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Newsday Editorial - April 8, 2002 - LaValle Shows Leadership in Countering GOP Plan

In the soap opera of Brookhaven politics (call it "As the Stomach Turns"), the latest plot twist deserves the usual ominous swell of background organ music. It also merits a round of applause for Supervisor John Jay LaValle.

On Thursday, LaValle definitively rejected the action that his Republican colleagues took on March 19 in voting $50,000 to fund a legal challenge to a new system of electing the town council. LaValle directed his finance commissioner not to disburse the money, because it would be an "improper and unlawful expenditure." That threw down the legal gauntlet to his own party and showed leadership and courage.

Republicans have always resisted replacing the town's at-large system for electing the town council, which helped create decades of GOP dominance. After an appellate court went against them last fall, they put on the ballot a proposal to establish equal-population councilmanic districts. The stakes were high: With small districts, Democrats might elect one or two council members and become effective watchdogs. Brookhaven Republicans are chronically allergic to watchdogs.

Before the Jan. 22 vote, LaValle vigorously opposed councilmanic districts, using intemperate and imprecise language. Since voters narrowly approved the new system, though, he has consistently called for a smooth transition to council districts. But his party balked.

On March 19, when his six colleagues voted as town trustees to challenge the districts, he voted no. His less-than-deft handling of that meeting fueled suspicion by some critics that he secretly favored the action. Still, in the end, he has done the right thing in voiding it.

The delicious irony is that LaValle's order cited lack of notice to citizens as a key defect of the March 19 action. Three decades ago, after council districts won at the polls, Republicans reversed that election with a "citizen" lawsuit, claiming defective notice. In effect, LaValle has fed the GOP its own bitter medicine. On this issue, he's right and his party is wrong.

Copyright © 2002, Newsday, Inc.

Suffolk Life Editorial - April 3, 2002 - David Willmott,SR. -The Fall Of The Kingdom

Brookhaven Town has long been the kingdom of the Republican party. Republicans have controlled the town almost exclusively for at least four decades. There is a saying, "familiarity breeds contempt." Brookhaven, under Republican domination, sadly exemplifies this proverb.

The Brookhaven Democratic organization is under new leadership. The Democrats have awakened from years of lethargic politics. In the first challenge between the new Democratic party and the old guard Republicans over the ward issue, Republicans got their butts kicked. First they were shocked that they lost. Defeat was bitter not only for Republican Leader Tom Neppell but also for the Republican town board. The Republicans failed to connect with the independent voters and were unable to get their own party faithful to the polls. The voters decided that they wished to be governed through a ward system of representation rather than council people at large.

Democrats favor the ward system because traditionally they are able to pick off specific districts that have been gerrymandered to reflect a majority Democratic vote. When the question of ward districts was brought up in other towns it went down in defeat.

The Brookhaven leadership and the town board had been encouraged to hold off putting this question to the public until the November general election. This would have allowed more people to express their viewpoint on the issue. Instead, they arrogantly chose to have the ballot issue in January believing that they had the numbers and a better organization than the Democrats to get the vote out. What the Republicans failed to recognize was there is a new Democratic party in town. Brookhaven has seen a large growth in population and the Republicans have failed to have an outreach program to address these new residents.

The Republicans were wrong and they lost. To complicate this embarrassment the town board in a late-night raid succeeded in passing an authorization to spend $50,000 on legal fees in an attempt to overturn the ward system vote.

Councilman Eugene Gerrard allegedly mumbled the resolution. Immediately all the council people voted yes. Supervisor John LaValle voted no. Several people in the audience who managed to hear an authorization for $50,000, asked for a clarification. Those residents did not find out that the board had tried to sneak through this allocation to contest the ward system vote until the next day.

This was cowardly, underhanded and a disgrace. It illustrates the panic within the Republican party and the depths of their despair. There are legitimate questions concerning the ward system, particularly how it relates to the trusteeship required by the Dongan Patent, Brookhaven's original governing document.

