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Image provided by: Suffolk Cooperative Library System
U The Town of Brookhaven - disdainfully known as \Crookhaven\ in the pages of Newsday - has been given a proposal for a new town ethics code. As reported in this newspaper earlier this month, _- pleas would suggest it is, somehow, also one of the z a a panel of three Suffolk Cofifity residents appointed _ most ignored. {f th? sulfatmn last year by Supervisor John Jay LaValle is recom- Brookhaven has a long history as a dirty town, is this grim, mending ways to improve the sorry state of ethics in - but it's hardly the only one in the country, or even maybe it would the Republican-controlled township. on Long Island. Part of Brookhaven's image prob- ‘ , H Astonishingly, one of the recommendations calls __ lem has always been the glib, flippant ease of ren- be more effective for appointing a full-time executive director for the _ dering \Brookhaven\ into \Crookhaven a much to install a him-ugh town's ethics board. Really, is the state of ethics in beloved term of Newsday reporters and editorial f the distri Brookhaven so dismal that it would occupy 35 hours writers. of the district a week, year round into the foreseeable future, of The land scandals in Islip Town during the 1960s attorney's office some monitor's time? (And, taxpayers take note, here's the creation of yet another job.) If the situation is this grim, maybe it would be more effective to install a branch of the district attorney's office in Town Hall. I find myself amazed. In seeking to give the impression that Brookhaven is doing something about corruption, the ethics advisory panel seems to be stat- ing that matters may be far worse than imagined. Another recommendation is to require all town employees to undergo ethics training each year. Apparently, not everyone comes out of kindergarten with a sense of right and wrong. Either that. or Brookhaven simply has a talent for hiring people who don't care about the difference. But to haul people into a classroom once a year to be preached to on ethics is an insult to the majority of town workers who are honorable. In making its ethics proposal to the Town Board. the three-member advisory commuttee diplomatical- ne ethics director proposed for Brookhaven ly noted that the Brookhaven Town Ethics Code \is one of the strongest in New York State.\ That may be so, but recent indictments, arrests and guilty may have been worse than anything that has occurred in Brookhaven. But nobody found a clever way to render \Islip\ into a damning, hard-to-forget word play. Among items proposed for the new ethics code 1s a complete ban on gifts of any value to Brookhaven Town employees. (To which any bright sixth-grader might respond: \Duh'\) I'm having trouble imagining how an ethics director would spend his or her time Would a typ cal day be filled with appointments with dozens of town employees. each wanting to ask if they could ethically tand therefore legally) do such and such\ Common sense might suggest that if you have to ash someone if something is wrong,. then it probably is What the Town of Brookhaven probably needs most 1s good protection for whistle-blowers __ peo ple with a sense of honor who want to report wrong doing. but perhaps not at the cost of harm to their own careers. Signals in Town Hall. BY JOHN MCKINNEY If there is so much wrong with the Town of Brookhaven that a full-time ethics director's day would be consumed listening to whistle blowers. then somethifig really is rotten in Denmark The ethics gdvisory panel has distinguished mem bess They afe Suffolk Water Authority Chairman Michael LoGrande. law Protessor How ard A Gdikstein. and county Ethius Commusyion Charman Rih Johannesen I1 have no doutht thes are working selflessly tor the betterment of Brovkhaven Town gov ernment But a tufll time salarted ethics director ' Wou Do they know something we doin 1C A summer excursion in our own back yard If you were showing someone from out of town the high points of Suffolk County, where would you take them? I had such a task recently, and it turned into a joy. For starters, you need a beautiful day. It was about 80 degrees with a totally blue sky. Not a bad start. We headed east on 25A through picturesque Port Jefferson, past the harbor and the ferry, the mock paddle-wheeler and the delightful shops, then along Mount Sinai Between you a me Sitting on the front porch, watching the action on a was room in the small kitchen tor only nine burners. occasionally there were disgruntled customers who couldn't be served quickly enough At least that was the memory of the grandson and current owner. who loved to come down and sweep or take out the garbage. even at age