TWF 349: Village of Freeport Elections: March 18th, 2025; some TWF updates.

Hello, friends,

Hope you're all doing fantastic.  Life is okay - imperfect as always.

This is just a reminder that this Tuesday, March 18th, are the Village of Freeport elections.

Spend the next 48-ish hours getting together your information as to how you might wish to vote - then, vote on Tuesday!

Pretty simple, right?

So let's do a couple of updates.

Reminder on TWF's activity:

I really only publish one of these posts when I have something worth saying that relates to Freeport, be it a weather update or an event that's taking place - or maybe something that I cover directly, if for some reason I feel compelled to head back home.

So if you don't hear from me much, or hear from me twice in a row out of the blue and then hear nothing for a while, that's probably why.

If there is a charitable event that you'd like me to talk about, reach out to me (the best way to do this is through my Bluesky - and NOT just submitting your event through the comparative graveyard that is Facebook) and we can talk about if there's something I can do to help you out.

 - I definitely won't share your religious event. (You probably aren't my religion, BTW)

 - I probably won't share your business-related event. (That's called an ad.  You wanna pay for one, reach out to me)

 - I probably will share your fundraiser event. (That would be charity)

 - I definitely will share Freeport's Pride events. (Because it's newsworthy and a good charitable thing, too)

If that helps lock you in when it comes to what I'm talking about when I mention charitable events, well, that's good.  That's good to hear.  

Important update to the "non-endorsement" rule:

 First, as a blanket statement:  The Weekly Freeporter does not endorse candidates for Freeport-only office.  I don't live there anymore, so this will not change.  I have little-if-anything to do with it except for fond memories.

However.

As non-partisan as The Weekly Freeporter began, it's time to make something clear:  I am not, and have never been, impartial. I think you all knew that.  But we live in a time when trying to be politically agnostic is impossible.

Thus:  Insofar as elections where Freeport and I intersect (I.E, we are both impacted), I will provide my political insights to the best of my abilities.  This means I will consider endorsing for certain Nassau County, New York State, and Federal offices.

For the purposes of context as to what sort of coverage you might expect, I will report that I am presently a member of the Working Families Party.  I figured you have the right to know that much.

As to how you can get endorsed by me?  There's one way, really, and that's for me to know you, know your positions, and know I can trust you with power.  That means either I'll do it without you ever knowing I'm planning on it, or - if you ask me - then I'll dig into your beliefs until I'm sure one way or another.

And if you're Chuck Schumer or Kristen Gillibrand?  Who later sold us out on the 2025 Enabling Act?  No.

But if you're reading this three years from now and thinking about primarying Chuck Schumer or Kristen Gillibrand, then, your odds have gone up substantially.

TWF 286: Does The Earlene Hooper Saga Continue With Write-In Campaign?

Freeporters,

I hope you're all having a fantastic Thursday, and that you're keeping those suffering from Hurricane Michael in your minds as that storm rolls through the south, reminding us all of how Hurricane Sandy hit us.

Earlene Hooper is a name synonymous with "Freeport Legends," if for no other reason that she has been involved with myriad contentious issues with Village residents.  I've already chronicled this history multiple times (I encourage you to give it a read), but the two greatest conflicts she had with Freeporters in general remain, A; her adamant refusal to allow the Freeport Armory to be transferred to the Village Of Freeport, and, B; her extraordinarily surprising attempt, in collaboration with then-Freeport Mayor Andrew Hardwick, to convince Freeport to house a garbage incinerator.

I know I recycle this image a lot, but they made a whole frikkin' video about this thing.

I've spoken before, both on this very blog and even in-person at an event hosted by Adelphi University (I had the true honor of sharing a stage with Anthony J Miller, of the Freeport School District Board of Education!  Squeee!) about how New York State hasn't come close to escaping the gerrymandering that so many states embrace to limit voter turnout.  Freeport is, for those who don't know, split across multiple districts (on many levels of government...), meaning our full voice doesn't get to vote for any one leader, but rather many chunks of our populace are lumped in with those from many other communities also sometimes split into parts, all to create safety for incumbent politicians.  That's what makes Taylor Raynor's victory against Mrs. Hooper so impressive; while Freeporters might have been natural allies, she had to contend with many other small constituencies to win.

