All County Museums May Become History

Most Nassau County Residents should be aware that the latest official response to the current Fiscal Problems is to lay off 130 county workers, you know, the ones that keep the county running. Of the 25 employees of the Departments of Parks, Recreation and Museums now on the chopping block, 21 are the annual employees assigned to the Museum Division, effectively eliminating any qualified employee
staffing of the museums, historic properties, etc.

Why was the museum division targeted for the layoffs? It didn't generate enough money, period. Ignored was its contribution to the education, history and pride of Nassau. It is all about the money. When queried, the spokesman for Parks said they planned to keep the sites open but reduce the days and times drastically. Manning would depend on volunteers, "Friends" groups and others to staff the sites. This is a slippery slope for any long term commitment.

There are already a number of volunteers working under Park supervisors at the Cradle of Aviation, Bethpage Restoration Village and other sites. Their contribution is invaluable and must be recognized and encouraged. That being said, there is an ebb and flow in volunteerism, which must be considered. People get older, have other commitments and enthusiasm wanes. It is the continuity of full time park personnel that keeps museums and historic sites open and stimulates recruitment of new volunteers. That will be lost after the dismissal of the current employees. To close our museums and Historic Sites would be a horrible loss to our County.

The legislature will vote on the lay-offs on June 28th and if passed they will be effective on July 1st. If you have an opinion on this, you should testify before the Legislature on the 28th, contact the county executive and your legislator now and have your voice heard.

The Museum Division consists of :

Cedarmere, Chelsea Mansion, Elderfields, Sands Point (includes Falaise & Hempstead House), Garvies Point, Holocaust Memorial & Education Center, Malcolm House, Nassau Museum of Art, Roslyn Grist Mill, Saddle Rock Grist Mill, Science Museum of Long Island, African American Museum & Center for Applied Arts, Cradle of Aviation and the Long Island Children's Museum.

Aquatic Center in Eisenhower Park

On May 31st, Newsday published an article by Mark Harrington "Doubts over swim club-aquatic center deal".
I've reread the article several times and this is the bottom line:

Nassau County is giving, yes giving, public land for a private company to build a Olympic sized pool behind the Aquatic Center in Eisenhower Park which they will run for 20 years! This private pool will be in direct competition with the center.The operator is a former director of the Aquatic Center who was investigated for improprieties in that position and forced to resign! Nassau County issued an RFP tailored to a proposal by this gentleman and surprise, surprise, he was the only one to bid on it.

What the hell is wrong with our county officials? Democrat or Republican, they can't wait to give away our county park system to private interests. They lay off or provide pension sweeteners to all the qualified and knowledgeable park employees, deliberately do not hire replacements, the county facilities go to hell and then the county looks to dispose of our parks and amenities! The Bay Park Athletic fields and the property in Eisenhower Park are the latest examples.

All the county justifications for this latest assault on parklands created, developed and maintained by our taxes are so much bushwah!

Does the Center need to be overhauled. Absolutely! This is largely due to the fact that the county did not monitor the original construction and a lot of shoddy work was done. Once the construction was done, county did not properly maintain the Center. If a substitute pool is required during the 8 month rehab, the county should RENT the Olympic Sized pool for the 8 months and using existing employees collect the revenue instead of sharing with the private operator.

Relieving cramped conditions at the center? The center is 80,000 square feet with a 223 foot pool for competition, training and lessons plus a 164 foot section for recreational swimming and water exercise plus a diving pool plus a full health spa. That ain't cramped!

Like the Bay Park proposal, this plan is a slap in the face to every taxpaying voter in this county and should be fought by calling the County Executive Ed Mangano, the county legislators and the Park Commissioner Carnell Fosky and tell them no private pool in Eisenhower Park.