{ title: 'The leader. (Freeport, N.Y.) 1941-1987, October 26, 1972, Page 1, Image 1', download_links: [ { link: 'http://www.loc.gov/rss/ndnp/ndnp.xml', label: 'application/rss+xml', meta: 'News about NYS Historic Newspapers - RSS Feed', }, { link: '/lccn/sn95071064/1972-10-26/ed-1/seq-1/png/', label: 'image/png', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn95071064/1972-10-26/ed-1/seq-1.pdf', label: 'application/pdf', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn95071064/1972-10-26/ed-1/seq-1/ocr.xml', label: 'application/xml', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn95071064/1972-10-26/ed-1/seq-1/ocr.txt', label: 'text/plain', meta: '', }, ] }
Image provided by: Freeport Memorial Library
t>, completed in »w business per- acted celebrities i Brooklyn and hway employees laushels of oyster S DE VINCENZO Village Clerk 1. New York ecks nd bills :oniing Id happen to if an accident liness kept you g for months or would the bills hen your pay- aed coming? V you how easy Qtect yourself ah disasters. ( }u choose from inge of Metro- ibility Insurance ich designed to ih benefits over eriods. For your ace of mind — iwn — why not ne today? olitanLife Vork/N.V. informalion on Plan tea- fR ^ R f t i p e ^ t n a r w p M ’* O H l c t . 1 i 37th YEAR, No. 27 BALDWIN aj> e«<« inn^ MERRICK ROOSEVELT Zip CMto' tiS7» PRICE: TEN CENTS PER COPY I Nixon and ihB First L a * q u m .^ M c d V e t e r ^ IWOTorial Nassau co L u n m a s . Only the pesfonnanc. of the Fteepott High S c h ^ l Ma^h.ng Band on dte floo, of the etena cant, dose to equaHing the mighty roar Village GOPet, ga.. out at the appeet- ance of the Presidential party. llTioto by Alan Greenberg) Referendum Was A Promise ...V ....otter of a full-time Mayor for Freeport is being put before the perqple on November 7 vote by the full membership with no objections and some of the more vocal opponents ublic because that was the promise made by the Village Party in the Platform adopted in December, 1971,'’ Freeport Mayor Robert SwcCTCy told THE LEADER in an Interview this weAend. The matter is covered in item 13 of the platform which states: “ F reeport’s government is becoming more and more complex and attention- demanding- The time is fast rroaching when a full-time upcoming public referendum were among the voters. “ It has been the intention of the Village Board to bring this to the people in the November elation since March. While admitting that “the whole thing was \ Heads gathering. age pm until often 1 am. “And you would Department Heads gathering, every Monday night Village Board meetings from 5:45 comedy of errors,” referring to the circulation of petitions which were then found unnecessary, Sweeney states “there was not rush to jam this down people’s approaching when a hilHime admiaistrator will be required, urgent when the 0 flee Vill^e o( We plan to present to the voters of lx>cal Government informed Freeport by means of a Public that petiUons were required to Referendum, the quesUon as to place the m atter on the whether Freeport will authorize November ballot and me such a full-time Mayor. K is our deadline was practically upon belief that this is a matter of major importance that should be decided by the public at the voting booth. The pnqxtsal, if approved, would become ef fective with the next Mayoralty election in 1973.” The preamble to the platform also states. ’\Hie Village Party, from Its original 1961 Platform th r o u ^ every oeueve vowi election date, has established a public referendum which solid recordot making good Ml its the Mayor stoU recMve WO.OT campaign promises. We will but m actuality creat® the fuU conltanc our policy of living up to Ume position. \ P ^ I e wiU , ^ our commitments ..... The 1971 the dollar signs and vote no. He Mayor of Freeport for the past 12 years, Sweeney, who has stated he will not run for reelection in March and will not gain in any way from the proposed $30,000 annual salary ad(^>ted by the Village Board for a full-time head, says he does not believe voters will approve the Apartment Zoning Studied The Freeport Village Board is considering a change in zoning which would reduce the areas zoned for apartments, to help balance the recent rezoning on North Main Street. In that rezoning about 45 acres were changed from Business “B” toaspecial Planned Unit Development zone which per mits ap<irtment houses. Mayor Sweeney said the Village Board is interested in pre serving the essentially residential character of the Village, and therefore wished to limit the land available for apart ment development. He said tlie North Main Street rezoning was necessary to revitalize a declining section