Letters

Letters to the Editor: East Rockaway, Lynbrook

Oct. 31-Nov. 6, 2013

Posted

Candidate responds to charges

To the Editor:
Hempstead Town Councilman Anthony Santino and Gary Aue, supervisor of town street lighting, submitted letters defending Legislator Howard Kopel who I accused of being absent after Hurricane Sandy, and for his neglect of the Bay Park Sewage Plant.
On Nov. 18, 2012, Kopel told Newsday that he was at his Boynton Beach, Fla. home with his wife when Sandy hit. On Oct. 8, 2013, in a videotaped Newsday interview, Kopel reiterated that he didn’t try to fly back to New York before the storm, nor did he rent a car or take a train, or even fly back when the area airports reopened on Wednesday after the storm. Instead, he returned from Florida six days later.
Public record indicates that in 2007, the Democratic majority Legislature approved a five-year capital improvement plan for the Bay Park plant. Repairs were made in 2008 and 2009, stopping in 2010 under a Republican majority Legislature after Ed Mangano and Kopel took office. They focused on selling the plant, while it leaked sewage, costing the county $500,000 in 2011 to settle a DEC lawsuit.
It’s also a matter of public record that in early 2012, after NIFA quashed the sale of the plant, the administration issued a statement that 2007 plans to fix Bay Park would resume with $400 million in unused funds, and acknowledging almost $200 million in completed repairs from 2008 and 2009. A Stony Brook report found that neglect of the plant was a significant cause of sewage damage after Sandy. Additional funding was approved by the full Legislature in 2013, yet no work has begun. For clarification, the sewage from the Five Towns goes to Bay Park.

Lisa Daniels
Candidate for legislator, 7th L.D.


Going with Mangano


To the Editor:
With the fantastic job County Executive Ed Mangano has done over the past four years, it is unsurprising to see that his opposition has had to resort to distortions and mistruths to try and deceive the public. I write in response to a guest opinion column by Michael Zapson, a former colleague of mine at the Legislature and current chairman of the Long Beach Democratic Committee.

Page 1 / 6