Is Hooper Running A Write-In Campaign?

Today I want to let everyone know that Earlene Hooper's time in politics is not necessarily over, for better or worse, because after her defeat in the democratic Primary for New York State Legislative District 18 at the hands of Taylor Raynor, rumors (from who I will happily concede is a credible source) are flying on Facebook trying to claim that she is planning on running a write-in campaign.  However, I'm going to assess what truth I can find in this concern.

First of all, Google is my friend; I searched for news articles having to do with Hooper running a write-in campaign and...Came up empty.  I next searched for any sort of website tied to Hooper running a re-election campaign.  I...Also came up empty!  I searched Facebook and Twitter, the top-two word-of-mouth machines necessary for such a campaign for active accounts and...Still, nothing.  Ballotpedia didn't chart anything about a write-in, either.  The only thing I found still up-and-running was her official NYS Assembly page, and that didn't look updated at all.

Now, maybe there is information that I'm yet to be aware of; or, maybe there was an effort, since-abandoned.  After all, I am not on any e-mail list Hooper may have accumulated over the years, and since I cannot find any active accounts (I mean, not even an official Twitter account? Or am I missing it?) for her, I can't be sure if I'm simply blocked or otherwise excluded from viewing it.

The Conclusion...

Let's be honest:  Write-in campaigns are long shots, anyway, often undertaken for farcical reasonsand made complicated by spelling errors and general electioneering trickery.  Lisa Murkowski, a U.S. Senator representing Alaska, is the most famous example of one working.  However, it took a massive political effort to effectively communicate with and mobilize volunteers to recruit voters who would be prepared to successfully cast a write-in vote.

The complete absence of any visible, easily-accessible social media presence, as well as a thorough lack of a serious campaign website for social media efforts to guide volunteers and donations towards, indicates that even if Mrs. Hooper were to decide at the last minute to try for a write-in campaign, she simply won't have the resources in place to succeed.

With that said, as always, The Weekly Freeporter as a publication does not endorse candidates, and we urge you to vote for who you think will best support your community.  Thanks for reading!


Jesse Pohlman is a long-time Freeport resident who sometimes just likes to share what he's thinking about it.  He's also a science-fiction and fantasy writer you can check out on Amazon!

TWF 279: Evaluating the racism of Jack Martins' “New Neighbors” ad.

Greetings, Freeport and Long Island,

I don't often use this space to talk politics, and I refuse even now for The Weekly Freeporter as a no-longer-weekly blog to issue full-fledged endorsements. However, a recent scourge has emerged in Nassau County and it cannot go unanswered.

What you're about to see is the front page of the “New Neighbors” ad distributed by either supporters of Jack Martins, Republican candidate for County Executive in tomorrow's election, or Jack Martins' campaign, itself. As you should know, “supporters of” are very often just extensions of the campaign.

Once we look at this document, we're going to assess what it's 'trying' to say, and what it really suggests and why, as the title of this article suggests, it is a blatantly racist attempt to scare voters into voting against Laura Curran, the Democratic candidate in the race.

The "New Neighbors" ad; this particular photo comes courtesy of Adam Haber

“Meet your new neighbors!”

First of all, let's evaluate the claim this ad makes. The ad opens with a suggestion that “Laura Curran will roll out the welcome mat for violent gangs like MS-13.” The photo at center is of these mean-faced gang members (who I've heard were probably actually filmed in a foreign country's jail, but I don't have proof of that just yet), dangerous criminals who are about to move in next door or across the street. Surely, that's a scary image, isn't it?! I mean, aren't these guys intimidating?

Is there a single shred of evidence offered to prove Curran wants to bring gang members into your neighborhood? No.

