by Dave Vieser
Courtrooms where the lights never go off
Sometimes it's little things that shed light on big issues. While Nassau County struggles to overcome budget-busting deficits, it knowingly wastes tens of thousands of dollars each year in unnecessary electric costs for the want of a few inexpensive light switches at the county-maintained Hempstead District Court Building. In three of the largest courtrooms at the grimly modern facility on Main Street in Hempstead, "on/off" light switches have never been installed, thereby causing 196 fluorescent lights to burn continuously--days, nights and all weekend long--even though the rooms are often empty and unused.
The practice, which apparently dates back to the opening of the courthouse over 12 years ago, has been brought to the attention of the county numerous times, but no switches have yet been installed in these courtrooms, sources said.
"While it is important to save the county the cost of electricity and bulbs, there is no way to turn off the lights when these courtrooms are not in use," said Judge Ira J. Raab, President of the Board of Judges at District Court. "The taxpayers have been paying for this neglect in construction, and the continuous neglect in failing to correct the situation for the past 12 years. Surely, the time has come for the cash-starved county to put on the light switches so we can turn out the lights," said Judge Raab.
County officials do not deny the fact that light switches were never installed, but claim that the lights can be darkened by the use of circuit breakers. They also believe that darkening the rooms may be a security concern to the judges at the courthouse. Nevertheless, they are currently investigating the possibility of installing light switches.
That explanation did not sit well with the members of the county legislature.
"Its just another example of the small pieces of the puzzle that don't fit together," said Legislator Jeff Tobak (D-Oceanside), who is chairman of the legislature's Government Services Committee. "No one sweats the details in this county, but we certainly cannot afford this. Someone in this administration has got to start paying attention."
Republicans were equally concerned. "This is typical of the Nassau County administration: the lights are on but nobody's home," said Robert Lazaro, spokesman for Nassau County Minority Leader Peter Schmitt and the Republican minority members.
The three courtrooms involved are Arraignment Parts A & B, and Traffic. On a recent weekday afternoon, a reporter found lights in both Arraignment Courts A & B shining brightly, although the rooms were not being used. Conversely, lights in many of the smaller, unused criminal courtrooms were 80 percent darkened.
County officials from the Department of General Services claim that the there is some security concern over the installation of switches, since the courtrooms involved are interior rooms without windows and if the lights were turned out, the rooms would be very dark. They are, nevertheless, proceeding with their investigation into the possibility of installing switches.
Courthouse employees expressed little surprise that such a situation could have been permitted to occur. "I never realized that those lights had no switches but then again, nothing would surprise me about this building. It's been a disaster since day one," said one uniformed court officer who wished to remain anonymous.
In fact, the county instituted legal action against the building's contractor, Elite Construction, for what was termed "poor workmanship." The lawsuit resulted in mitigation of a number of construction-related problems.
Meanwhile, the lights will apparently continue to burn in the three courtrooms in Hempstead, unless the circuit breakers are thrown or switches are ultimately installed.
