation is to create a chain of custody of every bucket of brass, every junked refrigerator, every bucket of electricians scrap copper, in order to track stolen metals. I read this piece of legislation, and it is onerous. For example, and this is one of many unmanageable requirements of this legislation, a laborer who scrambles to pick up recyclable metals at a construction site would be considered a scrap dealer and would have to register as a scrap dealer. He would have to be bonded and licensed in order to be able to sell the scrap metal he picks up. Yeah! That aint happening. Moreover there have only been a handful of complaints. Another case of overkill? I think so!.
Pictured: Vivian Viloria Fisher, Sufolk Legislator and Kevin Gershowitz from Gershow Recycling

No Meeting Labor Day Weekend
2006-09-01 00:00

Steve Levy, County Executive
2006-09-08 00:00
This morning our speaker County Executive, Steve Levy addressed a number of issues that were of interest to the gathered guests. He explained the role of an executive in contrast to a legislator. As the county executive your programs and budgets have to recognize that one action may be in competition with another valid need. He didn’t describe it this way, but apparently, as an executive you are in a Solomonesque situation.
The County Executive describes himself as a fiscal conservative, and his actions indicate that he cares about dollars spent. “There is a need to provide services to the people, but higher taxes, can kill the goose that lays the golden egg.” Therefor a delicate balance is Levy’s goal.
He claims to have lowered cost by limiting services available to the executive and his staff. Most of the cars used by the executive department are gone. His own salary was cut upon him taking office. “You don’t solve a budget crises with these measures, but you do set an example.” He said that the county must look for ways of raising revenues as well cutting costs. One of the ways he raised revenues was the leasing of county owned building roofs for cell phone towers.
He is an advocate of innovative ways of getting things done. As an example he contracted with the Town of Southampton to plow county roads. “After all their equipment is already clearing town own roads, Why not let them keep going and clear county roads, and save the county the trouble, and we’ll pay them?”
A similar approach to schools was proposed by Mr. Levy. He recognizes the difficulty of consolidating schools, but consolidating services to schools can be achieved without the specter of losing local control, a concept that the public likes. Pooling of school health plans are another example of savings opportunity.
Affordable housing was also a passionate goal of Mr. Levy. Given the fact that the major cost of housing is land, and the county owns a lot of it. Using that land in an intelligent plan to build these homes can alleviate the housing cost and fill those needs.
His goal of preservation of open land has resulted in the equivalent of three Central Parks being preserved.
Early in Mr. Levy’s presentation he discussed the need for an honest and transparent fiscal plan that makes sense to investors. As a result of that care to the balancing of the budget Suffolk County has enjoyed excellent bond ratings. Playing it straight in this area saves the taxpayers money, according to Levy.
Pictured: Steve Levy, Kevin Gershowitz, from Gershow Recycling and Ernie Fazio, Limba

Bob Yaro, Pres, Regional Plan Association
2006-09-15 00:00
Members and friends
Our speaker was supposed to be the president of the Regional Plan Association, Bob Yaro. Unfortunately he could not attend but was successful in finding another person in the organization to make a John Adkins, who leads the RPA efforts in Connecticut was our speaker instead.

In June the RPA convened a mayors conference that took place at Adelphi. That conference was very enlightening to the mayors of Long Island. Mayor Paul Pontieri of Patchogue was in the room today and he had attended that conference. Mr Pontieri offerred that the conference was useful in seeing how other villages approached various problems. Each village has its own quirks and traditions but there are always some things that transcend. I suggested that a broader spectrum of the population be asked to participate in an open forum that would address many issues of planning, and LIMBA should host such a meeting. Having a good idea of what may be done will give the people who have the trainning in planning, to create what is perceived as being needed. I asked Mr. Adkins to bring that thought to the RPA board, and be one of the major players.

Mr. Adkins limited his remarks to a few chosen subjects, but we did spend some time on an important LIMBA goal, enhancing rail freight. The RPA is enthusiastic about Congressman Nadler’s proposed cross harbor rail tunnel. He also thought the freight transload centers were a reasonable answer to the problem of abandoned rail spurs.

