What ever happened to Incorporation?Legislative candidates cross paths on village idea

      Has the idea of incorporation been put on the back burner? Is there still an interest among residents? "Yes, absolutely," Toback said. Although momentum seems to have slowed, the legislator intends to revisit the issue this winter, after the November elections.
      "I sort of promised myself that I wasn't going to talk about incorporation until after the election," Toback said. "I'm going to continue to pursue it, but there are just so many hours in the day. It's something we've been working on for the last year, and I just had to put the process on hold until sometime in November or December."
      While Toback seems optimistic about a push to incorporate Oceanside, his legislative colleague seems to have cooled on the idea. "I don't think it's going to happen," Zapson said. "Between it being a good idea and actually happening is very difficult. There is a lot of misinformation out there. There is a lack of information. People want to see concrete figures. No one wants to do this hastily."
      Toback continued to cite the Town of Hempstead and its rising taxes as a reason for incorporation. "In the proposed town budget that [Town Supervisor] Kate Murray put out this week, there's no tax increase for residents of villages, but there is somewhere between a 6 and 8 percent tax increase for residents of unincorporated areas like Oceanside," Toback said. "I haven't had the time to do a detailed study on it, but preliminarily, that's what it shows."
      "That's just another example of the financial benefits that people in incorporated villages enjoy within the Town of Hempstead," the Seventh District legislator said. "I don't believe that the people who live in incorporated villages have shared in any of the increased costs, pension costs and health-care costs, that seem to get dumped solely on the unincorporated areas."
      Toback has always been a big proponent of Oceanside's incorporation, but his opponent in this year's election feels it's time wasted. "Jeff Toback was not elected as a legislator to promote incorporating Oceanside," said Mara Jacobowitz. "His job is to be a legislator and represent the entire Seventh Legislative District in Mineola. Doesn't he have enough on his plate in Mineola?"
      Jacobowitz continued to attack Toback's position on incorporation, adding, "Maybe Mr. Toback will have more time to pursue this after election day, when the voters will really see that perhaps it's not in their best interest."
      "[Incorporation] has nothing to do with my elected office," Toback responded. "This is something that's a grass-roots project for the people in Oceanside. Just as I help people in all parts of my districts with their grass-roots projects. This is just another one of the things that I do and will continue to do."
      The idea of incorporating villages in Woodmere and Hewlett has intrigued Jacobowitz in the past, but she was stunned when Zapson and Toback reintroduced the idea to Oceanside residents. "My impression from speaking with people in Oceanside is that they are looking at this issue with great trepidation," she said. She interviewed 30 residents at the Kohl's department store on Long Beach Road and Oceanside Park, where, she said, a majority were against the idea.
      According to Toback, a committee to incorporate Oceanside is still meeting to discuss a proposal in the near future. He added that since the meetings last January and February, residents have called and joined the committee.
      "After election day [the issue] is going to get going again," Zapson said. "But it's up to the people of Oceanside to do it."