When candidates run for the council in Brookhaven they are also running for trustee. they are supposed to be two different and distinct forms of government. Southampton, East Hampton, as well as Shelter Island and Southold elect separate trustees under the Dongan Patent. These trustees are empowered to oversee the utilization of the land and the waterways.

In Brookhaven, the specific function of the trustees and the council people is blurred. If the town board had honestly wanted a clarification, they should have said so up-front and forcefully. Instead, by their sneaky maneuver they have lost the confidence of the residents of Brookhaven Town.

The Republicans have a lot of fence mending to do to earn back the confidence of the voters.

And why not?

©Suffolk Life Newspapers 2002

Newsday Editorial - April 3, 2002 Brookhaven: 1 Foot in the Future, 1 Foot in the Past

Last week was a dizzying dance of duality for Brookhaven Supervisor John Jay LaValle: There was a momentary high at the unveiling of the town's new, user-friendly Web site, followed in a heartbeat by more legal maneuvers by his Republican colleagues to block a new voter-approved system of electing the town council. It's not easy being LaValle these days.

On Tuesday, LaValle presided over an unveiling of the town's new and much more useful Web site, the work of a committee led by Councilman Charles Lefkowitz, with major help from Inez Birbiglia, the town's chief spokeswoman. LaValle is no computer geek, but he has enough of a reformist vision to know this: Giving citizens greater access to government can only make it more open.

Citizens can now download some forms online, instead of having to go to town offices and wait for them in line, as LaValle says. They can also view any current land-use proposal, by area. In a town where land abuse has been all too common, that is a real advance. Soon, citizens will also be able not just to download forms but actually to file applications on line.

It's good to see Brookhaven riding the wave of the technical future.

Unfortunately, the rest of the town council is stuck in a backwash of the past. Six of them, acting as town trustees, voted March 19 to spend $50,000 to find out how the new council-district system will affect the trustees, an at-large office dating back to the 17th century. Last week, the lawyer they hired served two lawsuits challenging the district system, one for the trustees and one for five individuals. Both suits lack serious merit.

LaValle voted against the action on March 19, emphasizing that he wants an orderly transition to the new council system that the voters approved on Jan. 22, and he refuses to attend meetings where his fellow trustees scheme against that vote. He should keep seeking ways to reverse what they did March 19, even if it means lining up legally against them.

Copyright © 2002, Newsday, Inc.

Cablevision Editorial - March 29,2002 - Patently Absurd

Ever heard of Dongan's Patent? It's an historic document best known for generating legal mischief.

During the 17th Century when the British ruled Long Island, New York's colonial governor was Thomas Dongan. In 1686, Dongan empowered Long Island town trustees to govern rights on things like fishing and common property.

Now, three centuries later, would you believe, state courts are embroiled in disputes over Dongan's Patent. One case was brought by a former East Hampton trustee, Stuart Vorphal, who is a commercial fisherman. He challenges state fishing laws that would limit the size of his catch, citing lenient rules under Dongan's patent.

To add to the mischief, some Brookhaven town board members are invoking Dongan's Patent in an attempt to overturn a recent vote by citizens that would establish a ward system in the town. Since board members also act as trustees, some argue that colonial law should prevail because it says town trustees should be elected on an at-large basis.

With all of this legal mischief and maneuvering, you have to ask: Didn't we settle the question of American sovereignty with the Declaration of Independence in 1776? What can you say about tying up courts with these doggone Dongan claims? Patently absurd.

http://www.cablevision.com/editorials

Three Village Times/Herald Editorial - March 28,2002 - Deserving of impeachment

When he was campaigning against council districts in January, Councilman Eugene Gerrard specifically said that if the people of Brookhaven voted in favor of council districts, he would not try to overturn the election.

Last week, he was the one to introduce a measure that would do precisely that.

When they were running for town board last fall, all the Republican candidates said that although they opposed council districts, the supported putting the issue before the voters.

They neglected to say that if the vote didn't go their way, they would go to court (at our expense) to try to overturn the election.

We are furious at the utter duplicity of these people, at their blatant contempt for the democratic process and at their unmitigated gall in using public money to protect what they obviously consider their private turf.