The RPA is predicting 4 million new people in the tri-state region over the next 20 years, therefor the emphasis on transportation is in the forefront. Of course another LIMBA initiative, the Shreham to New Haven ferry is an important part of those efforts. These projects are needed for the economy and the environment, and now with Homeland Security at risk, they are imperitive.

Judith Pascale County Clerk
2006-09-22 00:00
Members and friendsNever knowing what a particular speaker brings to the forum is par for the course. Therefore I am often surprised at the content as well as the questions posed later. Our speaker this morning, Suffolk County Clerk, Judith Pascale, was no exception.
The county clerk’s office handles many of the important documents that directly affect us. It may sound mundane, but when you are in need of service from this bureaucracy, it is a pleasant surprise when things are handled well. This well run unit of government transformed itself over the years under the watch of Ms. Pascale and her then boss Ed Romaine. I write this praise out of my personal experience with the department over the years.
Ms Pascale said her department can give insights. For example; as the economy runs out of steam the divorce filings increase. The agency is able to provide a “snapshot” of the economy. As they record mortgages and foreclosures, we get a glimpse at what is trending in that arena.
According to Ms. Pascale, the agency shares information with other departments of government, and because of the electronic data handling equipment that has been put in place over the years, it does so in “real time”. The department is able to send records to other departments with automating redacting in place. This means only the pertinent information is transferred and items such as Social Security numbers are not. The integrity of confidentiality is built in.
The Suffolk County Clerk’s office has received several awards for excellence including “The Best of New York” award. They pride themselves with the short turnaround time that the requestors of information enjoy. Real estate transactions, divorce decrees, permits and other important functions are handled in this office, and the results of mishandling these requests can easily subject the requesters to hardship and expense. Therefore the quality of the work product is extremely important. The holder of that office, Judith Pascale, recognizes that fact, and according to her, the work product is good. Having a little experience with that department, it appears to be true. Pictured: Bill Miller Pres LIMBA, Judith Pascale, Suffolk County Clerk, Ernie Fazio LIMBA Chairman

NO Meeting LIBDC
2006-09-29 00:00

Jaci Clement- Fair Media Council.
2006-10-06 00:00
Jaci Clement is the executive Director of The Fair Media Council and addressed LIMBA this morning. Our speaker’s expertise is the media in general. She described the media as you would any other infrastructure. The varied elements are constantly changing and the speed of the change is knocking the media companies off balance. Thirty years ago there was the five minutes news on radio, The nightly news on the three major networks, newspapers and little else.
Today there are 24 hour cable news, blogging added to the mix and the new players are wreaking havoc on the old structures. Complicating the situation further is the competition to get the story first, which sometimes precludes getting it right.
In their desire to remain relevant the old structures are disseminating their stories on the Internet, as well as through their traditional outlets..Some have teamed up with radio. CBS’s 60 Minutes, for example, broadcasts on the radio simultaneously. Some of these arrangements work real well, others merely reduce the amount of original material being produced. This is particularly true when newspapers devour their competitors and fire the reporters from one of the papers. The rational is “why do we need all these reporters”? But where that has been done the paper tends to have a more anemic content. The fewer the eyes and ears you have the blinder an deafer you get.
There are constraints on some forms of media and a lot less on others. The newspapers and broadcast media impose constraints of decency.The cable networks feel less constrained and the internet, well they will display anything. The beheading of a journalist will not be found in the newspapers, but it certainly will be found on the internet.
Ms Clement told us that the desire for market share has prompted media outlet owners to buy properties in all markets. The strategy hasn’t worked very well and now we are seeing them divesting entities that they do not understand, or in any case not work for them.
Other factors have disturbed the media business. The demographics are constantly changing and nearly impossible to keep abreast of. No media is building market share, according to Clement, there is one exception. That exception is the media that caters to the immigrant populations. The Hispanic Telemundo TV is building market share. That is also true of the media that serves the Asian market. I suppose it is true of all immigrant ethnic groups.
The important message that came out of this meeting is this. We are trusting our news sources less and less, and in many cases for good reason. If the media feels so much pressure to produce a story they will fail to thoroughly check their sources, that is not good for the republic, and the onus to check the material is our responsibility if we truly want to know.
Pictured: Jaci Clement, Fair Media Council and Mike DeLouise from Dowling College

