by Jeffrey Toback
While I acknowledge that everyone is entitled to his or her opinion, let's examine the facts:
*In January, an informational meeting was held to bring to our community an idea -- incorporation -- that might improve our quality of life while saving us some precious tax dollars. The meeting was originally scheduled for the VFW hall, but when an overflow crowd showed up, the meeting was moved to larger quarters. More than 400 of our neighbors attended, and most listened attentively to the presentation. About 50 residents spoke passionately in opposition to the concept of incorporation, even before any preliminary data was released.
*In February, a second meeting was scheduled to accommodate the Oceansiders who were unable to attend the first meeting. About 150 people came -- 100 or so new people, and by and large the same 50 "passionately opposed" (hereinafter referred to as the PO'd), who spoke as if I were Jefferson Davis proposing secession from the Union, and not just Jeff Toback talking about the possibility of a new form of government that might benefit our community in many ways.
*After the first meeting I received dozens of e-mails from Oceansiders who thanked me for bringing the "village" issue to the forefront. The most touching of them was from a woman who wrote, "The louder the opposition yelled, the more I understood that you were on to something." Since January I have been stopped on the street by several people who were interested in finding out more about this project, specifically what it would cost and how our local services would be provided.
*I had always said that the purpose of the two informational meetings was to gauge whether there was enough interest to take the next step and really crunch the numbers. There is interest, and it is genuine -- though not as publicly vocal as the expressed views of the PO'd.
*In an interview in the Herald, Town of Hempstead staffers started a misinformation campaign, spewing junk figures about the town's tax rate (figures that were inflated by almost 100 percent).
*As the Herald reported, politics was introduced to this issue by an elected Town of Hempstead official, who must have thought that the red herring of a "Republican vs. Democrat" issue would benefit the PO'd.
*As I have consistently stated, the fact remains that the average Rockville Centre homeowner pays less in village taxes than the average Oceanside homeowner pays in taxes for the same services. A group of our interested neighbors will spend the next few months crunching the numbers of municipal budgets to find out why this is the case and whether we can duplicate it in Oceanside.
*As I have stated, if there is not a tax savings realized by the incorporation of Oceanside, I am not interested in pursuing the issue.
As a public figure, I am open to criticism, fair or contrived; that's part of being an elected official. I recognize that there are some Oceansiders, including me, who bring an agenda to this issue. Mine is simple and I wear it on my sleeve: I want to make Oceanside a better place to live.
Maybe it's time that the PO'd revealed theirs.
Jeffrey Toback is the Nassau County Legislator for the 7th District.
