Carman's River & High-Density, Low-Income Housing For Brookhaven

I have done my homework since the last Town Board meeting on March 29, 2012. I have watched the meetings of March 6th and March 20th on cable channel 18, and I am sickened by all the attention given to the Carman’s River Plan. It is quite obvious that the Residents of the Town of Brookhaven DO NOT want this Carman’s River Watershed Protection plan. 

Mr. Lesko repeatedly tries to force this plan upon the Residents, and when things don’t go his way, he stamps his feet like a spoiled child and “Tables” or removes the Plan until a future meeting. He seems to be “shopping” for a Board Meeting that doesn’t have a large Resident turnout so he can push to have his plan passed, in spite of opposition from the Town Council Members. This is a reprehensible waste of Taxpayer time and money and shows no regard for the Residents who come forward to speak at the meetings or the Council Members who serve on the Board. What does it take to convince him that NO means NO?  WE DO NOT WANT THIS RESOLUTION that only seems to benefit Builders, Developers, and who knows who else? It DOES NOT benefit the general population of Brookhaven Town.

The backroom deals and the secrecy have to stop. We all want to be good stewards of the environment and protect our rivers, lakes, ground water and, most importantly Our Quality of Life. We elected our officials to give voice to our feelings and to protect our rights. Mr. Lesko acts like Brookhaven Town is a Dictatorship, and we Residents are too ignorant to know “What Is Good For Us”. I have news for him, We know what is good for us, and WE HAVE SPOKEN at the last three Town Board Meetings. Let’s stop pandering to the audience. Whatever group of Residents are in attendance, Mr. Lesko pacifies them  “by removing their Hamlet from the “List Of Designated Dump Sites”. I doubt that anyone who has attended the three Board Meetings held in March even knows what Hamlets still contain “Designated Receiving Areas”. 

Put this PLAN up for a vote so it can be done away with once and for all. We can then move onto sensibly dealing with the THREE SEPARATE ISSUES presented in this plan; preservation of the Carman’s River, compensating landowners presently holding “Transfer Credits”, and the need for “high-density, low-income” housing. These are THREE  DISTINCTLY SEPARATE ISSUES, and should be dealt with as such. Do this with input from ALL THE RESIDENTS of Brookhaven Township, not just Special Interest Groups.  

Public Opinion expressed at Town Board Meetings, and evident even to Mr. Lesko, is that the Carman’s River Watershed Area should be preserved , but NOT AT THE EXPENSE OF ALL OTHER RESIDENTS QUALITY OF LIFE.

Remember to pay close attention to the words being spoken. At the March 29th Board Meeting, Mr. Lesko stated that All Designated Receiving Areas were  “OFF THE TABLE”.  This sounds good and appeases everyone, but it would make it IMPOSSIBLE TO IMPLEMENT his Plan. His plan REQUIRES “Designated Receiving Areas” so which Hamlets are “ON THE TABLE”? Don’t fall for the tired Talking Point “We Need Affordable Housing for Our Children and Seniors”. Suffolk County has 20,000 foreclosures on the market and mortgage interest rates are the lowest they have been in our lifetime. The last thing we need is more “Low-Income, High-Density” housing.

Know we must be vigilant and continue having as many Residents show up at Town Board Meetings until Mr. Lesko stops playing games with this Resolution. I don’t think he realizes he will never hold a Board Meeting in an empty  auditorium.

We need a large Resident turn-out at the Town Board Meeting, Tuesday April 24th, to support our Town Council. Four of our Six Council Members have been consistently opposed to this plan; they are 1st District Steve Fiore-Rosenfeld, 4th District Connie Kepert, 5th District Tim Mazzei and 6th District Dan Pannico. Let them know you support them and their efforts to speak for us as well as the work they are doing to draft an Amended Resolution that is good for us all.

Contact Council Members Ms. Bonner and Ms. Walsh of the 2nd and 3rd Districts and see where they stand. Ms. Bonner had her District excluded early on from the “Designated Receiving Area” list, so it would  be disingenuous of her if she is actually in favor of this Plan for “Everyone Else”.