By Doug Miller
In a press release distributed over the holiday weekend that was dripping with strong accusations and hyperbole, the councilmen said that a $2 million surplus left over from the 2005-06 budget was the product of their management, not the tax increase that went into effect last July 1.
"The surplus came about prior to the tax increase, and anyone who tries to spin it to seem like a financial disaster was averted or the surplus came from the tax increase is lying," Hennessy said.
The auditor's report, as provided to the media by the councilmen, showed a total revenue surplus of just over $1.9 million.
A newsletter distributed by then City Manager John Laffey in April 2006 said that taxes would need to be increased because several non-recurring sources of revenue - especially the sale of property connected to the Superblock development - had been budgeted but not yet realized. The coalition responded then that Laffey was being hasty and trying to scare the public into swallowing a daunting hike.
"In fact, the City did collect the $3 million for the sale of the Shore Road property of the Superblock project as budgeted," the councilmen claimed in their statement. "Furthermore, the Independent Auditors Report demonstrates that the City Manager's budget message, entitled 'Fiscal Mismanagement - A Reality' was misleading in that the City ended the year with a surplus approaching $2 million, rather than the projected multi-million deficit that was widely predicted by Council Members [Leonard] Remo, [Robert] Tepper, [Denise] Tangney, and former City Manager John J. Laffey, who quit the day before his administration's 25 percent tax increase went into effect."
Sofield accused the Democrats of using the tax increase to "ultimately finance their election year slush fund."
Remo, the council president, said he had not had a chance to digest the coalition's statements, but added with a sigh, "It's Jan. 2 and it sounds like they're already campaigning in earnest."
Council notes
Diversity is a stated goal of the City Council, and is reflected in the latest appointments to the Zoning Board of Appeals. On Tuesday night, the board voted unanimously for the appointment of what must be the board's first ... Grammy nominee.
David A. Bythewood took the photograph that wound up as the album cover art for jazz musician Herbie Hancock's 1968 album "Speak Like a Child." The album cover was nominated for a Grammy.
Bythewood is also a trial attorney and an adjunct professor at Hofstra Law School, as well as a U.S. Army veteran, and he occasionally provides commentary on CourtTV. He has lived in the east end of Long Beach since 1984, and is the second black zoning board commissioner in the city's history.
He replaces Fritz Hinsch, a Nassau County Republican Committee member whose term expired at the end of 2006.
Reappointed to the zoning board for a second three-year term was William Miller, who is also an attorney and a fifth-generation resident of the West End. His practice, which is based in Lynbrook, focuses largely on real estate law.
In addition, the council voted to
reappoint Leary Wade to the Civil Service Commission.
The council also voted to require those seeking variances from the zoning board to post signs on their property announcing their intentions, along with the date and time of the public hearing. The posters must be no smaller than 18 inches by 24 inches, and posted "conspicuously along each street frontage" for at least a week before the hearing.
The measure was approved with one dissenting vote. Sofield called the requirement "a burdensome step in an already burdensome process."
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