Congressman Hon. Tim Bishop- LIFT sponsored
2011-03-25 00:00 (America/New_York)
Congressman Tim Bishop first came to LIMBA when he had made a decision to run for the seat held by Felix Grucci in 2002. He had been provost at Southampton College and he was relatively unknown. Recently he won re-election in a very hard won race. His report and observations were the subject of today’s meeting.

Mr. Bishop began to talk about the budget and how out of balance it has become, but the portion of the budget that is being attacked is not where the real money is. The budget is currently $1.5 Trillion in deficit and he agreed that must be addressed. He noted that the budget that the congress wants to pass would mean a big setback for Long Island. Money potentially lost at Brookhaven National Laboratories would result in 950 high paying jobs being lost. What is of equal importance is the research work that would be delayed, thereby losing the future jobs that the research would lead to.

Pell grants are being challenged. Education of 9 million students nationwide would be affected. Again this will hamper job recovery down the road, "this is eating the seed corn" according to Bishop. Cutting out the heart of innovation and growth makes no sense. All of these cuts are painful and counterproductive.

Incentives for companies to expand their production and engineering must be stopped. Why incentives a company to manufacture elsewhere? he asked. Why do we educate foreign students to the doctorate level and then make America inhospitable. Why not encourage them to stay instead of forcing them back to their country’s of origin.

During the Q&A someone asked if farm subsidies were in the budget. The answer was yes, despite the fact Suffolk is the largest farm county in the state Long Island gets none of it. Farm subsidies remain untouched, and those subsidies are given to the largest agri-businesses in the country, not the small farmer.

Another question on military spending came up, and how we still have about 650 bases around the world. "Couldn’t we close some of those?" The answer was yes and we could do a lot more. Bishop gave the example of the alternate engine for fighter jets that was rejected by the Secretary of Defense, is still in the spending bill and that engine will add billions to our deficit.

Then the congressman quoted the words of the President of Shell oil from a few years ago, when he said. "If oil prices rise to $70/barrel, there is no reason that could justify those subsidies. You may have noticed oil prices are $106.

Tim asked when will we see federal money available for public sewer systems. His answer was, not any time soon.

Richard Kessel, Pres NY Power Authority
2011-04-01 00:00
Richard Kessel speaking at LIMBA this Friday began by reciting that the Long Island area was in very good shape as far as electric power is concerned. The building of the Cross Sound cable, and the Neptune cable has given the island an enormous boost. In addition the clean, gas fired plant built by Caithness Energy gives an additional asset.

He warns, however, that these are times when we do not have full employment and that picture will change dramatically as the economy improves.

As president of New York Power Authority some of his concerns are with upstate. While Long Island will test the limits of capacity in the coming good times, upstate will be very stressed. We need more power from transmission links to the Canadian Hydro sources and some local generation. In addition to the traditional generation and transmission strategies Kessel stated that renewable alternatives should be a part of the mix. Power from various sources must be the plan for the future.

NYPA is building out 100 megawatts of solar, admittedly a small amount in the grand scheme of things, but an important start nonetheless. He cited the use of tidal generators such as has been tested in the East River. Those generators failed because the designers underestimated the tidal potential and the swift currents destroyed the blades. That is actually good news because a properly designed unit can exploit that resource at a higher degree. He then addressed the potential savings realized by energy efficiency. We used to call that approach negawatts. Efficiency that saves 300 megawatts is far more desirable than building a 300-megawatt generating facility. Energy that is never created has a 0 carbon footprint and no construction costs.

Richard spent a little time on taxes imposed on utility plants, and the inevitable inequities that exist in assessing these plants. Kessel questions whether we should tax the utilities when they only pass the tax to the citizens anyway, or should we work out a fair tax directly to the end users of the product.

The Q&A portion of the meeting led us to talking about stored energy using flywheel systems, and pumped water. Kessel likes the pumped water systems that allow water stored during the night at high elevations to flow through generators during the high use day. It was pointed out that the Maglev Company can achieve the same results with a much higher efficiency and Kessel said he would look into the matter.

Superconductivity was also discussed. This allows the systems to carry three times the amount of power, and Kessel said recent testing of a section using the technology was very effective.

The summary was that we on Long Island are not in bad shape, but the entire state must continue to plan for the future and the solutions are myriad.

Frank Boulton - Founder & CEO -LI Ducks at Betpage Ballpark
2011-04-08 00:00
This morning’s meeting was held at Bethpage Ballpark, home of the Long Island Ducks.(Actually located in Central Islip) Frank Boulton, founder and CEO of the Ducks was our speaker. The Duck Club is where we held the meeting. The room overlooks the ballpark from the perspective of behind home plate. It has a great view of the field from behind a glass wall exposure. The tables are set up as in a restaurant and the variety of food is served. According to Boulton the offerings ranges from a steak to chicken wings. Frank then went over the history of the club and it is an interesting story.

After meeting with his friend Bud Harrelson they decided that a Minor League team would work well for Long Island. They approached the NY Yankees and the NY Mets to see if either of those franchises would sanction a Minor League outpost on Long Island. Neither of those teams were interested. Undaunted, Boulton and Harrelson decided to create not only a new team, but also a new league.

They entered into a public- private partnership with the County of Suffolk and the Ducks were born. They have been a great success ever since they made their first quack.
The county owns the ballpark but the enterprise is self-sustaining and doesn’t cost the taxpayers a dime. The vision of Boulton and Harrelson was to have an affordable family experience that was similar in cost to a night at the movies. That notion caught the imagination of many and they sell out the season tickets and often sell standing room only tickets. The way that works is that there are often empty seats that are prepaid, and they allow the empty seats be filled with the SRO crowd, a practice that would be frowned upon at Yankee Stadium or probably any Major League Park. But this is Long Island and it’s more like friends and neighbors sharing the same sand lot.

Mr. Boulton shared some stories and events that they hold at the park. One of the events is the competition to sing the national anthem. Rank amateurs are out there singing their hearts out and some of them are quite good and the competition lends to the fun of the place.

Boulton also spoke about his affiliation with the Boulton Theater, a performing arts center. He purchased and renovated the theater, and gave it to the local YMCA. He retains no management or ownership in the theater. His good friend and celebrated sportscaster Bob Wolf will be holding a book tour event at the Boulton Theater on April 21st. Wolf is now 90 years old but I remember him as part of the regular team doing the sports on News 12. This is Mr. Wolf’s fourth book.

