Village, Community Association should work together

The village has been lacking an active civic association for several years now. That changed last week, when the Valley Stream Community Association held its first meeting on Nov. 29 in the Central High School auditorium.

Although only about two dozen residents attended the meeting, we hope that the organization will grow and flourish in the coming months. Unlike some civic groups that are devoted to the interests of specific neighborhoods, this is an organization for all who have a Valley Stream address, whether or not they live in the village. We wish the group much success.

The Community Association leadership includes President Carol Crupi and board members Joseph Margolin and Dena Biondo. Crupi and Margolin ran unsuccessfully for trustee and mayor, respectively, in the last village election in March, and Biondo was their campaign manager.

One thing we don’t want to see is the Community Association turn into the opposition. We hope that village and association members can work together for the good of Valley Stream. It’s essential to the organization’s success.

The primary focus of the inaugural meeting was — what else? — the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s flood maps, which put much of Gibson in the high-risk flood zone and left some homeowners with four-figure annual insurance premiums. Gibson residents have been challenging their inclusion in the flood zone for two years, and there have been some positive strides forward.

But the Community Association wasn’t formed to address a single problem. Civic groups exist to address all quality-of-life issues that residents face, and serve as a liaison to the governmental entities that can solve these problems. As the organization grows, we expect it to tackle a wide range of community concerns.

While any member of the public can bring a problem to the attention of his or her elected representatives, a civic association has the power of its membership behind it, a.k.a. a voting bloc. That is what makes it effective when dealing with various layers of government.

Look just outside the village to South Valley Stream, which has the Mill Brook Civic Association, a group that represents 811 homeowners. Led by Marc Tenzer, the Mill Brook association has been successful in getting its concerns addressed by the Town of Hempstead, Nassau County, Sanitary District 1 and other agencies. There is mutual respect between the leaders of the Mill Brook group and various elected and appointed officials. That respect pays dividends for the homeowners in Mill Brook.

We want the same for the new Community Association. While the relationship doesn’t appear bitter, there is definitely some tension between its leaders and village officials. We’ve seen their exchanges at recent village board meetings, and some of the letters to the editor that have appeared in the Herald make the hard feelings apparent. That is unfortunate because both sides seem to be working toward the same goals — getting Gibson out of the flood zone and improving the quality of life for all Valley Stream residents.

A handful of village officials were at the Community Association’s inaugural meeting, including the mayor and two trustees. We hope their intentions were genuine and that they were there to support the new organization and listen to the concerns of the people, not to check out what the other side was up to.

Village elected officials are the leaders the people chose to represent them. They, therefore, deserve the community’s respect, including the members of the new civic association. By the same token, the elected leaders have a duty to serve the community, including Community Association members. We want them to have an open ear to the issues that association leaders raise. Mutual respect and open-mindedness will be the foundation on which progress can be achieved.

We encourage Valley Stream Community Association leaders and village officials to reach out to one another, make peace and work toward the common goal of making the village a better place to live for all residents. A positive, fruitful relationship, one built on mutual respect, will make the Community Association a success.

Who will make the first move?