For the Mastic Beach residents, it's the first Monday of the month. That means Village Meeting Night. The MBVEC will be holding their monthly meeting at the Mastic Beach FD at 7:00PM. The agenda will be "Village Taxes: Fact v. Fiction".
You know I was checking over at the antihamptons blog and they're compiling a list of questions from people who have concerns about the village incorporation. I think that's a great thing. Questions are always good. You must question everything.
What surprises me, however, is the fact that about 80% of these questions have been addressed ad nauseum in previous meetings. If people would have attended at least half of those meetings they wouldn't have these questions. And if they understood how this particular village is going to function - hint: not like the ones around - the other 20% of the questions would be more or less answered. This village incorporation process has been going on for well over a year. The fact that people have questions that have already been addressed just shows how much apathy there is around here.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Village Meeting Tonight
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1 Comments:
As the publisher of AntiHamptons.com I would like to state that we do not have a position on the Village as of yet, and that's because I haven't made up my mind as of yet.
Do I want Mastic Beach to stay the way it is now? No. Do I think a Village is the way to change things? Not sure. Do I think more people should be doing more; cleaning of yards; calling of cops; reporting of crimes; volunteering (at civics, schools, churches, chamber); coming up with their own clever ways of improving this community (this site, AntiHamptons.com, BetweenThePorts.com, the Smith Point Triathlon)? Absolutely!
As publisher of AntiHamptons.com it is also my duty to post all questions my readers have regarding the Village Incorporation "ad nauseum" or not.
We receive many emails about the Village and would like to answer ALL of them for our readers. We want to see the answers, in writing, posted and available to the public.
People work two jobs, have small children, monday night prayer circles, karate classes, networking meetings, are commuting from the city, going to night school, have swim practice, are in florida for the winter, spend time in the hospital, etc. etc. to call the people of Mastic Beach apathetic is just plain wrong—they have kids to feed and bills to pay.
We have scoured the masticbeach.org site for all the answers. Unfortunately the minutes of the meetings are not on the site—brought to my attention by a parent of a child in my daughters class who works nights and cannot attend the meetings.
The creation of a village is a very serious decision and should not be taken lightly. If a citizen needs to hear their question answered 107 times for it to sink in — so be it.
We will be asking the questions, to the general public, to the Mastic Beach Village Exploratory Committee, to Town of Brookhaven, to Trustees, Mayors and citizens in other villages, until all points of view have been answered and posted in the public domain.
I believe a citizen needs multiple points of view to make an informed decision. We want to see ALL points of view, not just the MBVEC's point of view (which is really all you get at the Monday night meetings). I'd like to see representatives from the Dissolve Patchogue the Village Committee http://www.dissolvethevillage.org/ speak at the next monday night meeting. I would like to gain insight from their experiences. There are pros and cons to this debate and I'd personally like to hear both sides as would most citizens in Mastic Beach.
We want the debate to be a healthy one. We want to be truly informed and give the people of Mastic Beach the opportunity to take all the information and make up their own minds. The way a democracy is supposed to work.
If any of your readers would like to post a question email us at info@antihamptons.com Keep in mind that I will not post questions chock full of obscenities.
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