It is places like this that keep Long Island from being a cultural desert. And while I still have an opportunity to dump another one of my bad puns. This team is everything it’s quacked up to be. Thanks Frank.
Ernie Fazio

Long Island Renewable Energy Forum TBC
2011-04-15 00:00
This morning I asked Gordian Racke, a man that has been a leader on energy issues for many years to assemble a small panel of presenters. The energy topics he selected were energy planning presented by Al Harsch, Energy building conservation presented by Mike Murtha, and off shore wind generation by Tim Daniels

While there was some overlap in some of the information, these are clearly very different disciplines of energy.

Gordian led off with a review of the problems of energy use and the various approaches to create a more sustainable world. He stated that the issue of climate change is not debatable. Glacier National Park for example had over 100 glaciers in it at one time, and today there are 26. By the year 2010 there will be none. Then he went into the economic ramifications of shipping $1.3Billion dollars off Long Island that will never be reinvested in this region. (The same is true for the $500 billion rest of the nation). Finally he spoke about the national security exposure we have as long as we have to rely heavily on hostile areas of the world to obtain our oil.

When Al Harsch spoke he discussed solar panel technology and how various factors are important. He stated that solar panels must have a favorable orientation to the sun and even partial shading will have a serious negative effect on the output. He pointed out that there are two basic technologies used solar. There are the conventional panels and the so-called thin film technology. The thin film is a more recent development and it is less expensive to make, but it does not produce as much electric power. Harsh then went into the wind turbine technology. Wind has an exponential increase in power when the speed of the wind is increased. Increasing the speed of the wind by 2 times will increase electrical output by 8 times. Therefore wind turbines are mounted at heights that preclude the ground interference wind encounters. It also makes off shore wind very effective, which is what the next speaker handled. Al Harsch is with Green Logic Energy LLC

Mike Murtha, President, Murtha Construction Inc then spoke about the energy efficiency of buildings. His experience goes back to a time when the job was simply "plug the holes." Since that time the energy conservation business has created tools that accurately assess and quantify losses. There is now the ability to predict the outcome of the energy conservation work performed. He points out that while this was work that was done by renovators in the past, it is now a specialized field with its own framework of knowledge. With proper analysis vast improvements in building performance can be achieved.

The last speaker was Tim Daniels, Senior VP, Deepwater Wind. Deep Water Wind is a company that was created specifically to design and build Off-Shore Wind in the NY-Long Island area. Deep-water placement of wind turbines means that the wind resources will almost always be there. The construction costs are more than on land, but the rich wind possibilities makes the effort worth the extra expense. Moreover bigger wind turbines can be installed. On land the transportation to the operation site of very large turbines is not practical. When taking turbines out to an offshore location the turbines are floated on large barges. These barges can be any size required. These turbines are getting larger all the time and within a year or two we will have wind turbines in the 8 megawatt class. In contrast when LIPA was considering their proposed offshore field they were using 3.5 megawatt units. The high productivity we expect from wind generation that is approximately 30 miles offshore should be very reliable.

The Q&A is sometimes as interesting as the presentations. One question about density turned out to be a good one. Too much density will result in turbulence that will reduce the efficiency of the units. What about avian interference? Not much of a problem 30 miles out.

The interest in the topics that were covered was high and we will probably do another one covering different aspects of energy. Perhaps geothermal, tidal flow and other technologies will be among the topics

Ernie Fazio

Good Friday- No Meeting
2011-04-22 00:00

This meeting was rescheduled to 6/17
2011-04-29 00:00

K Christopher Soller Supt - Fire Island Nat Seashore
2011-05-13 00:00
This morning’s meeting was a reminder that we have on Long Island at our disposal an excellent recreational area that is as varied as it is interesting. No matter what about living near oceans and bays attracts you, it is here on Fire Island. It is well within our reach in terms of distance and cost.

Our speaker this morning was the Superintendent of the Fire Island National Seashore K Christopher Soller. Mr. Soller has worked for the park service for over 30 years and has a real passion of the park. His knowledge of the park is extensive, and there is a lot about the park to know.

Fire Island has a long history that dates back to the early settlers and the native Indians that used this spit of land to fish and hunt whales. In the early part of the 20th century it was the playground of the glitzy New York entertainment people. Later in the 20’s and 30’s it was a landing place for rum runners who transported their wares from off-shore vessels, across the island and the Great South Bay, with the hooch coming into places like Patchogue, Sayville and Bay Shore.

Mr. Soller stuck to the modern history of Fire Island and discussed the strange arrangement of the park. This is a park that has about 4500 private homes and privately owned businesses, located in 17 communities. Fire Island is also shared by the State of New York. So managing this real estate with these various interests to deal with, is no easy task. It has three interesting visitors centers located in Sailors Haven, Watch Hill, and the Wilderness Center which is located at the end of the road coming from the main island at Shirley. In addition there is the Fire Island lighthouse adjacent to Robert Moses Park.

Among the interesting aspects of the island is the array of wildlife. And I’m not talking about Saturday nights in the villages. There are, as most people know a lot of deer, but there also red fox, piping plovers, owls, gulls, turtles, and hundreds, if not thousands of other species.

The William Floyd Estate is not on Fire Island, but it is part of the Fire Island National Seashore Park. (William Floyd was one of the New York signers of the Declaration of Independence).This property is comprised of the main house, 12 out-buildings a family graveyard 8 ½ miles of paths on 613 acres. The estate can be accessed by using the William Floyd Parkway and is before the bridge to Fire Island.

More on this local treasure can be found by contacting:
Fire Island National Seashore
120 Laurel Street
Patchogue NY 11772
Phone 631 687-4750
www.nps.gov/fiis

Congressman Steve Israel Federal Energy R&D
2011-05-20 00:00
Independence Party of Huntington, Ken Baynes, was invited to introduce the speaker

This morning our speaker, Congressman Steve Israel gave his assessment of where we are going with our energy policy, or the lack thereof. He brought to our attention the absolute absurdity of our wars in the Middle East. Not that he disagreed with the wars, he didn’t address that, but the fact that we are borrowing money from the Chinese, an economic competitor, to pay the oil producing countries who then train suicide bombers with the cash, is absurd.

He suggested that the can-do mindset of making things happen got lost along the way. "The 110 corridor was sod farms and pumpkin patches prior to WWII. Very quickly it became the manufacturing center of Long Island’s war effort" according to Mr. Israel. "We had the will."

He told us a little about DARPA. This agency develops the most sophisticated weaponry with a large budget in secrecy. The results of this research are impressive. He then proffered the idea that the same approach to energy research would yield the same level of results

Steve spoke about John F Kennedy’s approach to the space program. In JFK’s speech at Rice University he stated "we will land a man on the moon and return him safely to earth within a decade." Of course, at that time, nobody knew how that was going to happen. What we knew was that we wanted it to happen. Therein lies the difference between that era’s leaders and what we have in Washington today. Nobody back then wrung their hands and lamented that it was too hard to accomplish. I’m sure there were doubters but the quality of national leadership was great enough to overcome the naysayers.