The ad suggests (without citing evidence) Larrau Curran works for “special interest groups” from New York City, and goes on to say, “These groups want to make Nassau County a sanctuary county for illegal immigrants and protect those convicted of violent crimes from deportation.” Okay. Once again, absolutely no evidence gets cited in this argument. Not a footnote to, say, a Newsday article which ran a quote from Curran.

I have asked people who support Mr. Martins on Twitter (and copied Mr. Martins' Twitter account in on the conversations) if they could provide any proof or quote of Curran's suggesting she is indeed guilty of what certainly sounds like a dangerous crime, the way they've put it. (Keep that last bit in mind.) Of course, none could actually prove Curran complicit in bringing gang members into Nassau County, but let's get at the real root of this problem.

I am calling this ad racist, along with proponents of it, and you deserve to know why.

Dog Whistles And Megaphones

During my search on Twitter to figure out an answer, I ran into a user named Christopher Shea (@CkeefeShea), among others. According to him, the “New Neighbors” ad was really about Laura Curran's beliefs on what's called “Sanctuary city,” or perhaps "Sanctuary county" status. This is a vague argument to begin with, but as an example of what that means, New York City won't let Immigration officers into their schools without a warrant. That, my friends, sounds reasonable from a Constitutional perspective, doesn't it? You're not allowed to just randomly sweep people up because you think they might have done something wrong (and immigration sweeps often net legal immigrants and US Citizens, so there's that to consider). You need a warrant for that. Period.

The implication, as this ad's producers would have you believe, is that Laura Curran wants to make Nassau into a “Sanctuary County,” and that this would by definition give gang members in MS-13 and other organizations a safe haven in our home.  To quote Mr. Shea, "Bottom line, sanctuary policies create safe havens for violent gangs like MS-13."  I have no reason to believe Mr. Shea doesn't truly believe this to be the case, but that only makes him at best a victim of race-baiting.

Okay. Deep breaths. We now understand their underlying argument.

Here's why it is inescapably racist:

MS-13 has become something of a 'dog whistle' on Long Island.  A 'dog whistle' is a type of political speech that might sound perfectly normal, but to those listening for the right cues it reinforces negative racial, ethnic, religious, or otherwise stereotypes.  The New Neighbors ad is a dog whistle aimed not just at White Supremacist terrorist groups, but really at anyone who is simply afraid or anxious about demographic trends showing America's changing face.  The picture and the wording suggests, “Hey, you see these really bad examples of an immigrant to this country? They're all like this.”   It is a stereotype of epic proportions, and a viciously negative one, at that. 

It would be as if the only popular image of Italian immigrants were those of La Familia, the deadly Mafia who would kill you if you didn't pay your protection money on time. That's a scary and even, to a limited extent, accurate perception of Italian-American history! Yes! We (for I am, in part, Italian-American) have had problems with organized crime in the “New Country” as well as the “Old Country).

It would be as if saying all German-Americans (for I am also German-American) are not to be trusted because Germany collapsed into fascism and Naziism in the 1930's and 40's.  We know that many Germans resisted the Nazis, even if it led to their demise.

It would be as if, wouldn't you know, that the Irish were regarded as stupid “Molly” and “Mick” characters that are still so prevalent that Notre Dame's mascot is indeed the “Fighting Irish,” who happens to look like a leprechaun. "No Irish Need Apply" was a popular slogan during the Industrial era and the Irish diaspora.  Police vans are sometimes called “Paddy Wagons” because so many “Paddys” (AKA Irishmen) were arrested for drunken brawling that, well...You get the impression. (P.S., I'm also Irish-American. I'm a mutt).

My point: By seizing on the scariest possible imagery to explain all illegal immigrants that would be protected by a “sanctuary” status in Nassau County (one that this image fails to prove is even on Curran's mind), the authors conclude that Laura Curran is “MS-13's choice for county executive.”

This conclusion, reinforced by what Martins supporters suggest is their own understanding of the ad, proves that it is indeed racist. When challenged on the connection between the image's negative stereotype of Hispanic-Americans and illegal immigrants alike, I heard pitiable answers: “Who cares if majority are Hispanic for freaking crying out loud. Deport all them!” said Craw (@CWForSheeze) with a tenuous grasp on grammar.

