Columnist Karen Rubin: Stark choice in sewer district race

The Island Now

The days are long gone (if they ever actually existed), when it seemed that being a special district commissioner entailed just showing up, perhaps snapping a photo for the newspaper, and get their per diem. 

Today, these positions involve technical expertise along with the ability to make decisions about tax revenues and budgets, operations and capital projects, to understand civil service rules and personnel management, and navigate scores of regulations from on high. Increasingly, too, the positions are no longer an insulated layer of government; rather, the commissioners have a significant political role to play – and the success of the district often involves collaborations with other entities, raising money from grants and state and federal government.

And these are vital services for the community – water and fire services, sewage treatment and our parks.

This year, the only contested race among the special district elections on Tuesday, Dec. 11, is in the Great Neck Water Pollution Control District.

This race pits experience against new blood, the incumbent Jane Rebhuhn and the challenger Steve Reiter.

There won’t be a candidates night so it will be hard for voters to evaluate the candidates’ merits beyond their resumes and the other superficial trappings of a campaign, so I am creating my own “virtual” debate.

It is an interesting time at the district, which has gone through quite a decade as this sewage treatment plant has wrestled with the politics and policy of having to meet federal and state requirements on reducing nitrogen emissions into Manhasset Bay and Long Island Sound.

 In the 15 years that Jane Rebhuhn has served as commissioner she has gained important experience and technical knowledge. More significantly, she has done the hard, hard work of getting the new, $60 million sewage treatment plant to this point and deserves to see the construction through.

Rebhuhn has been a member of the board that already has gone through major challenges and hurdles a multi-year struggle through the analysis, study and hard decisions, in settling on the new technology, wrestling with the Village of Great Neck over consolidation and forging an intermunicipal agreement, wrestling, also, with the state Department of Environmental Conservation, Nassau County, the Town of North Hempstead (which were pushing strongly for the district to shut down and divert to the County’s Cedar Creek plant on the South Shore), and even other mayors on the peninsula, and looking for innovative ways to finance the project through grants and outside funding, obtaining $20.2 million in state grants ($14 million in interest forgiveness and $6.2 million in support of environmental sustainability).

Rebhuhn has chalked up the most significant accomplishments since this sewer district was originally established, albeit in a quiet, less than forceful way and, truth be told, lacking political finesse. 

Steve Reiter brings a business background – specifically a marketing one. His skills in this area are shown in the aggressive campaign he is waging – with nifty lawn signs, a constant stream of letters to local papers. He certainly brings personal skills which are useful in a political context.

Reiter raises his business background as his major asset as a commissioner, but I have to confess, I am generally skeptical of just how applicable a business background is, though it is true that many business people make successful elected officials.

But constituents are not customers; an elected official cannot willy-nilly hire, fire or change salaries and benefits at will according to “market demand” for labor. A CEO or business owner is more akin to a dictator than a democrat. But even in a business, you generally start somewhere lower than CEO.

So I look for other skills and experience that would compliment a business background. I am generally uncomfortable with a candidate who has had no experience or involvement whatsoever in the government agency they hope to oversee. 

Now, a challenger to an incumbent always runs on a platform of bringing change, and Reiter’s campaign is no different. But what change would Reiter bring?

I asked Reiter what he would have done differently from Rebhuhn? Would he have supported support diversion and shutting down the Great Neck plant? Would he have brought in a different technology than the oxidation ditch technology that was selected?

Reiter said candidly that he had no objection to the decisions and actions the commission had taken to get us up to this point of building the new plant and consolidating with the village, and no specific criticisms to Rebhuhn’s governance.

As for what changes he might propose, Reiter, who says he has never attended a sewer district meeting, said he might hold meetings at night, instead of Thursdays at 8:30 am to make it easier for working people to attend. But we have found that few residents turn out even when meetings are held at night – like the park district and even the school board – indeed, he has never asked the water pollution control board to change its hours. 

On the other hand, so I suggested, might there be an added cost to the district of holding night meetings – overtime for personnel, for example, that might not be warranted if few residents take advantage?

Reiter suggested that it might be possible to avoid overtime expense by simply allowing those workers to come in later in the day. I’m not an expert, but I would suspect that civil service rules are pretty strict about when over-time kicks in, based on the clock, not total hours.

These are the sort of issues that one deals with as a government official that are different from a private business. A government official needs to weigh the costs-versus-benefits to taxpayers in making decisions, and there has not been a clamoring demand to hold the meetings at night, and as Reiter acknowledged, reams of information about the district is available on the Web site (you can even follow whether your pipes have been analyzed for blockage with their webcam).

The budgets are online as well. Reiter said that as commissioner, he might bring a new scrutinizing eye, but he did not have any specific area where he suggested there should be greater efficiencies. He said that the budgets that are online are not as detailed as he would have liked, such as in specific salaries. But he could easily have FOILed that information.