While the people in Washington are not creating an energy plan, there are things that we can do locally with what is known technology. The congressman told us of a program in the Town of Babylon known as PACE. Babylon residents can finance their energy saving equipment such as solar panels, geothermal systems and window replacement by agreeing to an increase in taxes over the next 20 years. The example Israel gave was a $30, 000 energy upgrade that would save more money than the monthly increase in taxes. If you can save $400 / month and the extra taxes 207.37/ month ($30,000 at 5.5% over 20 years) the upgrade is a net gain. If you sell the house you are not responsible for the balance of the loan. It stays with the house. In addition the house is more saleable. We need to repeat this program in other Long Island towns

Mr. Israel spent some of his time with us discussing the benefits of investing in infrastructure. The examples he gave were the Erie Canal. The Erie Canal opened up the Great Lakes to the commerce of New York Harbor and catapulted the State of New York into a major financial power. The transcontinental railroad was built in the middle of the Civil War and opened up the country to travel and commerce that knitted this continent together. The Interstate Defense Highway as it was called then again changed the economics of the country. "We have built our way out of challenging times in the past, and we need to it again" according to Israel.

He completed his remarks by stating that for every billion invested in infrastructure has a 6 billion return to the economy. Steve suggested that in consideration of the present economic situation an infrastructure bank can be created using private funds and union pension funds with backing from the federal government. One thing is for sure we need ideas.

Ernie Fazio

Memorial Day weekend-NO MEETING
2011-05-27 00:00
As is our tradition we do not have meeting where the Monday afer is a holiday

Islip Arts Council Exec Dir, Linda Moran - Long Philharmonic
2011-06-03 00:00
Today’s presentation was from the Islip Arts Council Executive Director Linda Moran. Ms. Moran has been guiding this organization for the past few years when the founder Lillian Barbash retired.

Among the many events the council organizes during the year, the biggest one is held in July at Hechscher State Park. This year the performance is July 16th at 7PM, but most people make it an all day affair, some arriving as early as 11AM.

The Long Island Philharmonic Orchestra will be performing and this year is even more special. It is being billed as a "Salute to the Armed Forces of the USA" The idea was born out the multiple needs of returning vets. The concert is free to the general public, but funds will be raised from corporate and individual sponsors. The proceeds from sponsorships will be distributed to qualified veteran service groups, and administered by the United Way of Long Island.

Having attended this event in the past I can tell you that this is a great way to spend a summer night on Long Island. The party atmosphere of this informal setting is a joy to be a part. It’s not quite Woodstock, but then again we have matured, I think. There will be posters and memorabilia on sale to help support the noble intent of this year’s performance

Sponsors and VIP seating will be served food and have access to the musicians, and various other perks. There are several levels of participation available. Whether you attend as a free concert attendee or expressing your generosity as a sponsor or individual VIP attendee, this is a good time. General attendance people are encouraged to bring their own food and beverage and picnic on the grass. Grucci Fireworks will be displayed at the end of the evening

Attend and enjoy. Here is the Islip Arts Council website. www.isplipartscouncil.org

Ernie Fazio

Joseph Perri CEO Gold Coast Bank -at Islandia
2011-06-10 00:00
Gold Coast Bank – June 10th meeting recap

Today’s meeting was a very different experience. It was held in the board room of the Gold Coast bank in Islandia, and Joseph Perri, President and CEO presided over the meeting.

We began with 10th District Suffolk County legislator Tom Cilmi, is introducing the speaker.

Mr. Perri is engaging speaker and after the first few minutes, the presentation was conducted more as a conversation between the speaker and the rest of the people in the room.

Joe explained the normal course of doing business where the information is gathered by the banker from the prospective borrower, and then takes it back to the office for processing. That process leaves out the first hand knowledge of the submitting party and worst case scenarios are tested against the application. Often that process destroys the validity of the submission. After long delays and little communication the application may be rejected. Perri suggested a more communicative approach and different assumptions on the same case could yield a different result.

Joe went on to explain what is considered. All of the negative outcomes are tested against the submission. The bankers, not knowing the business as well as the person requesting the loan, may make unwarranted assumption. Another thing that happens is a case summary that winds up being too harsh, or never written.

A better approach may be for the borrower to suggest the pitfalls that could occur, and suggest possible mitigation strategies to fall back on if needed. The summary is designed to develop a true picture of the risk and the borrower is in a better position to create that summary. This gives the banker a platform for further questions and streamlines the process.

Moreover the feeling of the loss of control is changed, since the client is in the lead position.

Mr. Perri spoke a little about the responsiveness of small regional banks as apposed to large banks. You may not be a significant piece of business to one of the giants, but your small business may be a valued customer to a region based bank.

Ernie Fazio

Homeland Security Update LIFT President Frank Otto
2011-06-17 00:00
Bill Wahling, Executive Director of LIFT opened the meeting this morning. He introduced the audience of the mission of the organization. LIFT’s purpose is to identify market needs and help inventors and designers develop products to meet those needs.

Bill then introduced the president and our speaker for the morning, Frank Otto. Bill noted that the relationship between the two leaders goes back to their experience in the aerospace and defense business working at EDO Corporation.

The Morelly Homeland Security Center was built under Mr. Otto’s predecessor Ken Morelly, with a $25 million grant that was applied for by LIFT. The center is a very interesting mix of functions, which Mr. Otto took us through in a very well organized presentation.

The primary mission of the center hones in on homeland security as the name implies, but getting there means many things. Creating advanced products from idea to completion to enhance security, but of equal importance creating products and industries that come out of creative ideas.

The Center is involved with a litany of first responder organizations locally and around the nation. The well equipped media room is wired for many analysts to work on problems simultaneously. The room is also used for training and other communications needs. The facility houses and serves, police, fire, and US Coast Guard units and agencies that need to be able to coordinate many efforts in cases of emergency. To achieve this functionality the center is energy independent and also has a mobile unit that can operate remotely.

In addition to the governmental agencies there are private companies that seek the synergy available there. Knowing what people are needing and finding products that will fill those needs are part of the to be developed and the input from those organizations. Real life scenarios are played out at the center to help prepare the various agencies for any emergency that may occur.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has generated numerous research efforts that no one seems to have a handle on. The Center has no doubt that there is valuable research that has been done, and they are assembling that info in useable form and making it available for commercial enterprises.

The Morelly facility works with other organizations such as LISTNET, which has IT, specialists in its membership and LIMBA because of our interest in the infrastructure. The building has already filled all the available space with interested partner companies, and they range in size from giants to much smaller companies. Now there is an effort to accommodate those companies that they cannot house by offering associate memberships. The associate members are invited to all the information seminars and have access to all the resources.