o f the Village and now the Board, “has decided that the village-wide bal ance between apartment and residential areas should, to the extent possible, be regained and maintained.” As a first step in restoring this balance, Mayor Sweeney said, a directoe-has’been ^ven to the Planning BoMd to study die question of ret^clng ap.artmehthou other than the recently rezoned North Main S t ^ t atnp u ^ ^ i felahning Botird has bron d ir^ such studies, to consult with such experts as it deems desirable, all with the end in view o f returning a report in depth to this Board as to how that prior balance can once again be achieved.” Tl»e vote (»n this Village Board motion was un animous, 5 to 0. “Some of our political critics,” Mayor Sweeney said, “will no doubt accuse us of being inconsistent, in that we rezoned to permit apartments on North Main Street and now are considering cutting back potential apartment use in other sections of the Village. There is no inconsistency whatsoever, because the North Main Street rezoning was planned to solve a pressing problem, the deterioration of an important segment of the community “In most of the other apartment zones there has been virtually no apartment development in recent years, and in most of these area.s there is no question of any residential neighborhood decline. But. if we do not reduce the poten tial, the possibility will always exist that apartment con struction will get oul-of-hand, on a village wide basis. “The much abused concept of progress does not tell us to wait, as some of our critics would have us do. for the rational unfolding of some never materializing super scheme. for some miracle which will make our problems disappear, but rather to act with courage in the face of ad versity and make decisions for Freeport’s future ” Freeport Celebrated BIG Try as they might, Freeporlers could not escape “history” of above) Platform follows (Consists positions our Party has taken after deep emsideratioo. and reiireseiils a group of promises, pledges and intentions that we honestly believe we can fulfilL” Mayor Sweeney pilots out that the Platform was adopted after a u m u |W&IUUU- > g,u|F4w the dollar signs and v o te —. -- is. nevertheless, of the opinion that the Village requires a fuB- time Mayor and points to the woA he has put into the post over the years including paper worii Village Hall each night. be out every night and all weekend if you accepted every invitation.” Sweeney does not see a full time administrator or manager as the answer. \First you are just creaUng another job. In essence we have two “managers\ now. An inside man (Village Clerk Tom DeVincenzo) and an outside man (Superin tendent of Public Works Edwin Prefer). Neittier of them can set policy . they report to. and are responsible to, the Mayor and the entire Board of Trustees A Village administrator would be in same position. And while a Mayor, too, does not make decisions alone, he has the weight of his political backers behind him and has a strong voice in Board matters \ According to the Mayor, investigations into professional managers were carried out as long ago as ]96l. “At that time.” he reports, “when salaries were a lot lower — than today’s, a new graduate Friday night gala sponsored by with no experience commanded a the Freeport Chamber of Eom- salary of $19,000 on a three-year merce's Ladies Auxiliary or the contract. It is important, too, to Sunday evening Smorgasbord remember, that tuich a man and program pul on by ^ ■ ••• • - Freeport Historical Society it the current feat of seeing the still-undefeated Freeport High School Red Devils win yet another or the look into our past glories enjoyed by those who attended the Friday n i ^ t gi lort with at ....... Saturda which morning includi meetings thly le a monthly would most likely resident of Freep loyaljties periiaps not as strong as that of a man who has been elected to the post by his neigh- “In my opinion.\ Sweeney (Contimied on Page 3) affairs with the Chamber Auxiliary seeking to pay off a debt incurred by a beautification project at the railroad em bankment at Sunrise Highway and Grove Street, while the lO- year-old Historical Society, totally dependent upon con tributions, had double hard luck with its Annual Outdoor Sale rained out two successive weekends and cancelled until sufficient indoor space can be Of the Weekend’s events, the There were duplication of Of the Wt_ ........ celebrate the 80 th anniversary of ballroom bedecked for the oc- Ihe incorporation of Freeport, casion; committee m e m b ^ in Fund-raising as well as appropriate garb and a sparkling celebrating was a factor at both (Continued on Page 6)