If they do not have the decency to resign, they should be impeached.

Newsday Column by Paul Vitello - March 28,2002 -Vote Gets Royal Treatment

The Town of Brookhaven, with nearly half a million citizens and almost as many strip malls, is famous for a lot of things. It is home to a major national laboratory and a first-rate state university campus. Within its borders are one of the last remaining terrestrial wonders of Long Island, the pine barrens region, which besides being beautiful is the single most important recharge basin for the water supply of this Island's 2.3 million people.

Brookhaven is also famous for a nickname by which it is known in the political and legal world where people keep track of such arcana as official indictments, racketeering convictions and sleazy politics.

There, it is known as "Crookhaven."

The nickname has been earned not by the good citizens of the town but by a town Republican organization that has entangled local government in land scandals, cronyism, zoning neglect and cheap payoffs for decades. This tradition culminated in the year 2000 with the corruption trial and conviction of the GOP chairman, John Powell, who took bribes and ran a chop shop with his left hand while hand-picking town board members, state judges, supervisors, a county executive and a district attorney with his right hand.

Now, with Powell gone, the local GOP has been at loose ends.

Democrats, greens, grassroots community organizations and others kept at bay all these years by the superior organization and real estate developers' money supply of the town GOP, have made inroads. Most recently, these groups succeeded in putting a referendum on the ballot to democratize the way local government representatives are elected: Instead of six town board members elected "at large," which means townwide, the referendum called for six members to be elected by district - each district one-sixth of the sprawling, 320-square-mile town.

By not having to campaign across such vast local spaces, candidates without the huge resources of the party apparatus might hope to win election.

After fighting tooth and nail, and losing its challenges to the validity of the referendum, the all-Republican town board put the referendum on the ballot in a special election held on Jan. 22 - a date designed to produce as little voter turnout as possible, and maximize the strength of the GOP vote-pulling machine.

Still, the referendum passed by 725 votes.

The town board demanded a recount. And after the recount, the referendum passed by 825 votes.

Then, last week, at the end of a long town board meeting, after most reporters had left, one member of the board introduced a resolution. He mumbled so softly that no one but his fellow board members could hear what he said.

"I second the motion!" one of the others replied.

"What?" people in the audience said.

"The ayes have it!" the clerk shouted. And without answering further questions, the Brookhaven town board dispersed.

The next day, people found out: The town board had authorized $50,000 to initiate a lawsuit to overturn the referendum. That's $50,000 of public money to undo a legal public election.

On Friday, an attorney for the board filed two suits - one to overturn the referendum's results, and one to demand court sanction of the at-large system.

With John Powell gone, the town board had to turn for support to an authority stronger than a corrupt boss - able to leap the will of the voters of the town of Brookhaven in a single bound.

They therefore invoked ... (you will never guess this) ... His Majesty James II, King of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, grantor of the patent under which Brookhaven was first organized as a township in 1686.

Board members Eugene Gerrard, Edward J. Hennessey, Charles Lefkowitz and Dominic Santoro claim in their suit that "by virtue of the title and interests granted to the trustees in 1686" by the king's governor, Thomas Dongan, they - as the contemporary holders of those trusteeships - have been "granted ownership and dominion over all lands underlying the waterways, bays, harbors, rivers, streams, inlets, ponds, brooks, estuaries and wetlands located within [the town], as well as ownership and dominion over certain uplands and other valuable natural resources, including all mining and mineral rights."

(You could almost hear the ghost of the power of John Powell and his several corrupt predecessors, kicking themselves and sputtering Why didn't I think of that?!)

The four officials argued that the new configuration of board membership under the election rules approved by the public on Jan. 22 would not conform to the terms of King James II's trusteeships.

The trusteeships were townwide offices.

That is their statement and they are sticking to it. Board members Geraldine Esposito and Glenn Murphy did not join the suit, though they voted in favor of the $50,000 to pay for it.

Town Supervisor John Jay LaValle was the lone board member voting against it.