Mr. Otto states, "We know how to take an idea through the research, development, and manufacture, and we can help companies all over the country."

The big push for the research and development is for composites. And that area will have a major impact on American manufacturing.

Richard Rotanz, Executive Director of the Applied Science Foundation for Homeland Security closed the meeting with some insights on the sciences used by first responders all over the country.

Ernie Fazio

The Fate of LIPA- Senator Ken Lavalle
2011-06-24 00:00
The topic – Was LIPA worth doing?

Senator LaValle was scheduled to be at the meeting today and discuss the LIPA as it was conceived, how it has performed, and where do we go from here. Mr. LaValle called Thursday afternoon and said he was stuck in Albany on unfinished business. Dr. Mathew Cordaro was scheduled to introduce the speaker, and he was quite able to give us information that would be different from the political aspects we may otherwise have heard from the senator, but no less complete. Dr. Cordaro was Vice President of LILCO, President of several other electrical entities and the President of a municipal power company in Nashville Tennessee

Cordaro opened his remarks with an opinion offered from the senator "LIPA has been a disappointment and it is dysfunctional." He stated that Senator LaValle wants to see oversight of LIPA by the PSC. Cordaro is on the Suffolk County Oversight Commission and agrees with that idea.

We then discussed the possibility of repowering Port Jefferson. Dr Cordaro has long been a proponent of repowering of old plants. The benefit of having existing connecting infrastructure already on-site and the fact that the site is already an approved power plant location weighs into his reasoning.

The cost of the power output of LIPA varies from month to month depending on fuel costs and other factors. The Edison Institute tells us it ranges from the highest cost power in the nation to the third highest cost at best.

The question of whether LIPA is being properly managed has recently been investigated and the results of that study were disturbing. He gave as an example the gearing up for hurricane Earl. (the storm that never materialized) cost many millions of dollars, and when the costs were put under scrutiny, they proved to be excessive and in some cases totally unnecessary. There have also been investigations of billing errors that go back 10 years. Overcharging for fuel was one of those transgressions. LIPA’s investment practices have also been criticized

LIPA presently has new operating contracts out to bid. There are three remaining bidders to choose from, National Grid, Con Edison, and PSE&G., but there are other possibilities. One of those alternatives is a private entity. That would be repeating what we had as LILCO. You can give that one the buzzer. Or we could create a full municipal entity, something like what Matt managed in Tennessee. The third option is to continue as we are now, which is a hybrid. That keeps the debt in the municipal bonding arena, but purchases all the power, and services from a for-profit company such we have now with National Grid. I pointed out to Dr. Cordaro that we would have had a true municipal power company when we created LILCO. All we got out of that deal was the aging outdoor infrastructure and $7 billion in debt. In other words, we got screwed. By the way, the debt is still $7billion.

Cordaro stated that municipal power companies do have many advantages over investor owned power companies, and they can be run at less cost. Among the cost savings are the ability to finance using municipal bonds, as we presently have with LIPA, but there is also no dividend payments to stockholders, nor are there excessive salaries, bonuses, and stock options for the executive class. There are also tax preferences, although public power companies often do pay real estate taxes.

Customer satisfaction was discussed and LIPA did not fare well on that one either. During the Q&A Cordaro brought up the cost of demand charges which are about $500 million year. Standby plants that are hardly ever brought on line create about $200 million in demand charges. Better management of that factor would save significant money. Cordaro closed on the thought that the entity needs oversight. Amen!

No Meeting Holiday weekend- Happy and safe 4th
2011-07-01 00:00

Robert Catell, Chairman- Adanced Energy Center,
2011-07-08 00:00
This morning our speaker was Bob Catell, Chairman of the Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center at SUNY Stony Brook. Stony Brook’s Vice President of Economic Development Dr Yacov Shamash was there to introduce the speaker.

Mr. Catell began by giving a little background on the needs the center will be addressing in terms of energy generation and making the distribution grid more responsive and efficient. "If Thomas Edison could come back today he would not only recognize it, he would be able to fix it" according to Catell. This does not mean that the system is in bad shape, it means it hasn’t fundamentally changed.

Natural gas is an area of Bob’s expertise and he gave us a briefing on how we have discovered that there is a lot more gas that can be mined than we previously thought. He discussed the controversy of the mining process known as Hydro-fracking or fracking. The process has the potential for harm if not properly executed, but by putting watershed areas off limits the process can be safe. The Marcelles Shale has the estimated potential of sixty years of production to meet the needs of the country (15 trillion cubic meters), and the fact is we do not know the true potential. It could be considerably more.

The AERTC is working on various methods of electric energy production as well as strategies that will vastly increase efficiency. These efforts are actually the collective efforts of many entrepreneurs and inventors working in an environment that "incubates" ideas and grows companies that will hopefully someday prosper.. Inventors and innovators are often inspired by each others success and basic understanding of one technology can lead to insight in another.

The Advanced Energy Center and CEWIT are working on grid schemes that will redirect, curtail and do what is needed to avoid a general black-out. At present cascading power failures are possible and we don’t know what the system is doing at any given time. If the grid could self diagnose, redirect power, and lop off troubled areas without human intervention, major failures would be a thing of the past.

In addition a robust, fully integrated, and efficient system would be able to accommodate all the various power sources that are being developed. Among those advancing technologies is wind generation, which increased, in the past year by 50%

Solar power converts about 16% of the sun hitting it. Technologies that are presently being developed could go to 50%. That would be a remarkable increase and the implication is lower cost and smaller collection areas.

All kinds of generation must be embraced according to Catell. River flow generators, wind, solar tidal flow are all going to be employed in the places the make sense. "There is no magic bullet" as Catell put it.

Still with all of the innovations the best potential lies with efficiency, and all of this would help on issues such as air pollution, oil imports, costs, and of course jobs, jobs, jobs.

Therea Rizzuto -Islip MacArthur - New role Metro N Y
2011-07-15 00:00
Teresa Rizzuto is the Commissioner of our local airport, Long Island MacArthur Airport. She spoke to us this morning. This airport has been a valued asset to the region for a long time. It is an economic engine that provides 6,000 direct and indirect jobs. In the entire state the aviation industry contributes $50 billion dollars to the New York economy and employs 400,000 people. In other words, this is a serious industry, and our airport is relatively small.

Long Island MacArthur Airport serves scheduled commercial and general aviation (private planes). It is the only airport with that dual purpose and that makes the facility that much more valuable.

