In the recent “Great Neck Plaza finds toughest road to shovel” article from the February 4, 2011 issue of the Great Neck News, the Village of Great Neck Plaza clerk/treasurer notes that “budget shortfalls will have to be made up elsewhere” as it pertains to the cost of snow removal. And while the folks at Village Hall are probably hoping that Staten Island Chuck’s prediction of warmer days ahead is not far off, I thought I would take the clerk/treasurer’s concern as a call to action and help recommend the “where” from the “elsewhere” those funds should come.
There are a number of ways in which the Village of Great Neck Plaza could save money, including:
End the appointment of Richard Gabriele as village counsel and put the cost of those legal services through a competitive bidding process;
Strip all perks that cost taxpayers more than $200,000 a year in salary and benefits for part-time Trustee Gerry Schneiderman and his colleagues in Gussack Plaza;
Tell appointed Village Justice Neil Finkston that he does not deserve a pension for only working an average of 1.91 days per month;
Stop funneling Plaza tax dollars to the MTA for LIRR property repairs and a continuation of poor service;
Discontinue the wasteful spending habits of the electeds by taking away the part-time mayor’s full-time $50,000 plus executive assistant; let the mayor pay for ribbon-cutting ceremonies out of her political campaign account since those events accomplish nothing more than a photo op for the politicians; and start charging village employees who earn over $75,000 a percentage of their monthly health insurance premium. There is simply no reason that well compensated employees should receive free benefits!
If the mayor was to give a “State of the Village” address, she would most certainly conclude that the state of our village is a mess. She would probably point to the undemocratic way in which she has built the legislature over the years – in which she appointed five of the last five trustees. She would probably discuss the fact that these politicians have run amok in doling out special incentives that enhance and better only the lives of themselves and their families. And she would probably note that high commercial vacancy rates are good for the local economy because it reduces the workload of her staff in collecting tax revenue, thus making them more efficient in managing the bureaucracy.
If the mayor was to give a “State of the Village” address, she would most certainly state that transparency and accountability is void from “her” village for good reason and that “the change-agents” who are pushing for such things simply don’t understand. And if the mayor was to give a “state of the village” address, I bet she would have Donna Summers’ song “She Works Hard For The Money” playing in the background for all to hear!
Michael S. Glickman
Great Neck