"I think the behavior of the town trustees would make Fidel Castro blush," said Richard Johannesen, the attorney representing the community groups that sponsored the referendum. The citizens groups will fight this suit.

The King James II strategy has a lot in its favor, of course. It is historic-sounding. It even has a biblical reverberation, though the "King James" Bible was commissioned by King James I, not the II.

It is appropriate, even, that this group of politicians has invoked the name of a man who believed in the divine right of kings. Some people in public office, especially in Crookhaven, have come to think of their prerogatives that way.

The problem with it (besides its disregard of democratic principle and common decency) is that it pins its hope on the authority of a monarch who was deposed and banished by his own family. Even in those days of brutish monarchs, King James II Stuart was considered an inflexible, rotten despot.

Copyright © 2002, Newsday, Inc.

Newsday Editorial - March 21,2002 - How to Thwart the Public Will: Mumble, Then Vote

Everyone expected Brookhaven's Republican-controlled town council to try some trick to reverse the Jan. 22 balloting that approved a new district system for electing council members. Finally, at a bizarre meeting Tuesday, the Republicans showed their hand. In a late-night move, shrouded in obfuscation, they voted $50,000 to fight the new districts. They should be ashamed, but shame has never been their strength.

For much of the meeting, supporters of the new system railed at Councilman Dominic Santoro's appeal of an appellate court decision last year that cleared the way for the Jan. 22 vote. Proponents feared that the council might vote to join in Santoro's suit, because the new district system is likely to cost some incumbents their jobs. The council didn't do that, but it pulled another nasty rabbit out of its hat.

At the end of the meeting, they put aside their council role and convened as town trustees. Each member is also a trustee, whose job is to protect town waterways, a vestigial post left over from the 1686 Dongan Patent.

Trustee Eugene Gerrard mumbled a resolution - so inaudibly that it sounded like the purposely indistinct voice of adults in Charlie Brown TV specials. Nobody understood, and the untrustworthy trustees did not explain. They approved it, 6-1, and hastily exited.

Later, when a copy of the mystery document surfaced, it was seen to be an appropriation of $50,000 to hire an attorney to litigate a question that the Jan. 22 vote "utterly failed" to address: the effect of the new system on trustees. Speaking of patents, that is a patently unmeritorious argument. It should fail and probably will.

The lone "no" vote came from Republican Supervisor John Jay LaValle, who says he fought fiercely against the resolution. In the closed- door murk of Brookhaven politics, it's difficult to know the truth. But this much is clear: The surreptitious vote, which might be funny if it were not so odoriferous, will not help voters believe LaValle when he says that his principal goal is open, accountable government.

Copyright © 2002, Newsday, Inc.

Newsday Editorial - January 24,2002 - Voters Have Spoken; LaValle and GOP Must Listen

Now that the voters of Brookhaven have spoken, narrowly approving a new councilmanic district system for electing the town board, it is time for the Republican Party to listen to their voice and forget about scheming to thwart it.

It is time for Democrats to begin identifying strong candidates for 2003, the first election year under the new system. Running in six equal-population districts - not in at-large elections that overwhelmingly favor the dominant party - Democrats will now have a real chance. But they'll need solid candidates. So will Republicans. Competition is good.

It is time for the Board of Elections, required by law to divide the town into districts, to start planning for a truly bipartisan approach.

And it is time for the Republican supervisor, John Jay LaValle, just elected to his first full term, to transcend his bare-knuckles fight against the new system and resume his focus on reforming Brookhaven's ways. For the past few weeks, he has repressed his better self and opted for tough talk. Now he says: "My intentions are to create a smooth transition into the ward system." That's the right approach.

Though LaValle has sullied his image in a losing cause, he has two years to shine it up again - by devoting his attention totally to substantive issues, such as land use and affordable housing. He can do it, but his party and the town board may distract him by remaining in an angry funk over districts.

Knowing how much this bitterly close defeat could rock their world, his fellow Republicans will be tempted to use trickery to overturn it. But LaValle, who has ample talent to go far if he governs well, must curb their scheming, get ahead of the parade and prepare intelligently for the new reality that lies ahead.