Marty Cantor
2006-10-13 00:00
“Long Island, The Global Economy and Race: The Aging of America’s First Suburb”..was the topic of this morning’s speaker, Marty Cantor. Marty is a CPA and a former economic development officer in Suffolk County in the Patrick Halpin administration.

It sounds like a very broad subject and I can assure you it is. Mr.. Cantor started with a discussion of the minority communities of Long Island. He stated that they are not able to access the global markets. The reasons, according to Cantor, have a lot to do with the entrepreneurial capabilities and education levels of the minority communities of Long Island. While these factors weigh heavily on the African American communities, it does not have the same profound affect on the Caribbean populations, nor are those factors pronounced among Koreans and other Asian groups.
Marty’s presentation was more an overview of problems as he sees them, rather than an approach to solving them.

Assimilation of the various legal immigrant groups is important and it is ongoing. We should not resist this, according to Cantor, we should embrace it. Mr. Cantor moved onto the subject of the economy, which is related to the other topics he covered.

Cantor suggested that we are not going to make the commitment to wages and that, will prevent the businesses from retaining the high skilled workers that they will need more and more.

Property taxes are way out of line. We are paying a “regressive” real estate tax. That tax is onerous and should be lowered at the same time an income tax could make up the difference. He admitted that this would be a hard sell.

These compounding problems “will cause the Long island economy to contract”PIctured: Martin Cantor, Bob McMillan, Ernie Fazio

Lance Mallamo, Executive Dir, Vanderbilt Museum
2006-10-20 00:00
Friday morning’s speaker, J. Lance Mallamo who is the Executive Director of the Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum and Planetarium at Centerport as well as the official County Historian of Suffolk County enlightened LIMBA members about Long Island’s largest museum, The Vanderbilt Museum. Vanderbilt (Dutch) meaning Son of Built left this jewel to Suffolk County in 1941 along with a $2 million maintenance fund. Today nearly 100,000 school children and a “tremendous” number of foreigners tour this museum.

This sometimes arrogant, yet insightful man had the foresight in the early 1900’s to believe Long Island would one day be home to over a million people. Many Long Islanders think of Vanderbilt Parkway and associate it with car racing. As a well traveled man, Vanderbilt felt that Europe was eclipsing the development of the automobile and in 1904 he raced his Mercedes at 92 miles an hour and won the race. Although Long Island was sparsely populated 250 people came to see the race – many had never seen a car. He was encouraging tourism even then! Imagine this fact: His doctors warned against this high speed because of his heart murmur!

I thought the most interesting of reasons to go back to the museum is for the “Living History Tour”. Tour guides are trained to portray the probable life style of the Vanderbilt family, their servants and how life may have actually been lived between 1936 and 1944. Current events play an important role here. It must have been a great job to be a servant there during the great depression. Both good times and bad are blended into the tours.

Presently there is no way to get down to the waterfront however plans are in the works for funding a boardwalk with the “goal of being Long Island’s premier waterfront institution.”

Other interesting facts:
– The boathouse is being used again and has gone from one employee to over ten in the last four years.
– Water Loggers: volunteers are coordinated to bring back water samples from various points off the Island for evaluation
– Hopeful restoration of the Seaplane hanger
– They have a Marine Science Program

You can visit the museum and enjoy planetarium, the “Living History Tours” and many of their special programs http://vanderbiltmuseum.org/flash.html

Bob Catell, Chairman of Keyspan
2006-10-27 00:00
This morning Keyspan’s Chairman, Bob Catell spoke to our group at LIMBA. His message was of reassurance. He began by stating that the cost of Keyspan gas service has not increased in the last ten years, but the cost of the commodity has. The amount of gas in storage at this time is high. When gas stocks are high the cost of the commodity is usually lower, but much of the supply that we have now was purchased at a high price, so the price of gas will decrease, but not as much as you would otherwise expect.

