Bethpage-Tribune_1975-10-16

              BETHBAGE 8 r Ra
4 7 P 0 W £ L L
U 8
NY
LIC LISRARY
OLDBETHB'GE
also serving ISLAND TREES
PLAINVIEW PLAINEDGE SEAFORD
VOL. 9 NO. 47 Thursday, October 16, 1975 10 cents per copy
Report From
cab by Frank Burgess
Election day is drawing near;
and Bethpage is the candidate.
Bethpage is a candidate for
continued growth, as a quiet
suburban village...or a candidate
for oblivion. The competition is
strong and ruthless - the
Grumman Aerospace
Corporation. The issue is singular
- the option is clear. Grumman
wants Bethpage to become an
appendage to her infamous
airport scheme. A scheme that
will bring 250 private planes into
our town with the probabilities of
between 400 to 500 flight
operations a day. These noisy,
dangerous vehicles will be
landing and taking off from the
time you get up to the time you go
to bed at night; from 7:00 a.m. to
10:00 p.m., seven days a week.
These planes, flown by pilots who
could be corporate salesmen or
owners out on a sales junket, will
be violating Bethpage's
Airspace, every two minutes.
Who will be voting for or
against this monstrous scheme -
our elected officials, the
Supervisor and Councilmen of
Oyster Bay Town. Supervisor
Burke, Councilman Diamond,
Councilman Mosca, Councilman
Carman, Councilman Saladino,
Councilman Doolittle and
Councilman Hogan, we urge and
request that you vote for
Bethpage. Vote for the proposed
amendments to the Town zoning
laws which will give you, the
Town Board, final and rightful
authority on any airport proposal
in Oyster Bay.
The issue, presented in its basic
form, can be simply stated - Will
Bethpage survive as we know and
love it today or will Grumman
persevere and force all of her
desires and excesses down our
collective throats?
But Grumman claims she
needs this airport; she wails that
without the $600,000 income from
the airport her very lifeblood will
be drained. She clamors that the
Bethpage residents are noisy and
unruly and disrespectful and not
too smart when they can't
understand how wonderful it will
be to have 500 planes operating in
Bethpage.
Is that you they are talking
about good neighbor?
What is especially intriguing
about Grumman's position is
their apparent absolute
arrogance. They claim that their
decision for the airport came only
after a two year study proved it
feasible. But this study, which
has not been made available to
the public, was a GRUMMAN
STUDY. A study prepared by
their employees came to the
conclusion that an airport would
be good for Grumman and for
Bethpage. Remarkable! This
study did not include
participation by the Town of
Oyster Bay, the FAA, the EPA,
the Bethpage School Board, the
State Department of
Transportation - no one, except
Grumman. Grumman's study
says the airport is the greatest
thing to hit Oyster Bay since
Teddy Roosevelt; Ergo it's the
greatest! Hogwash. The Civic
Association of Bethpage
recommends, requests,
demands, that an independent,
complete study be made of the
Grumman airport question by the
appropriate Local, County, State
and or Federal Agencies. The
only official statement by a body
of elected officials was that by
the Bethpage School Board who
have stated that they are opposed
to the airport until a study by an
independent agency is held.
Another example of
Grumman's unabashed
arrogance is their continuing
statements about the fact that
they are the only major
aerospace firm in the U. S. that
supports their own airfield.
Without questioning this
statement, it must be pointed out
that Grumman operations in
Calverton, Long Island and in
Savannah, Georgia are both
located at airport facilities not
owned by Grumman. So their
plea for mercy in this area is
another example of the half
truths associated with their
scheme.
But why is this reputable firm
making such desperate
statements concerning their need
to write off the $600,000 expense
they claim it takes to operate the
existing facility. When one
reduces this supposed $600,000
expense and also reduces their
one billion-dollar-a-year earnings
to numbers that can be related to,
one finds a ratio of $6.00 to
$10,000.00. It is beyond
comprehension that Grumman is
spending this level of effort and
making the statements they
have, in an attempt to reconcile
(his kind of "loss". It must be
concluded that something else is
afoot. Several ideas have been
put forward; for instance,
perhaps a Governmental agency
such as Nassau County or the
MTA (they already run
Republic) are planning to buy out
the airfield and allow Grumman
to lease the field as necessary, or
perhaps Grumman or others plan
to use the field as a freight depot.
It is a known fact that freight
yields a greater return in all
areas of transportation. An idea
that is a little more remote is the
possibility that the pending
offshore oil platforms will need a
staging area for the helicopter
support effort. Is Grumman
Bethpage the proposed staging
(Continued on Page 6)
Richard Ahrens To Be
Honored At Press Dinner
On Friday evening, October 31,
Richard Ahrens, President of the
Island Trees Board of Education,
will receive the John' Peter
Zenger Award for Outstanding
Community Service. This
coveted award will be presented
to Ahrens at the annual Nassau
County Press Association dinner.
