BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Limba - ECPv6.16.5//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-WR-CALNAME:Limba X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://limba.net X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Limba REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20100314T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20101107T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20110313T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20111106T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20120311T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20121104T060000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20111007T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20111007T000000 DTSTAMP:20111007T040000Z CREATED:20111007T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20111007T040000Z UID:4478-1317945600-1317945600@limba.net SUMMARY:LIMBA- Islip Supervisor - Phil Nolan\, speaker DESCRIPTION:Supervisor Phil Nolan – Oct 7 2011 \nMr. 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. \nThe 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. \nHe 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. \nAt 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. \nTechnology 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 \nFuture Considerations\nThe 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. \nThere 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. \nErnie Fazio URL:https://limba.net/calendar/limba-islip-supervisor-phil-nolan-speaker/ LOCATION:NY END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20111014T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20111014T000000 DTSTAMP:20111014T040000Z CREATED:20111014T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20111014T040000Z UID:4479-1318550400-1318550400@limba.net SUMMARY:Special Prog -Ask the Lawyer-Kaufman Dolowich Voluck & Gonzo DESCRIPTION:"Ask the Lawyer" – October 14\, 2011  \n  \nGary 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. \n  \nWe 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. \n  \nWe 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. \n  \nSmall 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. \n  \nMr. Wirth touched upon other topics and then handled question. \n  \nThis informative format was sponsored by the speaker’s law firm Kaufman Dolowich Voluck & Gonzo\, Woodbury NY. LIMBA thanks you. \n  \nErnie Fazio URL:https://limba.net/calendar/special-prog-ask-the-lawyer-kaufman-dolowich-voluck-gonzo/ LOCATION:NY END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20111021T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20111021T000000 DTSTAMP:20111021T040000Z CREATED:20111021T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20111021T040000Z UID:4493-1319155200-1319155200@limba.net SUMMARY:Steve Levy- Balanced Budget with tough Decisions DESCRIPTION: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.\n\nAmong 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. \n\n\n 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. \n\n\n 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. \n\n\n 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. \n\n\n 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. \n\n\n 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. \n\n 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. URL:https://limba.net/calendar/steve-levy-balanced-budget-with-tough-decisions/ LOCATION:NY END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20111028T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20111028T000000 DTSTAMP:20111028T040000Z CREATED:20111028T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20111028T040000Z UID:4482-1319760000-1319760000@limba.net SUMMARY:LIMBA Saving $ on Education with quality- Marty Cantor DESCRIPTION: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. \nMarty 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. \n  \nWe 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” \nAre 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. \n  \nThe driving force of education is not teacher’s salaries as much as the cumbersome structure of the system. \n  \nCantor 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. \n  \nThere 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. \n  \nThere 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. \n  \nThe “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. \n  \nAccording 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. \n  \nThere 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 \n  \nErnie Fazio URL:https://limba.net/calendar/limba-saving-on-education-with-quality-marty-cantor/ LOCATION:NY END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR