The announcement that Village of East Hills had reached an agreement with National Grid to extend village gas lines at no cost to any resident who chooses to convert from oil service to gas was certainly welcome news to East Hills residents and an example for other North Shore villages to follow.
As East Hills officials noted, the project could save residents thousands of dollars in heating bills and substantially reduce pollution.
Which makes it all the more odd that some media outlets including the Roslyn Times were not invited to attend.
Village of East Hills Mayor Michael Koblenz said the village had nothing to do with who was invited to the press conference.
“It was very impromptu, very quick. National Grid and [state Sen.] Jack Martins came to us and said can we make this announcement,” Koblenz told our reporter.
But National Grid spokeswoman Wendy Ladd said the media advisory announcing the press conference was issued to media outlets and elected officials at the village’s request.
“They invited us to their conference so they could have invited anyone they wanted to,” Ladd said of the village. “We were there on their behalf.”
A spokesperson for Martin’s office declined to comment on who was responsible for the invitations to the press conference.
As odd as not inviting our paper, which attends all of East Hills’ board meetings, was not inviting East Hills resident Jana Goldenberg, the former president of the County Estates civic association who spearheaded the effort to bring gas lines to residents’ homes at no cost.
Koblenz acknowledged Goldenberg’s contribution, saying she was involved “from the outset” and “so instrumental in the project.”
But Goldenberg was not at the press conference to hear it. Much to her disappointment.
“It saddens me that National Grid or the Village of East Hills would not invited me since the project would never have happened without all my hard work & (sic) dedication to get gas to all residents of East Hills,” she wrote.
It is hard to understand why a press conference announcing a major achievement for East Hills residents, years in the making, was “very impromptu, very quick” as Koblenz contends.
Or why at least one media outlet that regularly covers the village was not invited to the press conference announcing it.
Or why the woman who spearheaded the effort — as Koblenz acknowledges — was also not invited to the press conference.
President Kennedy once said “Success has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan.”
If one were to base their opinion on this announcement, you might conclude that East Hills Mayor Koblenz would like success to belong to only one father — Mayor Koblenz.