Mr. Catell explained the significance of increased availability of gas, in particular the Iroquois Pipeline. He talked some on the travails of that effort that were obstructed by the state of Connecticut. The conversation with the audience went on to alternative fuels and Mr. Catell explained that extra cost may be as much as ten times the cost of a conventional plant, making them less economically feasible, even when the cost of saved fuel was considered.

Some intriguing technologies were discussed including “river turbines”. River turbines are placed in places like the East River. They are placed low enough in the river as to not obstruct marine traffic. They are capable of reorienting to the flow of the river when the tide changes.

According to the Keyspan chairman the best bang for the buck is state of the art “combined cycle” plants. These plants in addition to being infinitely cleaner than the old stock of plants, will save enough fuel to justify the additional 30% cost of construction.

We spoke about the Northport plant. The Northport plant uses “once through cooling”a technology which is no longer permitted. Therefore the engineering challenge would be formidable, according to Catell, when creating new power facilities at that location.

The concerns that some of had about the National Grid takeover of Keyspan would result in some downsizing, but that downsizing would come into being by the process of retirements and career changes initiated by the employees themselves. Mr. Catell believes that one of the reasons that Keyspan is so attractive to National Grid is because of the relationships Keyspan has with the community.

Pictured: Bob Catell, Chairman Keyspan, Vincent Frigeria, Government relations Keyspan and Ernie Fazio, LIMBA Chairman

Pamela Greene, Candidate for Islip Town Supv.
2006-11-03 00:00
This morning our speaker was Pamela Greene. Ms. Greene is an Islip Town Councilwoman and she is running for the position of Supervisor, formerly held by Pete McGowan.

Pamela began by giving us a “vision” of her idea of planned development of Veterans Highway in the vicinity of MacArthur Airport.. Her concept is high end, high value structures and stores, rather than the tacky strip development (my words) we often see on Long Island. As she put it, a “miracle mile”

She then went on to the topic of affordable housing. Ms. Greene shared with us her own personal story of affordable housing. When she was 28 years old their was an opportunity for her to make application for one of these “affordable housing” units and she was awarded an opportunity to buy one of these units. Subsequently she was asked by the builder to testify at the Brookhaven Town Board on this topic. She told the board to alay their fears. “I am the kind of person that will benefit by affordable housing.” Perhaps because of her own experience she is a proponent of affordable units. The Town of Islip has a good record of pursuing housing in this range, and has provided 3,000 units. She promises to be an advocate in her new position of Supervisor, if she attains it.

There is a parcel of land in Bay Shore that is being considered for conominioms. Ms. Greene is enthusiastic about the prospects of have the density that the vuillage needs to support the local business community and the units will be also in walking distance of the railroad.

According to Greene, Hofstra University did an analysis of Long Island Towns Islip and Hofstra rated it the highest in terms of “business friendly”. Islip Economic Development has helped the business community invest $700 million in Islip. Islip has benefited by the concept of “Economic Deveopment Zones”. The concept was first articulated by the then governor, Mario Coumo when Pamela was new to public service and impressed with the idea and praised Coumo. Since then she has been an enthusiastic proponent of business devlopment.

Ms. Greene talked about taxes and stated that taxes in Islip have actually been reduced by 17% over the years that she had been able to observe them . She promised to keep the focus on development that lends itself to lower taxes.

When asked about Pete McGowan she had little to say, other than it was a tragic demise of Mr. McGowan

Pictured: Gina LeVechia, Pamela Greene, Ernie Fazio, Bill Miller