An Anti-Endorsement of Jack Martins

Martins has, according to all accounts I've seen, and from my own attempts to reach out to him via social media, hidden from this ad's fall-out in the most exceptionally cowardly way imaginable. He could have stood up and said, “No, I don't stand for this ad, I don't believe that all immigrants – even all of those not here legally – are criminals. Most of them are just trying to have a better life and are running away from things that you and I would probably want to run away from, too,” but saying something like that would take courage, of which Jack Martins has demonstrated none.

I do not use this publication to endorse candidates, but I will certainly Anti-Endorse Jack Martins. Vote for anyone but him, tomorrow. He's either too cowardly to confront his supporters' racism, or too racist to treat all Nassau residents fairly. Either one makes him an unqualified candidate to lead Nassau County in the 21^st century.  Vote Democrat, vote Green, vote Libertarian - vote for anyone whose name isn't Jack Martins, because Jack Martins doesn't have the guts to confront this racism as you have, upon reading this.

TWF 277: Village Mayoral and Board Elections on 3/21/2017 - Tomorrow!

Greetings, Freeport!

As you are no doubt aware, an election is brewing in Freeport, tomorrow, and boy is it a doozy!  Here's your usual The Weekly Freeporter does not endorse candidates within Freeport, and generally ever reminder.  I might make recommendations on other platforms or for outside-of-the-Village, but I don't do politics in Freeport.  My past reporting on both the Hardwick and Kennedy administrations may speak for themselves.

With that said, let's go in order of Rows:  Kennedy is in Row C, so he'll be last, and I believe Mr.  Hardwick has Row B, so we're gonna start with the only one on the list who hasn't been Mayor already, Stephen Drummond!

It's only fair I note that I'm not going to go into depth about the candidates for Trustee.  In many cases, either you know them (as with Mrs.  Pinyero, Mr.  Grossman, and Mr.  Ellerbe), or you don't (as with Mr.  Vargas and others).  While we've certainly seen times when "team" members don't vote with the Mayor they came to office with, in general they are likely to follow most of the same political lines as the mayor they're following.

Also, let's be real:  We all know there's a lot of vitriol in some of these candidacies.

Village of Freeport Mayoral Candidates, 3/21/2017

Row A:  Stephen Drummond.

Mr.  Drummond is certainly the wild-card in this race.  A former U.S. Marine who served as the Village Judge for Andrew Hardwick if I remember correctly, Drummond has clearly decided to strike out on his own.  He made an awesome campaign video that's worth checking out, but as far as policy I see, for starters, a lot of the "law and order" campaign one might expect from a former judge.

He has a plan to improve Freeport you can read at your leisure.  As a Recreation Center person, I like the sound of his plan to revitalize and improve the Recreation Center...But at the same time, if one of Freeport's major woes has been it's pocket book, he'd have to get a helluvalotta funding to do it.  Yet it appears controversy stirs over the number of religious figures he's asked to join him, which came up as far back as when Annette Dennis ran for Trustee.  After all, the argument went then as now - If you don't pay taxes, how do you get control over taxpayer money?

If this were a two-candidate race, I'd say Mr.  Drummond's odds could be very strong.  As it stands, I can't back that viewpoint because there's so much baggage here that it's just hard to imagine people avoiding polarization.

Row B:  Andrew Hardwick

Former Mayor Hardwick was defeated by one of his "Team Hardwick" deputies, Robert Kennedy, in the last Mayoral elections.  Has it been so long, Andrew?  While I always appreciated how direct he was with me during his tenure, he has since gone on to run for offices across Long Island, and I always expressed concern that he did not have a grasp on how public relations worked.

He is nigh-legendary for threatening to cancel the Freeport Nautical Mile Festival and for the "Garbage To Gold" scandal, and what I would have hoped to have heard from Mr.  Hardwick - and seen, through his supporters' actions and outreach - would have been a maturity in his approach.  He was, fairly or not, seen as combative and unwilling to listen; as it stands, there's been far too little outreach for me to understand if this is a serious bid to return to power, or a spiteful grasp at fame.