The airport is in a position today where it is actually handling less commercial traffic than it did a few years going from 2.6 million passengers to 1.7 million today. We believe that part of the problem is that LIMA has not been listed as a New York Airport. That has changed or it is about to change. Of the airports that serve the metropolitan region about 3 million people would be better served by using LIMA. If you measure the elements of flying, which include the proximity to the airport, ease of travel and parking when you get there, LIMA is a better choice for Long Islanders.

What we need are more airlines servicing the airport and therefore more flights. It’s a chicken and the egg situation. If you campaign to bring more passengers the loading gates there had better be planes to accommodate them. The airlines are reluctant to establish routes to the airport because currently the traffic looks like it isn’t there. We believe that the traffic would be there if the planes were there. After all, the traffic was considerably higher in the past. Where did those passengers go? Well they went to JFK, LaGuardia and Newark. I have flown out of all of those airports at one time or another as well as LIMA, and believe me LIMA is better.

Years ago we had the same problem, and the town at that time was losing money on the airport and was considering closing it. Our organization, LIMBA, created an awareness program called "Use It or Lose It" It worked.

The Port of New York Authority owns the airports to the west. The Town of Islip owns LIMA. The PA is not sympathetic to the needs of Long Island. It appears that they would rather corral the air travel to the airports they own. That’s good for them but bad for traveling public on Long Island.

Ms. Rizzuto spoke about marshaling the forces of the business community to create a new awareness program. At the same time we must convince the present carriers that we can increase the business and perhaps get other carriers to commit to flying out of our hometown airport.

So far we are not thinking that LIMA will be a full fledged international airport, but international flights through Toronto Canada would be feasible because Toronto already clears international traffic heading to the US

Jet Blue is considering expansion of their system to Providence RI or, alternately Long Island. If we can’t convince them that Long Island is a more viable choice, we’re not very good salesmen. I don’t believe we are afraid of losing the LIMA facility but we could, and it is in our best interest to retain a robust airport that makes it attractive to locate businesses nearby.

Ernie Fazio

Speaker Angie Carpenter
2011-07-22 00:00
Our speaker Friday morning, Angie Carpenter, is a person that is very well known to most of us. Ms. Carpenter presently serves as the Suffolk County Treasurer, but she has also served as a county legislator.

She began as an independent business owner who frequently spoke up when local issues were being discussed. As a result friends told her she should run for office, a notion she dismissed out of hand, at least at first. Events of the day have a way of dictating your next move. When Rick Lazio ran against Tom Downey he was given the smallest of chances of winning, but he did, and that left Rick Lazio’s seat in the Suffolk County Legislature vacant. Angie decided this was her time and won that position.

As a legislator Angie took the job serious and served on many committees. The time commitment caused her to close her business and devote all of her work to the county. She discussed the need for and the dedication of municipal workers. According to Carpenter they are for the most part dedicated and hard working, with the exceptions that you’ll find in any business, private or public.

Because of her serious involvement in many issues that were dealt with by the legislators Carpenter feels she has a good understanding of the needs of the county. She expressed a confidence in her ability to serve as County Executive and then fielded questions.

In the audience was Bob McMillan, Former Chairman of the Panama Canal Commission and candidate for US Senate. He will be making a presentation on immigration in the near future. He is in the closing picture today.

Ernie Fazio

Proffessor Karl Grossman -Nuclear Power-Is it Safe?
2011-07-29 00:00
Karl Grossman – July 29, 2011

Professor of Journalism, SUNY/College at Old Westbury

This morning Mr. Karl Grossman addressed LIMBA about nuclear power and his experience as an investigative reporter. His knowledge of the topic is encylopedic and his passion for the topic is deep and genuine. Mr. Grossman’s bio is available on wikipedia.

Mr. Grossman began by describing his early years as a reporter on Long Island. He was instrumental in keeping a four lane highway from being built on Fire Island, despite the plans by the powerful community planner Robert Moses. Mr Grossman related that in those early years as a reporter, he learned to answer the all important question – "how do things really work?" For instance, the claims made by Moses that the highway was required to shore up beach land could be proven to be untrue. Eventually the highway project was scrapped by getting the area classified as "National Seashore". Grossman remembers that Paul Townsend (founder of LIMBA) was also instrumental in this effort.

Mr Grossman then related a quote from Adam Rickover, considered the father of naval reactors. According to Mr Grossman, Rickover made statements in his retirement address that nuclear power was a mistake, and should be banned to save future generations. Grossman then relayed a history of nuclear power, and how it was born from the famous group of WWII ‘Manhattan Project’ scientists working to beat Germany in the race to harness a nuclear bomb. According to Grossman, the years after World War II saw a concerted effort by the US Government to use nuclear power in civilian settings such as nuclear power plants. Brookhaven National Labs was founded in order to advance this particular purpose. As nuclear power gained momentum, many US universities received funding as well. Of course big businesses such as Westinghouse and GE became the world leader in supplying the nuclear plants. Mr. Grossman contends this created a generation of business people, scientists and academics who are champions of nuclear power because it is their main source of income.

Grossman related how a nuclear power plant works: it creates nuclear waste which, in some cases, must be isolated from any other life forms for a million years. He also pointed out that there is always some trace radation leakage (some is even allowed by Federal agencies), and that current research indicates all exposure to radiation, even traces, is harmful.

Grossman then spoke specificially about Long Island’s involvement in the history of Nuclear Power. According to Grossman, power plants to be built within New York City were deemed unsafe and therefore were plans were relocated to Long Island. Lilco needed the cash infusion and was eager to build the plants. The never opened Shoreham plant was only to be the first of many on Long Island. Mr. Grossman contends that Long Island could have been the site of a Fukushima type disaster if these multiple plants had been built. Grossman also spoke about the Fukushima disaster – specifically he contends that press and government are not forthcoming in exposing the health problems that this disaster will bring.

Mr. Grossman then spoke about many types of renewable energy: solar, geothermal and wind. Mr. Grossman quoted a number of sources, including the UN, that indicate that 100% of the world’s energy needs can be supplied with renewable power. According to Mr Grossman, the need for nuclear power is obsolete. Grossman related that he has had an energy audit created in his residence by Jay Best of Green Audit USA and now has enough solar power in his own home so that he will not pay anything for electric bills this year and may even have a small credit.

Mr. Grossman concluded by echoing Admiral Rickover’s call to ban nuclear power, and reminded us of his initial motivation: to learn "how do things really work".

As always there were a number of questions from LIMBA members. Mr. Grossman relayed that in other countries, a ‘green party’ has helped force change through the democratic process. He is dismayed that this process does seem to be possible here in the US. He also answered a question relating to other, innovative sources of renewable energy such as photovoltaic being developed at the National Renewable Lab.

LIMBA was very pleased to such a knowledgeable and experienced speaker address us this morning.

Nassau District Atty Kathleen Rice at Adelphi
2011-08-12 00:00
Kathleen Rice – August 12, 2011

Nassau County DA, Kathleen Rice, was our speaker this morning at a meeting we held at Adelphi. Kathleen asked what message she could deliver to the business community as District Attorney. It was question that was answered by the fact that law enforcement allows for honest business people to prosper.

DA Rice began by talking about white collar crime. The term sounds genteel but the damage done to society can be deep and pervasive. She does not consider white collar crime any less important than outright thuggery. Another big agenda item with Kathleen is drunk driving. This crime is cateregorized as a felony, largely
because of her efforts. Ignition interlock is a system that was implemented by her office to prevent a drunk driver from driving his or her car. It’s not fool proof and it does not detect other drugs, but most impaired driving is still caused by alcohol consumption

According to Ms Rice drug use and street sales of drugs have resulted in a heavy prison population that would be better handled as rehab, and re-education cases. At the same time those programs while breaking the cycle of conviction, jail, and repeat arrests are cheaper to administer.

In dealing with juvenile crime has taken a softer approach. She is convinced that juvenile incarceration only makes the problems a youthful offender may have are doomed to get worse with incarceration. The "Youth Corp" that was begun during her watch addresses most youth problems better and cheaper than incarceration.

The veterans are also a concern of hers. The veterans come back from battle with mental wounds that are deeper and more life changing than the loss of a limb. For this effort the "Veterans Corp" was created. Many of these vets are on drugs or using alcohol. It serves no one to treat these vets, who have already given much, to treat their afflictions in the criminal justice system

She brought to our attention the use of prescription drugs by young people. A lot of the drugs were legally obtained by another family member that needed them fore pain or treatment for a traumatic experience. The over prescribing by doctors of these drugs aggravates the problem. There is also the presentation of phony Rx’s that are presented to the druggist for controlled substances. Again the approach is better if it is more to rehabilitate than to be punitive.

Lastly Rice discussed human trafficking. A problem that most of us are not very aware of, but according to Rice it is a big problem and widespread. It is a problem that her office has made some inroads against.

In getting back to Rice’s opening question about law enforcement and business the conclusion is that a civil society that has good laws that are vigorously adhered to creates a climate of trust and security. Knowing that a business can expect redress to those criminals that are so destructive community allows us all to go about our business.

Next week we have a very important meeting that will be held at our usual location in the Holiday Inn. The discussion will be about a major redevelopment plan in Islip. Please be there as this could mean opportunities for many local businesses. Announcement was in this week’s LIBN. Look for your email Monday

Ernie Fazio

Serota Properties Bram Weber and Michael Cassidy Presenting
2011-08-19 00:00
Bram Weber and Michael Cassidy – August 19, 2011

This morning we had a presentation on a large multi use development project in the Town of Islip. The presentation was delivered by developer Serota Properties’ Michael Cassidy and Bram Weber of the Weber Law Group, who are representing the company.

Islip Pines
The Plan calls for a multi-use development that includes residential, commercial/industrial and retail uses on approximately 136 acres. It is located where Sunrise Highway and Veterans Memorial Highway meet.

Housing
The housing is one and two bedroom residences that should be attractive to singles in the workforce housing market and people who are downsizing. The implication here is that it will generate real estate and school tax but are not expected to generate many school children. The net effect on the area should be positive. The developer expects the price of the units to be in the 250k range.

Retail
This walkable community will have local retail stores that will be convenient and attractive. Landscaping and generous sidewalks with dining opportunities tend to make it hospitable.

Industrial/ Commercial
Instead of risking the future to unplanned warehouse and other uses that are permitted under present zoning, the developer would like to see quality smaller industrial development and significant commercial development that could employ the residents of the plan. Under that rubric a 200 room hotel is planned as well as a cinema.

Open Space
Approximately 4.1 acres will be set aside for, tennis courts, playing fields and a first class recreational building. With parking. All of the facilities will be open to the surrounding Islip residents as well as the on-campus residents.

Economic Impact
There will be about 900 construction jobs generated during the 3 ½ years of construction and 2600 permanent jobs when the plan is fleshed out. Presently the property generates less than $500K in taxes. After being developed the estimated tax collection goes up to $6 million.

Energy
The plan calls for energy efficiency in all of the structures, low water use landscaping plantings, cool roof technology, use of renewable energy resources. And locally produced building materials that meet that criteria. The energy plan is includes having the LIPA lines run underground.

This meeting gave the presenters an opportunity to meet some of our members. At LIMBA we encourage the networking with the presenters and there were many discussions after the meeting closed. For more info and conceptual drawings go to

http://www.serotaproperties.com/islip_pine.html

OPEN
2011-08-26 00:00

Labor Day Holiday- No Meeting
2011-09-02 00:00

Tom Croci - Candidate -Islip Town Supervisor
2011-09-09 00:00
Yesterday’s speaker was Tom Croci. Croci has served as a Navel intelligence officer and also served in the George Bush Whitehouse, and is now in the reserves. He is the Republican candidate for the supervisor of Islip Town. He told us that he was new to politics and his motivation is that of frustration rather than political ambition.

He believes that strong leadership and determination sometimes works well in the political arena. He gave as an example the man he is now working for, Lee Zelden. Zeldin was given no chance of creating legislation that rescinded the MTA. It’s a tax that just about everyone thinks is an unfair tax (that would include LIMBA). He stated that Zelden was successful in passing the legislation in the Senate. It now must go to the Assembly and be signed by the Governor. He thinks it will pass.

Croci said local government "must remove the choke hold on business". Deregulation will help business work more efficiently and get out of the way. During the Q&A he was asked about the type of regulation that protects the public, such as airline safety rules. He appeared to be OK with that.

Mr. Croci thinks that there is a disincentive for bureaucrats to be more helpful. The incentive to do less and risk little is greater than the incentive to expedite work. One questioner remembered that the administration of Mike LoGrande when he was Islip Supervisor there was a timetable for processing development plans and LoGrande was on top of things. Rejections were swift and final and so were approvals. Today the timidity of the people making these decisions ties up a developers resources too long. Even when the project is approved much time has elapsed and a lot of legal and planning resources have been spent. Perhaps Leadership needs to be more supportive of the people on staff as well defining guidelines for them.

Tom Croci appears to actually think about the questions asked of him. I did not see any rapid fire canned responses to questions that are right out of a political catechism.

Randi Busse- Special Program-Retaining customers and clients
2011-09-16 00:00
LIMBA program speaker Randi Busse

The program at LIMBA was different from our usual format. Instead of having a high profile Long Islander, we have a professional speaker. Randi Busse usually speaks to corporate America clients, and her topic today about building the loyalty of your customer base.

