TWF 329 - New York State Sues Freeport Over Cleveland Avenue Environmental Disclosures

Hello, friends!

I hope this post finds you all well.  Before we get into the news, I just want to note that the subject of our previous article, Hitler-cheerleading Carl Paladino, appears to have lost his primary.  I figured I'd start with that good news.

New York Attorney General Sues Freeport.

Well, we can start with a link to the court document (hat tip to Dawn de le Llera for posting the link on FB) which appears to have been filed yesterday by NYS Attorney General Letitia James.  I invite you to read it for yourself, but being as neither of us are lawyers (except those of us who might be reading this who might be lawyers?  In which case, hi!  Feel free to gently correct me where I'm wrong), I think both of us are going to labor in analyzing it.

Here's what I gathered from it:

Paragraph 22 sets out that the Village Board approved a "negative declaration," basically saying that there would be no negative environmental impact to what's apparently a 15-acre industrial development over previously green space.

According to Paragraph 24, the Village did not perform a required type of environmental impact study on their proposed sale of the park to developer PDC .  In fact, if I'm reading it right, Paragraph 24 lays out that Freeport did nothing whatsoever - no study, no research, nothing - to support its negative declaration.

First and foremost is that the sale simply doesn't pass the environmental sniff test.  Paragraphs 29-31 certainly lay this issue bare, but it also hits on another issue:  That the sale would have a negative impact primarily on lower-income residents of color.

Diving Into The Lawsuit Against Freeport

New York's lawsuit seems to have two main thrusts, then.  The first is about the environment, the second is social equity.  In many ways, these two are connected:  "What will the impacts be, and who will bear the brunt of them?"

One thing I found impressive about this briefing was found in Paragraphs 19-20, in that it has a familiarity with both Freeport's history (the Moxey Rigby's experience during Hurricane Sandy) as well as it's accurateness with regards to the hydrological cycle.

NY AG James seems to be asking Freeport, "Hey, have you studied how paving over a bunch of open space is going to impact the immediate neighborhood during a flood like, say, Hurricane Sandy's future reincarnation?"  And while Freeport's official answer is yet to be published (to my knowledge), the fact remains that so far, their answer appears to be "no."

I remember one of the earliest issues The Weekly Freeporter covered was Mayor Hardwick's proposal to build an incinerator in Freeport.  In the linked article, I paraphrased Trustee Robert Kennedy from a community meeting citizens had organized in neighboring Merrick.

At the time, Robert Kennedy understood that it was incumbent on a business making a developmental proposal to evaluate the environmental impacts the building would have.  NOT taxpayers.  In this case, it should fall upon PDC to perform a legitimate environmental impact study using independent experts and labor.

But, really...

All in all, this is an issue that should not exist.  Robert Kennedy from a decade ago recognized that this needed to be done.  Did Robert Kennedy of today forget?  Did the Board?  If so - how?!

Seems like this is just another fight that didn't need to happen, and you'd better believe that reading that brief has further moved me in the "no, I'd prefer we keep the open space" camp.  I've vacillated, mainly because the alleged tax savings would be a huge benefit to many families in Freeport (I'm certainly happy to pay less in taxes), but I also strongly doubt that apartments Village-wide are about to drop their rent by a commensurate percentage, and it's clear which parts of the community are going to make sacrifices and which other parts will be reaping the rewards.

It just seems rushed, and I don't like being rushed into deals.

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 202: Mayor Elections Over! UHR Victory!

Greetings Freeport,

I'm in little shape to write at the moment, as I've had quite a long, long day.  And yesterday.  So, here's my best, "post-then-pass-out" shot:

A semi-live tally was provided by the Unity/Home-Rule Party, indicating the results of the election.  The banner in question has shifted to "Freeport is Free!," implying a victory!  They've provided a finalized tally which reads as follows:

Freeport Mayor
Andrew Hardwick:  3882 Votes
Robert Kennedy:  4397 Votes (Winner)

Freeport Trustee (Top-Two)
James Caracciolo:  3,579
Annette Dennis:  3,601
Ronald Ellerbe:  4,469 (Winner)
Carmen Pinyero:  4,526 (Winner)

Freeport Judge
Roy Cacciatore:  4,151 (Winner)
Stephen Drummond:  3,931


Results Matter

Assuming these numbers are unchallenged (they seem fairly decisive in that Mr.  Kennedy has a 500-vote margin according to them), and are legitimate, well, Freeport has chosen.  All listed winners are from the Unity/Home-Rule Party.  It's late.  I'm sleepy.  I could sit back and assess the strengths and weaknesses of each campaign and what led it to where it is, today, but I'm sleepy.

I know I'm not your first source of news on this (I'm reacting to news, myself!), but I figured I should put forth the numbers I've seen and make sure they check out.  If they do?  Well, I want to congratulate the winners, and I want to thank those who lost for their efforts.  Being part of this process is hard - and most of all, I want to thank you, the voter.  I will admit, if you add the mayoral votes together you get 8,279.  That's a pretty huge turnout for Freeport; in a town of 45,000 people, well, we had nearly 20% of the community vote!  That's better than in most recent elections, but it's still pretty low if you ask me, and it's one of the things that our next mayor will have to work on in the next four years - bringing power to this process known as "Democracy," lest it be stripped away from us.

Oh.  And I'll come up with some other inanely-rambled "things Mayor (Whoever but probably Kennedy) must do in the next four years" to fill up an article soon.

Farewell, Freeport, and goodnight!