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< a 3 O O- Ill O as III Editorials • Viewpoints • Comments The Public Speaks This past Monday night the Mayor and Trustees of the Village of Farmingdale held a public hearing on their proposal to save the village taxpayers $27,000 per year by eliminating the local dispatching system of reporting fires by converting to dispatching by Nassau Co. FireComm. Although the intent of the village board was to save money and to avoid tax increases for its residents in the face of increasing costs on almost every line in its budget, the turnout of residents was unanimously in favor of the additional taxes. The firemen and the residents attending the hearing were not willing, at any price, to \trust their lives' * to the computer that would tell firemen where to go to respond to an emergency. Instances were cited where the county system had sent the wrong department out in response to the emergency call. Instances were also cited where the quick response of the Farmingdale Rescue Squad had saved the lives of local residents. Being a resident of South Farmingdale, this editor has had experiences with emergency calls by the FireCom Dispatched South Farmingdale Fire Dept. both from our own personal calls and those of our neighbors. Our own calls received a quick response and we can only praise and not find fault with the service to our needs. However, we have noted other possible problems. We have been visited by police, police rescue squads, the fire department, taxi drivers, plumbers and others looking for another address the same as ours on a street of the same name. Confusion over these similar names we admit can happen anywhere, since there are far more streets than there are different names to call them. A local dispat- cher familiar with the problem would help the situation of name similarity by questioning the excited caller as to the exact location. It's a matter of cost. Of all that was said and done at this hearing, the one thing that impressed us most was that everyone at- tending represented the same view. We don't ever remember attending a hearing in which one hundred percent of the attending public was of one mind. We commend the village board for having .the flexibility to bend to the will of the public.' Letters From Our Readers Dear Mr. Starrett: In the coming election, abor- tion is not a political but a moral issue. Abortion is defined as follows: Private individuals and- or to the medical profession, the decision as to who shall live or die and which life, by that choice, shall be permitted to begin, not on the basis of. an offense that may have been committed but only because that life's existence is inconvenient to others. The U.S. Constitution is based on the higher law as the Founding Fathers themselves acknowledged. For that reason, our Christian electorate should approve those candidates for office who support God's law rather than the law of con- venience. For God & Country, Francis A. Collins. Stye JrTartmngM* f aBt '•YOliRCOTlMIINNY iNKKSPAPKU\ - Established 1920 - 51 Heisser Lane, Farmingdale, N.Y. 11735 Telephone: CHapel 9-0131 * 0170 . Publisher Joseph hierendino Editor/Ma nager . . . Robert J, Starrett Production Mgr Steven Vid Published every Thursday by Island-Wide Publications,Inc. Joseph Merendino, President; Steven v ld, Secretary-Treasurer COMPOSITION RESPONSIBILITY This newspaper will not be liable for errors, appearing in any adver- tising beyond the cost of the space occupied by the error. By—Lined Articles and Columns are the sole opinions of the writers and do not necessarily represent views of this paper. Second Class Postage at Farm- ingdale Post Office. SUBSCRIPTION RATE: 1 YEAR $5.00 « MEMBER: New York Pro*s Assoc MEMBER: Nassau County Press Assoc .MEMBER: American Newspaper Repre- sentative MEMBER: Natior.al Editorial Aisoc. *•*» cAprroi Congressman COMMENr JEROME A. AMBRO Third District S The White House desperately attempts to cast the U.S. Congress in the role of an in- competent spendthrift, whose members are more interested in chasing Washington playgirls and touring Capitol Hill watering holes than legislating on affairs of state. That image is at the root of the current anti-Washington mood of the nation. It is not totally without validity. For at least four decades, Congress has been content to allow usurpation of its authority and responsibilities by an in- creasingly powerful Executive Branch. The House and Senate became Tuesday-to-Thursday clubs for political dilettantes and political hacks. Relieved of their duty to develop and implement national policy as the federal government fell more and more under the singular control of the Presidency, Congressmen and Senators were free to pursue leisure activities along the shores of the Potomac and in the shade of the Cherry Blossoms. Recent Capitol Hill scandals have done nothing to dispel the image, although the record of this 94th Congress has. Consolidation of Presidential power and abrogation of Congressional responsibilities have been bi-partisan activities; Democrats as guilty as Republicans. \The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.