Jeff Toback
Two examples may go a long way toward proving my point.
First: The best services that we Oceansiders are afforded on a local level are from our Oceanside Fire Department and our Oceanside Sanitary District. It is no coincidence that both of these services are managed and carried out by Oceansiders for Oceansiders and not by bureaucrats from Hempstead, Mineola or Albany. The members of the boards of our sanitation and fire commissions are leaders in our community, responsive to the needs of our community and, by and large, they do a great job. The vast majority of sanitation employees and fire volunteers are Oceansiders. Imagine our quality of life if all of our services were provided by our neighbors. That is what you get in a village.
Second: Actions speak louder than words. The actions of five of the seven members of the Hempstead town board show that they must agree that villages provide a greater quality of life than a town the size of Hempstead can: Councilman Kearny resides in the village of Garden City, Councilman Santino resides in the village of East Rockaway, Councilwoman Cullin resides in the village of Freeport, Councilwoman Goosby resides in the village of Hempstead and Councilman Darcy resides in the village of Valley Stream. Residents of incorporated villages receive virtually no services from the town of Hempstead. One-third of Nassau County's residents live in one of the 64 villages currently established in the county.
Hempstead is America's largest township, with over 735,000 residents. I do not think that is a selling point for a local government. The size of Hempstead makes it difficult to provide anything other than mediocre services, and we deserve better. Look at our neighboring villages of Rockville Centre, Cedarhurst or Malverne and it is clear that their residents enjoy a greater quality of life than we do in Oceanside.
The process of becoming a village -- incorporating -- is lengthy and time consuming and cannot be undertaken lightly. We must, however, look into it and the time is now. A recent amendment to the Nassau County charter may open the door to greater zoning power for newly-incorporated villages. It is not a political choice, but a choice for the quality of our lives. My experience in Oceanside is that when something will benefit our community, political labels are put to the side and the good of our community comes first. In fact, most village elections and politics are not run under national political party labels, but under strictly local village parties.
On Jan. 22, 2003 at 7:30 p.m., an informational meeting on "Incorporating Oceanside" will be held at the VFW Hall on Lawson Boulevard. Due to the overwhelming response, that meeting is "sold out." However, an additional meeting will be scheduled for the beginning of February.
If you are interested in better quality of life for you and your neighbors, I urge to get involved. If you would like to help, or just find out more information, please get in touch with me at JeffToback@aol.com or my office in Mineola at (516) 571-6207.
Working together, we will make Oceanside all that it can, and should, be.