Reiter says that apart from his business experience and long experience on the boards of nonprofits such as his synagogue and Music as Global Resource, and his service on the Village of Great Neck Architectural Review Board, the closest applicable experience to the water pollution control board is serving as president of the condo board at his vacation home in Montauk, a complex of 150 units. In that capacity he gained familiarity with sewage treatment issues when he had to address the complex’ sewage treatment problem. This entailed working with condo staff and consulting engineers.

I leave it to you to be the judge if this background is comparable to a plant that will be treating 3.8 million gallons of waste a day for 15,000 customers (residential and business), in five villages and four unincorporated areas, a district that manages and maintains 45 miles of sanitary sewers and pipes, two pump stations and three lift stations with a full-time staff of 14, overseeing a budget of $7.7 million, and a $60 million construction project.

Our district – under these commissioners and Superintendent Chris Murphy – deserves praise for some fairly innovative “green initiatives” (and more clean, green and sustainable initiatives that will be possible with the new plant, which has the potential to generate its own energy from methane gas) – that surely come from our Superintendent, but still, the Commissioners have to be the ones to embrace the programs.  The biodiesel production program that has been introduced has brought the district considerable praise, such as from Congressman Steve Israel during a recent tour of the plant.

When I asked Reiter about this, he said that one of the changes he might pursue is studying the feasibility of making the plant less dependent upon biodiesel fuel – so that in an emergency like Hurricane Sandy, it might run on an alternative like natural gas. 

Reiter also does not seem to be aware of how the plant is powered, or what the biodiesel fuel is used for. 

The plant – which did not have a service interruption during Sandy – is not operated by biodiesel – that is “homemade” out of waste grease that is collected, saving the expense of treating it. The district uses the biodiesel for its trucks (making so much extra it gives it to the Town of North Hempstead, which is starting its own program) instead of purchasing diesel fuel. Actually, during Sandy, the district was able to use some of its stored biodiesel when diesel fuel wasn’t available and was able to operate without interruption with a generator.

In fact, the idea was to have the new plant generate its own natural gas, but that will require additional investment and the local mayors did not want the initial expense. But Reiter does not seem to be aware of that.

I asked Rebhuhn about the kinds of safeguards that are in place for a storm surge and what preparations are made for power backup in the event of extended outages such as during Sandy specifically about what measures are taken to enable the plant to continue to operate in such emergencies.

“The district plant was originally sited in a sheltered area of Manhasset Bay at a minimum of 10 feet above mean tide to protect it from storms.  In addition the entrances to the buildings closest to the water are another four feet above grade for a total minimum height of 14 feet above mean tide.  The district has both permanently mounted and mobile auxiliary generators in case of power interruptions with a back up supply of district made biofuel in case regular diesel fuel is unavailable.  During the recent hurricane and northeaster the district plant ran on generator for 4 days and District pump stations for up to 10 days without any interruption of services,” she said.

In this case, the choice is between experience and continuity during a critical phase in the district, versus new perspective and energy. Both candidates, I believe, have assets but my tendency is to give more weight to an incumbent who has served well and has experience and technical knowledge, especially in the middle of a difficult transition, versus a candidate who really has no new or specific idea, plan or proposal beyond being new, or as Reiter put it, “I don’t bring baggage to the job, I’m free and clear.”

Jane Rebhuhn deserves re-election.

In theGreat Neck Park District, Robert Lincoln is unopposed for reelection. I will nonetheless take this opportunity to acknowledge and commend him for his public service. Our district has benefitted substantially by his willingness to give of his expertise and time. Lincoln has been one of the best, hardest-working, most knowledgeable commissioners the district has ever had in its nearly 100 years. Lincoln has proved an inspired and sensitive manager of our tax funds.

As three years ago when Lincoln last ran, this year, the Commissioners are again faced with the responsibility of recruiting and hiring a new Superintendent (though if Peter Renick, the long-time Assistant Superintendent and current Acting Superintendent would want the job, that would be terrific for the district). Lincoln has had this experience before, and we trust him again.

Lincoln has also become a leader in the campaign to counter the state’s attempt to overturn local control.

Our endorsement of Mr. Lincoln is boundlessly enthusiastic, and comes with our gratitude for his service to our community.

Two other special districts are also seeing incumbents unchallenged for re-election: Brian U. Morris in the Manhasset-Lakeville Fire and Water District and Brian J. Levings in the Belgrave Water Pollution Control District. 

Still, constituents need to come out to show support for local control.

The matter of local control is significant. State and county authorities have long looked to eliminate our special districts in the name of reducing property taxes (it wouldn’t; it would just shift our fund balances to theirs). They often cite the low turnout in special district elections as evidence that residents don’t really care, or are not engaged, as if adding bureaucratic layers to responsiveness would be the solution.

And another thing: people tend to turn out in numbers to register their objections. We should also turn out to show our support for our neighbors who take on the mantle of public service. 

These are vital services to our community and when they run well, we tend to take governance for granted and assume it is an easy matter. When they do not, we tend to deride government altogether.

People do matter.  Who we elect to office matters.

Vote on Tuesday, Dec. 11. Special district elections are held 3 p.m. to 9 p.m.

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