Lets not forget $215,000 for 2 town spokesmen well ones a woman and $61000 for former board member Stu Besen! What exactly does he do anyway??

I thought I posted about this last night but it seems to be missing. I am shocked at the mandated increases being so high, any idea what makes up the $8.7 million in increases?

Stupid, Stupid, Stupid! The Arts pay for themselves! We'll see how restaurants revenues will be slashed when there is no one patronizing before or after the concerts in the park. This will further diminish property values, and erode out quality of life in Huntington. Way to go Town Board... for your courage and leadership, and i hope you don't get hit by the door as you're voted out of office!

G Sicard
Huntington Station

Huntington without the Arts is not Huntington!
Marie McNamara

The scenario that's playing out in Greece, Spain, Italy implementing "austerity" programs to combat their sovereign debt. A brief history. .

http://exiledonline.com/all-pain-no-gain-a-brief-history-of-austerity-program-massacres-disasters/

Conclusion: All pain and no gain

It's starting to occur in Great Britain now as well. All are victims of what people in Britain call “the cuts” — the government’s defunding of civil-society institutions in order to balance the nation’s books. In London, austerity means that there will be about 19 percent less to spend next year on government programs".

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/11/opinion/when-budget-cuts-lead-to-broken-windows.html

A glimpse into the future for the USA....

http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/austerity-riots-a-glimpse-of-americas-future

"There are some important differences between the situation in Greece and the situation in the U.S., but there are also some important similarities. Budget cuts and other austerity measures are being promoted by the political leaders of both countries. Greek citizens have reacted very negatively to austerity plans. As budget cuts on the federal, state and local levels in the United States start to really become painful, we will eventually see the same kind of austerity riots in this country'.

Prepare...

http://www.politicalgateway.com/news/read/173353

Why???

http://www.timeline2012.net/prepare/social-economic-impacts/economic-depression

There are only three possibilities to recover from the current financial apocalypse. One is to raise taxes, however, it is not likely taxes could be raised fast enough to avoid bankruptcy or slow enough to avoid destroying the economic growth and the value of the U.S. dollar against world currencies.

Second is to have more money coming into the system than is being spent by the system. This implies reducing expenses on every level from individual to government, but also maintaining continuous economic growth. The only way to stimulate this possibility is sound fiscal management and borrowing more money, however, this only takes us further down the road of unsustainability.

Third is by divine intervention. What you say? This means forgiveness of all debt by the Federal Reserve Bank and bond holders, printing even more money, and giving it to every ailing corporation or Government, interest free? Not a plausible solution as it results in exponential inflation and an immediate collapse of the U.S. economy.

No matter how this plays out, it is a certain fact that the U.S. currency will be devalued to the point of extinction. In other words, a single U.S. dollar today may be worth only five cents tomorrow. The collapse of the U.S. dollar will go hand-in-hand with the collapse of the economy. The Amero is the currency they have planned to replace the Peso, Canadian and U.S. dollars just as they did with the Euro.

The Amero is actually the currency of the Romulans, who will be invading the US, Canada, and Mexico, thereby forcing us to establish the Amero as our own currency.

Besides, the Trilateral Commission is planning to have us all speaking Klingon, and it was the Elders of Zion who created the Euro.

Do we have any other fantasies to propose?

Mr. Dees, I'm happy to give you my view on SCPD compensation, but that is not a matter of "enlightening" you or anybody else.

My view is that SCPD police officers are overpaid, relative to the Nassau County PD officers, and particularly with regard to NYC PD officers (significantly unerpaid, in my view).

However, I don't know that any specific tax, as you referenced, presents police officers with more compensation than they are now entitled to receive in accordance with (a) labor agreements already in place, and (b) NY State-imposed pension costs and structure.

There is a difference between funding an existing (or increasing by contract or State-fiat, but not by current choice) cost, versus agreeing to a new cost that goes to the employees being compensated.

That, on the other hand Mr. Dees, could be an enlightenment for you, in case you did not already realize the difference.

By the way, I went to look at your profile on Patch, and could not find any. Would you please direct me to a source of that information if it is not presently available on Patch? Thanks very much.

Citizens must re-evaluate the role of all levels of Government. Therefore, Government; federal, state, county, town and village governments must reform their roles in society. The private sector can no longer support our current level of Government. So, Huntington needs to prioritize what services it provides. Furthermore, Huntington needs to evaluate what regulations cause unintended harmful consequences and hurt the local economy. Suffice it to say, limited town Government may have to cut back on taxpayer support for the arts and other cultural activities which will need to rely more on private charitable support.

Clifford,
i've guess you've never been to a summer concert in the park. To all, always remember that Huntington is a "Destination" town! People come from all over to experience our wonderful art exhibits, restaurants and concerts! Take away the reason to travel to Huntington, and all visitors & townfolk who spend money enjoying our town, and you will see very soon how important the arts are to our economy.