Ahrens was chosen as recipient
of the 1975 award over many
competitors because of the
tremendous positive influence he
has exerted on behalf of the
Island Trees community during
his three-and-one-half years of
service on the Board of
Education. When Ahrens first
came to the board, the
community was in utter chaos
and turmoil. There was no more
Local Man Honored
Mr. William George
Mr. William George of Beth­page
in the Aerospace
curriculum at State University at
Farmingdale, will be honored on
October 17th at the Annual
Aviation Council of Long Island
Awards dinner to be held at the
Narragansett Inn in Lindenhurst.
George has spent over 28 years
at Farmingdale College. Born in
1918, he literally grew up with the
aviation movement in the United
States. During World War II,
William George was a bom­bardier
instructor; he also
served as a flight and ground
instructor for the Air Force,
check pilot, and supervisory
instructor in the Armed Forces.
He came to Farmingdale in 1947
as an instructor in the Aerospace
Department. He is now an
Assistant Professor in the
Aerospace Program and is in­strumental
in helping students
enter a career in aviation.
The award that will be
presented to George on that night
is for his continuing contribution
in the area of aerospace and
aviation on Long Island.
George's wife, Evelyn, and his
five children, will be with him as
he accepts this prestigious honor
on October 17th.
seriously-divided school district
on all Long Island than Island
Trees. Local and daily
newspapers carried stories about
school board meetings which
degenerated into screaming
matches between various,
factions about picketing, and the
firing of a school Superintendent.
Real estate dealers could not sell
a house in Island Trees because
of all the adverse publicity that
the school district had received.
Then in August, 1972, a short,
well-built, determined young
man, who had been appalled by
all that had been happening, and
who realized how adversely the
children were being affected,
won election to the seven
member board, which consisted
of six liberals and himself.
Through two years of
confrontation and clashes,
Ahrens steadily won more and
more community support. His
secret ... well, there was no
secret. Ahrens just kept telling
the truth to the people. He
exposed the shenanigans of his
opponents who were weaving
webs of deceit and treachery to
fool1 the people and discredit
Ahrens. At election time, the
opposition threw all the rubbish
at Ahrens that they could hurl...
all to no avail. Ahrens kept going
to the people who trusted and
respected him, and his circle of
support kept widening.
"If you tell the truth, you never
have to try and remember what
you said," quipped Ahrens, who
is now serving his second
consecutive term as Board
President. Now, in 1975, Ahrens
has a seven-member
conservative board which won a
decisive victory for their
candidates and budget in the
recent June elections. With the
board decidedly conservative,
and under his leadership Ahrens'
policy of going to the people for
their opinions has become the
official policy of the Board of
Education. The Ahrens' board
was the first in all of New York
State to open their work meetings
to the press. They have
conducted opinion polls to
determine what the people want
to be done with their schoools.
The latest poll shows that the
taxpayers of the district
overwhelmingly want to
eliminate the Junior High School
and return to the K through 8,
four-year high school program
which we once had in the district.
The Ahrens' board is studying the
feasibility of accomplishing this
by September, 1976.
Ahrens doesn't forget his
campaign promises either, which
his constituents appreciate
immensely. Prior to the '75
elections, he promised the people
of Island Trees that public
hearings would be held to involve
them in budget preparation and
to inform them prior to any
Richard Ahrens
signing of contracts with the
teaching staff. Two such hearings
were held, followed by a special
meeting in which the Board told
the public how, and where, and
why their money would be spent.
The final agreement with the
teachers' union became the envy
of every Board of Education in
the county, perhaps even in the
State, for Ahrens saved the
district considerably amounts of
money by holding the line on
increments, and reducing staff,
bringing it into line with the
number of students to be
educated and the amount of
money the taxpayers could afford
to spend. Other taxpayers in
surrounding districts now point to
Island Trees as the model of a
responsive School Board.
True stability, a reasonable
amount of harmony, a high
degree of trust, and positive
steps toward improving the
educational program ... all this
Ahrens has brought to Island
Trees. In appreciation of his
efforts, tremendous dedication,
long hours of hard work and
study, a grateful community
congratulates Richard Ahrens
from the heart for all he has done.
Has it gone to his head? Ahrens
humbly and truthfully admits
that without the 100 percent
committment of his wife,
Isabelle, it could never have been
accomplished; "If it weren't for
the wives (of all the Board
members), it couldn't have been
done." As for his four children:
Richard, Jr. 15, Patricia, 13,
John, 11 and Kelly, 7, how do they
feel about their famous papa?
"They just want me to quit the
Board so I'll have more time for
them," Ahrens said. "But, after
all, they're the reason I'm doing
all this." Will he run again when,
n's term is over in 1977? "I intend
fc run forever, and ever, and
ever, and ever ..." a twinkling-eyed
Ahrens replied.
What about all those other
community activities to which
Ahrens used to dedicate himself
'.jtore the Board of Education
took up most of his spare time:
(Continued on Page 5)