The hunter who chases two rabbits at the same time often loses sight of them both; I find myself asking what Andrew Hardwick wants to do.  I think his voters will, as well, because my experience in covering small-scale elections tells me to expect him to finish last or close to it.

Row C:  Robert Kennedy

Mayor Kennedy made a move the other day, one that impressed one decades-long resident in both its timing and its function:  That huge plot of land on Sunrise Highway next to the ancient but beautiful bank has been sold, or is being sold, or...Progress, am I right?  When Stop-And-Shop folded, Target came in.  The Nautical Mile Festival works about as well as it ever could; it's still far too reduced in relation to its legacy, but that's what people seem to want.

Is Mr.  Kennedy's tenure perfect?  I'd love to see him build a rock-climbing wall at the Rec, among other massive improvements in funding it would benefit from.  (I'd go into detail, but it'd be a conflict of interest.)  But it's certainly fair to say he is favored, mathematically, to win this race.  He faces divided opposition and presides over a time when factors far beyond him have led Freeport to feel like there's a time of recovery, while Mayor Hardwick's first term started with a national economic crisis and ended with a massive storm.

Perhaps fate was a bit unfair to Mr.  Hardwick, in retrospect, but one has to help oneself and Mr.  Kennedy sure took advantage of his opportunities.  I expect that - regardless of what you think about him or his opponents - Mr.  Kennedy will remain in the Mayor's office.

On Predictions...

Fact is, these predictions of mine:  A Kennedy 1st, Drummond 2nd, Hardwick 3rd outcome, are the predictions of an amateur who only hears what he hears and listens to what he listens to.  I have no horse in this race (I'm no longer in Freeport!), and I am simply reporting this because lately TWF has had a bit of a role to play in bringing up important events - and, I still have family and friends in the Port, and I'm not too far away or unwilling to help the community.

I could be wrong.  I very well might be!  In fact, this article will, as a matter of the Uncertainty Principle, shift the way the world turns.  If my article somehow helps drive voter turnout up, then that's a good thing.

Good luck to all candidates, but voters?  This is on you.  It always is.

TWF 263: Kudos To Freeport PD For Wearing Body Cameras!

Greetings!

I know that this article is extraordinarily overdue, at least with respect to my original desire to get this done.  My apologies for that.  This article got its genesis in a video clip I saw in an emergency room waiting area, as well as in the recent national crisis - I think it's a crisis, anyway! - over police brutality.  In a gesture which bolstered my faith in our own Freeport Police Department even more, and as first reported by other news sources such as this CBS Article, Freeport PD has launched a program to outfit all of its officers with body cameras!

Freeport Police

Cue an article that'll be relatively short and full of praise!

Why Body Cameras Matter

It's midnight.  Our fictional officer John Simmons pulls over a speeding car with one tail light.  His body camera is on.  He pulls over a perpetrator who recognizes that Simmons has a cold.  He's not too sick to work, but he's sick enough that the perp thinks he's got a shot.  He takes a swing.  In the resulting scuffle, the perp suffers a broken nose.  He sues for police brutality, and unfortunately the dashboard camera doesn't capture what happens while he is being handcuffed very well.

The good news is, Simmons has on a body camera, and can prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that he didn't, as the perp claims, get in a couple of cheap shots.

Back to reality:  We know that the current police brutality issue is primarily a case of crooked cops abusing their power by, say, shooting Black men in the back and planting tasers.  We know that this particular case, involving Michael Slager from South Carolina, only came to light because of a third party recording his murder-apparent.  If not for the footage in question, odds are it never would have come to light.

This is why I'm so thrilled that Freeport PD is going to wear these cameras.  I have no doubt that Freeport PD is a solid group!  However, by demonstrating that these cameras are not the nightmarish, over-arching burden for our law officers that so many claim they are, Freeport PD will be a small but important part of an experiment that will, hopefully revolutionize law enforcement at a time when overall faith in our government is pretty low.

So...What else is there to say?  I'm certainly a happy guy, today!