\ In direct conflict with both the U.S. Constitution and a bedrock principle upon which this Republic was founded, the legislative branch has been permitted to atrophy through apathy and neglect. Reputations are as difficult to overcome, however, as they are to build. There is a lag time in our perception, and even acceptance, of sweeping national change, and the relationship between the Executive and Legislative branches of this government is undergoing a major, if un- spectacular, realignment. All indications are that this 94th Congress will be remembered as PTA Open House The Farmingdale High School P.T.A. will hold Open House on Wednesday evening, October 6, at 7:30 p.m. There will be a cake sale the same evening in the corridor, near Cafeteria B. Bring or send your baked goods to the cafeteria anytime that day. Donate a cake and buy a cake! Proceeds of the sale are to benefit the Scholar- ship Fund. Candidate Forum Men's Club of the Farmingdale Jewish Center in cooperation with the Womens' League of voters of the Town of Oyster Bay are sponsoring a candidates' forum at the Farmingdale Jewish Center, 425 Fulton Street, Far- mingdale, Tues., Oct. 5, at 9 p.m. Speakers will be U.S. Congressman Jerome A. Ambro, Jr. and the Honorable Howard J. Hogan, Jr. A question and answer period will follow discussion. Admission and refreshments will be free. the assembly that re-established the traditional role of the national legislature in our system of government - an aggressive, innovative role mandated by the Founding Fathers in our Con- stitution. The manifestations of the new legislative thrust are numerous, varied, and unfortunately, complex. I'll deal with them in detail next week. Frow Assemblyman Philip Kealey The high cost of auto part prices will be the subject of a public hearing whch will be held in Mineola this Thursday, Sept. 23 in the Executive Building at 1 West Street. This has been one of my concerns for the past several years because the spiraling cost of auto parts has burdened the car owner with exorbitant prices for both automobile insurance and collision repair. I will be participating in this hearing along with Senator Caemmerer and subsequently will be profiling legislation for action during the next session. , As I mentioned earlier, the hgh cost of automobile insurance is also coming under careful study by a Republican task force which has been created to deal with the problem. Legislation will also be developed in this area to protect the automobile insurance consumer from skyrocketing prices which are threatening to become so ex- pensive that it will be prohibitive. My interest in consumer abuse in the insurance field and auto parts costs to motorists go hand-in-hand with two laws I sponsored. One, which was enacted into law last year, permits car owners to have collision repair work done at a shop of his or her own choosing. Until that time, some insurers directed car owners to specific repair shops which some consumers found to be substandard service or repair work. This was the cause of a significant consumer abuse but now motorists have the right to make their own decision. , The other law requires repair shops to post signs to this effect, specifically that the car owner selects the repair shop, not the in- surance company again to allow the consumer to make his own choice. I will continue to work in this field to bring down insurance and repair costs so that improved consumer protection can be provided. It is essential that insurance be made available to the people of this state and insurance costs must be kept down. Supervisor JOHN W. BURKE It was over thirteen years ago that the Town of Oyster Bay com- mitted itself to providing decent, low-cost housing for our older residents and others on limited incomes when, at the request of the Town Board, the State Legislature created the Oyster Bay Housing Authority. And it was only after many months of concern, misunderstanding, controversy and acrimony that the first housing complex was dedicated in 1970. This was in the Hamlet of Oyster Bay and consists of 48 senior units, or apartments, and 48 units for families. Since then, another six housing complexes were built in various communities throughout the Town where the needs were greatest. Last week, we dedicated the eighth Town complex in Massapequa, which will provide another 162 units of senior citizen housing and 10 family units. Each of these complexes engendered concern and apprehension in the respective communities when the proposals were made. And each and everyone of these projects has clearly demonstrated that these fears and concerns were groundless once they were built and occupied, and without exception, has proven to be an asset to the community in which each is situated. All of these complexes have been built under the Department of Housing and Urban Development \turnkey\ program in which a private developer handles land acquisition, design and construction of the project with Federal funding, after which ownership and operation is turned over to the local housing authority Now it's a new baU game. Any future, Federally funded public housing will be built under a new, so-called \Section 8\ program. This program has raised many questions in the minds of the Towri Board as well as myself. These have to be answered to our satisfaction and to the satisfaction of our Townspeople before embarking on neV* housing programs. ^^
