Rockville Centre letters


Stayed tuned: Village parking wars will continue

To the Editor:

I want to thank the Herald for the wonderful coverage, “A lot of debate” (Oct. 14-20), that you gave to us regarding the Rockville Centre village board meeting on Oct. 5, during which the additional parking fee in the St. Agnes parking lot was discussed. Your reporting was unbiased, as it should be, but it definitely highlighted the issues for the residents and commuters who are not being heard by the mayor or the board. We certainly appreciate your efforts on our behalf.

Will the St. Agnes parking lot be full in the winter? Of that I have no doubt — people will have to park there because they will have no other choice. During inclement weather, especially with snow, even fewer spots will be available to commuters, and that lot is definitely a last resort.

But what about now? The parking field lies virtually empty compared to its use before the new $4 fee was imposed. The lot is visible to all of us on the LIRR platform every day. It only confirms and reminds us of the blatant disregard that the mayor and this board have for residents and commuters. They would rather have this lot lie empty than open it freely to those of us who need it. They dismissed each and every good suggestion that was made to them by commuters at that meeting — they heard only themselves.

We, their constituents, will remember this on every Election Day — this year, next and every one after that. We know that they have other plans in the works for this lot and all the parking spaces closest to the railroad — they alluded to it at the meeting. Remember, it’s all “premium parking.”

Commuters of Rockville Centre: stay tuned for the next chapter of the parking wars, or “What will they do if the revenue from the meters doesn’t come?”

Donna M. DiVirgilio


Rockville Centre

McCarthy should provide some straight answers

Dear Congresswoman McCarthy:

I’ve never met you, but you represent me and my family, and my friends and neighbors, in Congress. I believe you’re running for re-election. I say “believe” because I haven’t received any campaign literature from you and I don’t know your position on virtually any issue of importance. I checked your website to try to discern your positions on various issues but found no answers. I also wrote to you directly, asking about your position on health care legislation and tax issues, but received only form letters that must have been written by your interns.

Last year I asked you to explain why the health care legislation was good for New Yorkers. As you know, New York is a community-rated state that already precludes denial of coverage for pre-existing conditions. In reality, the major impact of the legislation you voted for is to increase Medicaid costs for the state and the county — costs that ultimately get passed on to your constituents. Medicaid already consumes more than 40 percent of the state budget.

More recently, I wrote to you asking why you aren’t trying to stop yet more tax increases that are scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1. As you know, on Long Island we already pay exorbitant property, village, town, county, state and sales taxes that are the highest in the nation. And let’s not forget all those stealth taxes they slip in on our telephone bills. But again, you didn’t answer my question. I did receive one of those nifty form-letter responses, though.

Do you honestly believe massive tax increases are in the best interests of your constituents in the current economic environment? If so, why? Seems to me to be a straightforward question, deserving a straightforward answer.

I’ve never met Fran Becker, your opponent in the upcoming election, either. But at least his website explains his positions on various issues so that I can be an informed voter. Your silence on these issues is deafening.

Siobhan E. Moran

Rockville Centre

Endorsement of McCarthy is ‘laughable’

To the Editor:

With all due respect to my friends at the Herald, your endorsement last week of Carolyn McCarthy for Congress is simply laughable. You laud her because she “knows how things work in the House of Representatives” and because she has touched such political third rails as “childhood obesity” and “cyber-bullying.”

Yet you mention not at all the only relevant issue in this year’s election: McCarthy’s record over the past two years. She voted for the failed stimulus bill and for other huge, special interest-driven spending measures that have left us with 9.6 percent unemployment and a record $1.3 trillion federal deficit. She voted for Obamacare and is part of the majority that left Washington without passing a federal budget or dealing with the expiration of the Bush tax cuts. And you can be sure that, if re-elected, she will vote to raise taxes on the so-called “rich,” slamming a disproportionate number of families and businesses in Nassau County with tremendous new costs.

This is McCarthy’s record — and if the Herald and voters like the results and wish to return a cog in the great tax-and-spend liberal machine to Washington, vote for her. But if you wish to repudiate these failed and dangerous policies, vote for Fran Becker. Fran is a local elected official and small businessman who will stand against the

Obama/Pelosi/McCarthy agenda. He will vote to cut federal spending, extend the Bush tax cuts for all and to repeal and replace Obamacare.

So much is at stake in this mid-term election. I urge voters of all parties who wish to see the nation change course to join me in supporting Fran Becker for Congress. Please vote on Election Day, Nov. 2.

Christian Browne

Rockville Centre

It’s time for McCarthy to go

To the Editor:

My mother, a bank teller, was murdered during a robbery. For years I have strongly supported reasonable gun control measures, and I supported Carolyn McCarthy in her initial run for Congress.

It’s time for McCarthy to go.

In her 14 years in Congress she has failed to obtain progress on her principal issue. More than that, she has failed to represent our district.

She is a nurse, but her voice was unheard in the health care debate (for or against).

Our district is incredibly dependent on the financial services industry, especially Wall Street. Yet her voice was unheard on financial regulation (for or against).

Because of inflated incomes, and expenses, here on Long Island, most families earn more than $100,000 in combined incomes. Yet McCarthy never fights to adjust limits on things like the deductibility of college tuition, qualifications for tax rebates, etc. And now she wants to do away with the tax cuts — a move that will hurt our district more than almost any other in the country. I doubt she has considered the impact of the tax increases on restaurants, the personal services industry — or the workers in those industries — when billions of dollars leave Long Island for Washington.

There is a long list of key topics affecting Long Islanders that McCarthy is silent on: jobs, Israel, national security, the environment, transportation, trade. She is a leader on no issue other than gun control — and there she has failed miserably, even with a Democratic Congress and president.

Carolyn McCarthy gets the overwhelming amount of her campaign contributions from outside the district and from political action committees. She almost always votes with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, often against our interests. Our district deserves a leader — one who is interested in our needs, not San Francisco’s.

Fran Becker is a certified public planner and an experienced legislator. He’ll stand shoulder to shoulder with Peter King on topics important to Long Island. That’s why I support Fran Becker this year.

Tony Iovino

Rockville Centre