Jesse Pohlman is a freelance writer from Freeport, New York.  His website is www.jessepohlman.com, where you can check out other articles he's written.  He also publishes science fiction novels at Amazon!

TWF 230: Welcome to Payport! Or; RVC Light.

Howdy Payporters!

What, our town is called Freeport?  Coulda fooled me!

I know; it's hard to tell what it is.

A few days ago a little internet controversy came to my attention as it was asserted that the Village had installed Rockville Center-style "Munimeters" in its municipal parking lots.  This was sort of a surprise to me, seeing as I live two blocks from one, so I decided to stop by after work.  Sure enough, I was greeted with sights like the above, and the below.

Now, I've checked at all four lots down on the Nautical Mile and can confirm they exist, there; I haven't checked up north due two working two jobs and all, while also having the Human weaknesses of needing to eat and sleep.  There are also no meters (yet) on the streets in that neighborhood.  Wow.  Where do I begin?  Normally, it'd be with some words from Mayor Kennedy, but unlike former Mayor Hardwick he didn't respond to my message.  (Is this a good thing?  Judging from the past could be.)  Instead, let's jump into the debate!


To Tax, or to tax differently.

Let's ignore, for a moment, Freeport's history as a rum-running capital, and/or it's history as a free port (which, according to The Economist, is a booming business!), and/or the fact that these areas were just a year ago devastated by Hurricane Sandy.  And, it's no secret that facilities like Braccos were charging upwards of $20/night for parking, but that's parking on-site in a heavily monitored lot.  Let's look at this in a purely economic standpoint:  Does this make sense?

Well, these parking lots were built with Taxpayer money.  Sea Breeze especially is a recently-constructed facility.  Therefore, Freeporters have paid to have them developed.  We'll touch more into the fairness of this later, but does it make sense - economically - to recuperate losses?  Well...No.  Not in my view.  Here's why!

One of the huge advantages Freeport had going into the post-Sandy recovery was that The Mile's nearest major competitor, in terms of night-life and restaurants, is Rockville Center.  Let me tell you a little secret:  I hate me some RVC.  I despise it.  I hate going there because of one simple reason:  I can never find parking, and I pay through my bum for what little I can find.  I don't just dislike the town, but I actually actively avoid going there.  When I have a choice between doctors' appointments at an RVC or a Merrick one, I go with Merrick 100% of the time.  If I had to go to Bellmore or even Wantagh, I'd be in for that.  Why?  Parking, pure and simple.  I know many, many others who feel the same way.

Now, The Mile is not exactly a year-round place.  Many establishments aren't even open year-round, but those which are?  They became home.  Jeremy's Ale House in particular, but also places like Bamboo (which I recently had the pleasure of dining at!) and, during its pre-Wet days, a place once called Splash as well as Hurricane Charlie's.  These were my spots, and I loved going there.  Why?  At least in the winter, parking was virtually automatic!  Show up, park, eat, leave!  Why is this complicated?

No longer.

If you don't think this will effect where people dine, or how much they spend, think again.  It's $7 for a 14 hour parking slip.  That's not a terrible price, but it is the price of a drink and/or an appetizer.  That's $7 I had to buy myself an order of boneless wings at Jeremy's.  Well, even if I only spend half of that, that's an order of boneless wings I'm no longer buying.  That's money the Village gets...But Jeremy's doesn't!  Now, isn't that lame?  Speaking of money Jeremy's doesn't get, consider the employees of the place!  Your average eight hour shift is $4 in parking money every day, meaning $20/week.  That doesn't sound like much, but think about it this way:  Would you be cool paying an extra $20/week on parking, no matter how much you earn?  Or, as an employer, would you be happy to pay all of your employees an extra $20 for the privilege of paying the Village to come in and enable commerce?

The main argument I've heard in favor of these Munimeters (Punymeters, really; these guys are small!) is that they will help make sure we don't get a tax increase in the immediate future.  That's really the idea, right?  Increase revenue without raising taxes on home-owners?  But, at least for the businesses, employees, and visitors to these businesses?  Isn't the process I explained above the textbook definition of a tax, at least in terms of the "chilling" effect on commerce that taxes cause?