vx After cheching out the stores along both sides of Main Street and getting the most bang for our buck Harbor and Cedar Beach, into Miller Place and Rocky beautiful summer from the parking space. we finally got back into the car Point, and then south on the William Floyd Parkway afternoon, to drive through charming Easthampton and. we hoped. right onto Fire Island and Smith Point Park. f to Montauk Point At that point, we stopped to catch our breath, 1:8ande us that But an accident a couple of miles shy of Gurney's parked the car, crossed the dunes on the boardwalk life is good. Inn brought traffic to a standstill After waiting the het and drank in the beach and waves of a blue-gray Atlantic Ocean stretching as far as the eye could see. Our visitor was from a seacoast town herself, but she exclaimed at the beauty of the uncrowded sand on this perfect beach day and deeply inhaled the invigorating fresh air off the water. There was a fundraiser in progress to combat breast cancer and an impressive selection of kites flying in the steady beach breeze. all taking place under the unwa- vering gaze of park rangers on duty to help. Tearing ourselves away from the beach, we got back in the car, drove cast on Route 27 and then went south to West Hampton Beach, the gateway to the fabled Hamptons that she had heard so much about. Again we climbed a boardwalk to a vantage point overlooking the beach, which was virtually empty in all its glory this fine Sunday. Only an occasional beach chair or blanket dotted the sand. It was time for some villages and shops, so we drove along Montauk Highway and through Quogue. BY LEAH S. DUNAIEF Hampton Bays. Watermulil. Bndgehampton and finally came in the back way past the shops an Jobs Lane to Southampton. Again we took a breather. nuraculously finding a parking space on Main Street, and had lunch at Silver's. For those of you who don't know what Silver's is. 1 have been reminded by the third generation of the Silver family and can tell you. Onginally the store was frequented for its tobacco, and the original humider still stands along one wall. It also sold candy, ice cream sun- daes and ecremes (known to some as egg creams) from the long fountain, and it sported a fabulous collection of magazines from everywhere on the other long wall. I remember Silver's for its incredibly light omelets. which were served shaped like domes. Unfortunately. those took 20 minutes apiece to cook, and since there ter part of an hour. we headed tor Sag Harhor and the almost -toy ferry to Shelter Island But before we got to the ferry, we had to admire the artsy village and to have a drink at the famous American Hotel. always a gracious watering hole Sitting on the front porch, watching the action on a beautiful summer afternoon. reminded us that life 1s good Then we drove up the ramp and sarled over the 10 nunute stretch of calm water on Peconic Bay that's «er- viced by the South Ferry The sun was beginning #s descent on the west «ide of the boat, bouncing its light off the water. All too soon we got off, zigzagged across Shelter Island, with its tidy houses and picket fences, rode right onto the North Ferry. and a few minutes later drove off the ramp and inspected the fishing village of Greenport on the north fork Erom there. we headed west. past the farms and farm stands, back to the familiar suburban views of home It was a delightful tour. through many worlds in a rela- tvely short space and time. TIMES BEACON RECORD EDITOR AND PUBLISHER ART AND PRODUCTION Leah S. Dunaief Katherine Consorte URECFRR Lois & > GENERAL MANAGER Joseph Darrow Devid R. Leaman Robin Lemkn 4 NEWSPAP ERS Johness Kuise! Camille Dilieto ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR iane hm We welcome letters, photographs, comments and story EXECUTIVE EDITOR ‘Wm aa ”Lime” inpuing mg: sz a: $8E ; (my: ideas. Send your items to PO Box 707, Setauket, NY Marie Murtagh Peter C. Mastrosimone ART AND PRODUCTION Lyn Tunney \ our news office at 67 Main Street, Northport. The opinions Patricia Proven Kathy O'Sullivan Janet Fortuna ERen Segal of our columnists are not necessarily those of the paper. LEISURE EDITOR Patricia Proven Karen Glick BUSINESS MANAGER Times Bescon Record Newspapers are published Ellen Barcel W Beth Hé#er-Mazon Mary Fiorentino every Thursday. __ PRODUCTION EDITOR yrraiet Anne Mare Hewitt CIRCULATION MANAGER Adiess:l’080x707.$emikct.NYfl733. Alysea Cutior John Westermann Karen Pack Uhane Wattecamps Telephone: (631) 751-7744 | Web » timesofnorthport.com SPORTS EDITOR PHOTOGRAPHY ADVERTISING DirECTOon BUSINESS OFFICE Contents copyright 2005. Katherine Consorte W Kathryn Mandracchie Sandi Grose Jomw Robert O'Rourk Barbara Newman Butcher aden Bue! Mary Chiricholia Ter Caruso