Copyright 2002, Newsday Inc.

January 24,2002 - The Village Times Herald Editorial - Council Districts - The voters have spoken.

This fall, on this page, we joined the President of the League of Women Voters, Carolyn Jefferson-Jenkins, who, post-September 11, issued the following statement:"Let us strike back at our attackers by demonstrating our national pride, deep patriotism and commitment to civic engagement and participation. Let us show the world that democracy is alive and well in America."

This week's vote in the special election on council districts, we can safely say, was a victory for democracy. The people have changed their form of government.

Congratulations to council districts proponents all along the North Shore who worked so hard, for so many years, to improve our system of local representation. And congratulations to the voters of Brookhaven for bringing local government home.

Congratulations too to all voters and activists on both sides on the issue for participating in the political process.

What's next for the town? We trust that the town board, and Supervisor John Jay LaValle, who lead a reform-minded campaign within local government, will help aid in the transition to the new system, helping Brookhaven meet the challenges of the 21st century.

January 22, 2002 - Referendum Held and Passed by margin of over 775 votes

Newsday Editorial - January 21,2002 - Make Brookhaven Safe for Two-Party Government

Tomorrow, Brookhaven voters can make a significant change in the way they elect future town boards. The proposal is to replace the current system of electing six council members at large. Instead, voters would elect council members from six equal-population councilmanic districts. A yes vote makes good sense.

To begin with, look at the chief opposition: the Brookhaven Republican Party, which has totally controlled the town for decades, except for a brief period of Democratic rule in the 1970s. With no Democratic presence on the board as watchdog, Republicans have freely churned out scandal after nasty scandal.

Haughtily, Republicans argue that voters reject Democrats because the Republicans offer superior candidates. Au contraire. The Republicans have elected more than their share of mediocre, low-watt time-servers, because no Democrat can hope to raise enough money to overcome the Republicans' huge town-wide registration and fund-raising edge. With councilmanic districts, a good Democratic candidate would stand a chance. (This page isn't promoting Democrats. We firmly distrust one-party government by any party.)

But the Brookhaven Republicans piggishly resist their nightmare vision of even one Democrat on the council. Singing a unified oink-oink chorus, they offer outrageously false arguments against this common-sense change.

They say it will cost more, because council members will need offices in their districts. Throughout New York, that's just not true. Council members work out of town hall.

They argue that at-large voting gives every resident a chance to vote for six council members. But it also allows all six to ignore an aggrieved group and seek votes elsewhere. Most voters would prefer one accountable council member to six who could hardly care less.

Supervisor John Jay LaValle warns that Republicans would cram vile rezonings into any district represented by a Democrat. Our translation of that cynical argument for Republican monopoly: "We're too partisan to be trusted with a minority. So give us total control."

Until they've been scandal-free for years, Brookhaven Republicans need a watchdog. Brookhaven residents should vote yes tomorrow, and they might get one.

Copyright © 2002, Newsday, Inc.

New York Times Article - January 21,2002 - Giant Brookhaven Roiled by Battle to Create Town Council Districts -by Bruce Lambert

Just about everything in the Town of Brookhaven is jumbo size, including the latest battle over how to run it.

Stretching about 23 miles at its widest, it ranks as the largest town on Long Island, with a land area roughly equal to nearby Nassau County. Its fast-growing population of 430,000, up tenfold in 50 years, is more than that of Buffalo, . Louis, Minneapolis or Honolulu.

Its dominance of Suffolk County politics is legendary. County Executive Robert J. Gaffney is a hometown boy. The local United States representative, Felix J. Grucci Jr., of the fireworks family fame, is a former town supervisor. Eight of 18 county legislators represent parts of Brookhaven.

It even has a longstanding reputation for corruption, earning the nickname Crookhaven. The most recent case sent the former town and county Republican chairman, John Powell, to prison in 2000 for racketeering, extortion and bribery in a stolen-truck ring and illegal dumping at the town landfill.

Now there is a big push to cut Brookhaven down to size, or to be more precise, divide it into more manageable pieces.

Capping years of debate, Brookhaven voters will go to the polls from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. tomorrow to decide a referendum on changing the way their six Town Council members are chosen. Currently they serve at large and run townwide. The proposal would create six equal population districts, each electing one council member.

That change could save or ruin Brookhaven, depending on whom you believe. Both sides are waging a hotly contested campaign by meetings, radio, mail, lawn signs, store posters, telephone and even dueling Web sites: www.councildistricts.org in favor and www.councildistricts.com against.

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it," said Supervisor John J. LaValle, a Republican, who presides over the town board and wants it preserved as is. His side argues that districts are a throwback to big-city wards that would increase government costs and deprive residents of the right to vote for the five other council members.

But critics say Brookhaven is broken. "In the current at-large system, town government has been riddled with scandal and wasted millions," said Richard Johannesen, a Conservative Party member and a civic leader from Rocky Point. Supporters say districts would bring home rule closer to the people and make elected representatives more responsive to planning, zoning and other local issues.

The issue is rife with politics. The antidistrict campaign is based at Republican headquarters. The party's town leader, that the referendum is a thinly disguised subterfuge by Democrats, frustrated after being shut out of office for more than two decades, to change the rules of the game.

In fact Democrats are working for a "yes" vote, figuring they may win two districts where their voters are concentrated. Townwide, Republicans have a 2-to-1 enrollment edge.

But the referendum originated largely with nonpartisan groups like the Affiliated Brookhaven Civic Organization, League of Women Voters, Neighborhood Network, League of Conservation Voters, Long Island Progressive Coalition and the Mount Sinai, Strongs Neck and Stony Brook civic associations.

"As a civic leader, it's been hard to get the attention of the town board members," said Thomas Berger of East Patchogue, a retired builder. "People have no idea who their council members are."

Some Republicans support districts, and several held a news conference last week. They included Mr. Berger; Joseph Knight Sr., past president of the Mastic Beach Republican club and civic group; and Diana Reaven, president of the Stony Brook League of Women Voters. "I am a proud Republican," she said. "However, I am not proud of the Republican actions in Brookhaven."

Opponents contend that a district council system would "require" the creation of satellite district offices and staff, adding $1.1 million to the town budget and forcing a 6 percent property tax increase. But supporters of a "yes" vote say there is zero cost. None of the 11 towns in the state that have converted to districts have created new offices, they said.

If the Brookhaven district issue sounds familiar, it is. Thirty years ago voters adopted such a referendum. But town officials failed to publish proper legal notice, so the results were thrown out. In a replay referendum the next year, the proposal lost.

Civic leaders mounted a new effort in 1996, but their petition signatures were challenged and disqualified. They tried again in 1998, with better preparation, but the town board passed rules to thwart them. That dispute went to court, where a judge found the town's motives suspect and approved the petition. Last year an appellate court agreed unanimously.

Everyone agrees that voter turnout will be pivotal. Off-season elections generally help party organizations that mobilize town workers.

Opponents note that Suffolk voters have rejected similar district proposals in Southampton and Babylon.

But referendum supporters say in their literature that "Brookhaven is unique in the United States," contending that no other municipality with a big population still has at- large partisan elections.

The only town in New York with more population, Hempstead, with about 725,000, converted to districts last year after losing a civil rights suit to foster black and Hispanic voters' representation.

The referendum is unlikely to end the struggles in Brookhaven. The Village Times Herald in Stony Brook quoted Supervisor LaValle as saying: "Well, if this ward system passes and you elect a Democrat, I can assure you that your district will be destroyed. You will get strip malls and any other bad thing we choose to vote on. And if your Council person comes to us with a request, then we will say, `Did anyone hear someone say something? I didn't hear anything.' "

Asked about the report, Mr. LaValle said he had spoken off the record to describe political realities as he saw them.

Dr. Howard A. Scarrow, a political science professor at State University at Stony Brook, said he was appalled at Mr. LaValle's comment, adding that it underscored the need to break up the Republican monopoly in Brookhaven. "A two-party system simply works better than a one-party system," he said.