Here's the bottom line:  This is a tax on Freeporters.  It's not a direct tax levy, performed by - say - raising the commercial rate.  It's instead placed upon the employees and patrons.  Sometimes that "broadens" the tax base by taxing non-residents indirectly, but it's certainly a mistake.  If the commercial aspects don't convince you this was a mistake, let's present another...


These Munimeters may cost lives.

No joke.

Because we needed a fun picture, courtesy of Superheroden.

As someone who lives only a few blocks away, I cannot tell you how many times I have had friends (not recently, but during my college days.  I had those - we were all young, once) call me up and offer a more vulgar variant of, "Hey, Jesse, I got pretty messed up last night.  I took a cab home, then left my car at the Mile, can you pick me up and drop me off at it?"  It was always in the back of peoples' minds:  Leave your car because it costs you nothing.  Now, it costs you a parking ticket!  Impaired people may weigh the consequences quite differently; the results may be disastrous.

I know that sounds like a reach, but DWI is one of the leading killers in this country.  Most accidents happen within a few miles of one's house.  I'd post links, but I don't feel like google-searching.  Why not?  Because I am a busy person, and I choose to be lazy with things that are well-established facts both statistically and empirically.  Just like drunk people say, "Ehhh, it's only one time, and I'm not that drunk."

Now, on to what I like to offer - some kind of reasonable solution to a problem that shouldn't exist in the first place!

How to fix the Munimeter problem.

So, with all of these in mind, let's boil our situation down to a simple question:  How do we square the desire to increase income with the prospect of increasing costs on Freeport residents and businesses?  After all, it's not like we Freeporters haven't already paid for our parking spots by paying the tax dollars that built them, right?

Well, some of the costs to residents - besides direct financial loss - are fairly clear:  Increased competition for parking spots on streets will cost locals room they need for their guests or to park.  It's already bad, but now it's worse.  More travelers up and down the mile might stray onto their property and cause damage or leave litter behind.  The roads, driven more, will acquire more damage faster.  Hmm.  Seems like we're focused on the residents, now, but the same applies to businesses...Wait!  I got it!

The answer which jumps out immediately at me is simple, and ironically is stolen from Rockville Center's system and then improved upon!  We need a Resident/Employee permit.  Follow me, here:  RVC has plenty of spaces which are reserved for "Resident/Employee" permits.  These spaces cannot be "rented," but instead it falls upon people to find Munimeter-capable spots.  During business hours, this leads to massive areas of empty concrete and a few crowded, overtaxed publicly-available spots.

Freeport needs to adopt a system wherein residents mail in their license plates along with a photocopy of their drivers' license and/or registration slips.  For security purposes, we could compromise and say that initial permit granting requires an in-person appearance at Village Hall.  These permits are renewed every year.  Employee verification requires an official letter of some sort from a business, and must again be renewed yearly.  Allow me to emphasize that this permit would be absolutely, 100% free to qualified candidates.  This will stress business owners out a little bit, will require some effort on behalf of the Village (surely costing no more than they will earn in new parking tickets) and is an inconvenience for residents; on the other hand, non-resident visitors will kick a little bit of extra cash up, reducing the need for tax-payers to up their direct contributions.  There, problem solved!

Or, y'know, we just scrap the Munimeters because all it sounds like they're doing is reducing the appeal that Freeport has to non-residents.



The Weekly Freeporter is produced by Jesse Pohlman.  Jesse is a writer from Freeport, NY.  If you have some time, check out his five-star rated novel, Physics Incarnate, available in both Kindle and Paperback formats!

Thank you for reading!


Editorial note:  I also happen to work at Randall Park over the summer; I've lost two car mirrors while parked on the street (no, the Village will not reimburse me), and I am now one of those being forced to pay in order to park and work.  Just thought I'd mention this somewhere for journalistic integrity; seeing as I also live in the area, and will likely see increased numbers of people parked on my road?  Neat, huh?