After asking her audience to participate by telling her what we thought customers valued. She created a list and turned it around asked the audience. "Isn’t this what you expect as a customer?"

The thought that the sales person is in fact "in business for himself" was explored. An employee that sells as if he owned the place is desirable trait. That sense of "ownership" is the basis of successfully connecting with the client. That ownership shows itself in the completed service the sales person is willing to commit.

Randi discussed the impersonal approach that many corporations use by employing outsourced customer service. The service employees could be anywhere in the world, and they could be reading from a book. They often speak very good English but do not know the idiosyncrasies of the American dialect.

Busse discussed the economics of retaining customers. It costs about six times more to create a new customer than to properly service an existing account. The experience of the audience seemed to agree that there is great value in selling to established accounts. There are needs that are always changing. If you as the sales person are not there to inform, and guide, you will not be around to complete sale of newly acquired need.

It was interesting to see that the audience appeared to be so receptive. Perhaps we all know how to be thoughtful and see where we can be of better service to our client base, but in our pursuit of new business we neglect one important detail. People want to be treated with respect.

Utility Grade Electric Storage- Brian Perusse, AES Energy
2011-09-23 00:00
Stored Energy System for Long Island
Our speaker this morning was Brian Prusse and the discussion was about the use of batteries to help support the grid. The age-old problem with power plants is the difficulty with matching load to production. Firing up a major power plant takes time. On the other hand, the moment you activate a switch you expect the power to be there. Loads in the system are constantly changing and these plants need to over produce or risk a brownout. By having reliable storage that can be almost instantaneously introduced, the power company can produce power closer to the projected need and be more efficient.

Nuclear was introduced to the utility systems about 40 years ago and those plants were designed to produce a base load. Nuclear plants are not easily regulated and work best when producing a steady flow. That makes nuclear suitable for the base amount of power with the peaks being met by so-called peakers that can be fired up relatively quickly. But even these peakers take a little time to meet the perceived load. Batteries can meet the load almost instantly. Utility scale storage has application for the nuclear industry even if not a single new nuclear plant is ever built.

Another strategy for load leveling is a very sophisticated and robust transmission system. Being able to move power to where it is needed employs automated systems that we have. That strategy works better in the open spaces of the country than in places like Long Island where no one wants to see the power transmission facility built, and even that strategy is not a perfect solution.

Mr. Perusse gave us a little history on the AES Company. AES has a presence in many places in the world as generating company, and began solving the problem of variable needs for their own installations. They began by solving small scale problems and as technology advances allowed they were able to tackle power systems that would have been cost prohibitive in the past.

The future may include a large scale use of batteries that are installed in cars. During the evening the cars will absorb cheaply created power and reintroduce that power at a time in the day that would be advantages to the utility company. However we are not there yet, and it may be some time before enough electric cars are in place to accomplish this kind of load leveling. In the meantime battery technology has gotten less costly and safer.

AES created a plant in Chile and that system has worked very well. There is a 32-megawatt storage plant that is being built in South Carolina and there is an 8-megawatt storage facility in Johnson City near Binghamton. The proposed plant for Long Island is much larger than the previously built storage systems at 400 Megawatts. That sounds big and it is big, but compared to the size of the Long island system it is small. We can generate 5800 megawatts if needed and about 2000 of those megawatts are produced by older, dirtier and less efficient plants. This 400 MW can be introduced almost instantly and that feature by itself creates a scenario where we actually can produce less power so the capacity will be able to serve the region.

This meeting was rescheduled to 10/21 NO Meeting 9/30
2011-09-30 00:00

LIMBA- Islip Supervisor - Phil Nolan, speaker
2011-10-07 00:00
Supervisor Phil Nolan – Oct 7 2011
Mr. Nolan made his presentation today by pointing out some changes that he made when he took the reins of Islip town government. He began to learn very quickly that there were some questionable practices that needed to be addressed.
The practice of confidential pay. These were payments that were made to public employees because they had to handle confidential information. Nolan reasoned that the job description did not make any provisions for this fact, and that the stated income was all that was needed. According to Nolan this was an excuse to favor a few people. Rescinding those payments resulted in a $625 K/ year savings.
He then attacked health plans that were paid in full for part time employees. An employee working 10 hours/ week would be entitled to a $13,000 health plan (now $18,000). That was ended.
At the same time tax revenues were plummeting. Nolan stated that he did not come into the job with the mind-set at reducing the size of government, but the economic emergency required, what sometimes, were heart breaking decisions. There were 1029 town positions when he came to the job, and now there 720. The downsizing was achieved mostly by attrition.
Technology use in the town was more like 1950 than a modern array of systems. He took on the job of bringing the towns systems into modernity. In conjunction with that effort, he made permitting a lot faster than in the past. Modern systems and the right attitude were needed to make permitting better on every level faster. There was a workers compensation revue that resulted in a savings of $6.5 million/year
Future Considerations
The future will include the hub at Ronkonkoma that fellow supervisor of Brookhaven Mark Lesko initiated. This 50 acre development promises to create an efficient transit oriented business grouping, that will employ many and be in close proximity to the airport, and the railroad.
There were some aspersions cast upon the commissioner of the airport by Mr. Nolan’s opponent, when he appeared at LIMBA. Nolan defended Commissioner Theresa Rizutto in no uncertain terms. This insult is an affront that I take personally. "She is a professional that rose quickly in her career due to her hard work, and dedication." Then he read a few testimonials that were written by LIA president Kevin Law, LICA executive director Mark Herbst, and ABLI Executive Director Des Ryan.
Ernie Fazio

Special Prog -Ask the Lawyer-Kaufman Dolowich Voluck & Gonzo
2011-10-14 00:00
"Ask the Lawyer" – October 14, 2011

Gary Wirth, partner in the law firm of Kaufman Dolowich Voluck & Gonzo LLP, brought to us a program this morning called "Ask the Lawyer." Gary began with pointing out the difference of approach of who pays legal fees. He compared the English system where the losing side pays the fees of both sides, and the American system where each side pays his own fees. This feature of the legal system never occurred to me. According to Mr. Wirth that system can be adopted by a letter of agreement between the involved parties. It would have to be negotiated before any legal work has begun. The question to Wirth was; "Why put yourself in the position of paying all the legal fees if you lose?" Wirth’s replied that both sides think they are going to win at inception and may therefore make that bet. The concept has the added value of encouraging settlement. I learned something new today.

We discussed the value of arbitration and mediation. Most of us didn’t know there was a difference, but according to Gary, arbitration is binding and mediation is not. With mediation you may end up in the same place you started except now you had legal fees to pay and no resolution, and those legal fees can be substantial.

We discussed fees too. It is not cut and dried as many of us thought. We may think in terms of hourly rates, or contingency fees, but there are variations on those fee structures too. First of all the stated hourly rate can be negotiated. There also can be a fee at inception that will continue as an hourly fee. Or, there can be a flat case fee. As far as the contingency fee is concerned, the percentage can be negotiated. A fairly straight forward case of liability, where the plaintiff is expected to win may be attractive to the counsel if he believes there is a very large settlement expected, and the time requirement are expected to be reasonable. That was the second lesson of the day.

Small Claims Court; Not all legal matters require a lawyer. In Small Claims Court (recent limit is $5,000) A complaint may be filed for money damages only. While Judges are very precise on the law in a court with a lawyer representing a client, a plaintiff that is representing himself is offered guidance by the court. For many cases Small Claims Court is appropriate.

Mr. Wirth touched upon other topics and then handled question.

This informative format was sponsored by the speaker’s law firm Kaufman Dolowich Voluck & Gonzo, Woodbury NY. LIMBA thanks you.

Ernie Fazio

Steve Levy- Balanced Budget with tough Decisions
2011-10-21 00:00
County Executive Steve Levy requested an opportunity to speak before LIMBA this morning. He believes the budget that he has put on the table will be disturbing to many, but the measures he is taking are absolutely necessary.

Among the problems are the Medicaid bills. While they were difficult enough a few years ago they are infinitely worse now. Another issue is pensions. The pensions for County employees are funded by what is known as "defined benefit" plans. This guarantees that the recipient gets the benefit outlined in the plan, no matter what the underlying investment performance. In a market where investments are falling, the employer must inject extraordinary amounts of new cash to meet the "defined benefit". Of course we, the taxpayers, are the employers. The increased cost over the next two years is between $85 and 95 million. These plans are almost non-existent in the private sector because of this volatility.

Another albatross that was thrown at the county was a requirement to build a new $180 million jail, with an annual operating cost of $20-30 million. In addition, the occupancy had to be less dense than our children would experience in a college dorm. A sprung on the property of the old jail can withstand 135 mph winds. During the recent tropical storm, the state insisted that it should be evacuated even though wind were not expected to be anywhere near that strength and in fact did not exceed 55mph. The state is seeking to punish the county for not evacuating the sprung.

Levy has had some notably successes in reducing costs, one such case was to take highly paid police officers off PAL duties and office duties and other non-police functions and put them in the community doing real police work. Another successful move was using sheriff to police the highways. And while sheriff personnel receive the same training as the regular force, they are paid considerably less. This move saved about $11 million per year.

Last year Levy’s budget, approved by the legislature, called for the closure of the county owned nursing home and the same of the empty facility. The legislators too the money projected from the sale of the empty facility so that they could pay for member items — and then they joined in a lawsuit to prevent the closure. This resulted in a $20 million hole in the budget. This year Mr. Levy’s budget again calls for the closure of the nursing home again and, unless that is reversed by the legislature that will save the county $8 million this year and every year thereafter.

Mr. Levy does not like the idea of selling off assets that have a recurring use. The nursing home will never be needed again because there are alternatives. Selling off a publicly owned building to private parties, like the jail as some legislators have suggested, will create some money to pay the current bills, but if you have to rent that property back, it becomes a recurring expense that soon is far more costly than the temporary monetary gain. He gave the example of NY State selling Attica Prison, and now the state pays dearly for using that asset each year.

The county does have some disaster reserves. The legislature and the unions are suggesting that those reserves be used to cover the shortfalls. "No" says Levy, that makes us vulnerable and next year we may be faced with the same shortfall. Selling valuable assets that are owned by the people and using reserves are not the answer according to Levy. It’s not good management.

Levy admits that these are unpalatable measures, but it is exactly the type of measures that business people are making in a difficult economic environment.

LIMBA Saving $ on Education with quality- Marty Cantor
2011-10-28 00:00
Marty Cantor was our speaker this morning. Cantor is an economist and has apparently has given his topic, education costs, a great deal of thought.
Marty started out by pointing out that among the anti-competitive elements we are dealing with on Long Island property taxes. About 70% of those taxes are school taxes. The effect of the high costs is lost jobs. In the last 10 years Long Island lost 70,000 manufacturing jobs. We replaced all but 1700 of those jobs, but we replaced them with much lower paying jobs.

We have virtually no chance of replacing those higher earning people and that places an unsustainable burden on the people. He pointed out that while “green jobs”
Are being touted as the replacements for those manufacturing jobs. According to Cantor they are mostly coming from the ranks of the heating and air conditioning industry. While those jobs are being saved, they are adding significantly to the pool of good jobs. Bio-tech jobs are being developed, but they are being pirated away from Long Island almost as fast as they are being developed. In addition the infrastructure has been neglected making it more difficult to do business here. That backdrop set the tone for the urgency to act.

The driving force of education is not teacher’s salaries as much as the cumbersome structure of the system.

Cantor dissected the problem after declaring that there are benefits in creating a town-wide school district. There are school boards that have inexperienced and untrained people on them except for the members that worked in the system and like things just as they are. We need a town-wide elected board that is professional and independent. The rubber stamp boards are people who are highly influenced by the local superintendent.

There are as many superintendents as there are school districts on Long Island, 126. The city of New York has one. There is a professional management of our schools that will resist this consolidation, and there are those that say consolidation will not save money. That argument just does not hold up. It defies all logic. If you reduce the number of superintendents that have salaries in excess of $275,000 and you reduce that number to 11 from 126, that has to save money. There are several other levels of management that work under the superintendents that can also be eliminated.

There is equipment that is owned by every school district that can be owned by a town-wide entity, just as a battalion supplies the military subdivisions, that it serves.

The “Princeton Plan” did not impress Cantor either. That plan segregates schools into grades such as K-3, 4-6, 7-9, 10-12. That could mean that you have 3 children in your family going to three different schools. There’s a real sausage factory feel to that plan, Cantor doesn’t like it. I don’t know how it saves money and there are social implications that are disturbing.

According to Cantor the 2% tax cap will not solve the cost problem if the schools are not forced to make significant structural changes. The tax cap will cause class sizes to increase because the established bureaucracy will sacrifice the quality of education before they agree to a structure that could eliminate their jobs. The speaker stated that the savings would be about $300 million.

There was an idea that could save money that was voiced during the Q&A. We could settle the pension we are obligated to pay with an enormous bond issue that would be a prelude to changing the pensions going forward. There were a couple of people in the audience that have looked at that possibility and they think it has merit. The education system is not like a business that most many of us are used to. In public education we are used to increasing taxes when we run out of cash. That is no longer acceptable

Ernie Fazio
