Bethpage-Tribune_1970-07-30

              BCTHPAGE PUBLIC UBBAIft
Island Trees
Vol. 4.No. 40
Serving Bethpage - Plainvtew - Island Trees - Plainedg* — Seaford Old Bethpage
Thursday, July 30,1970 10c per copy
Budget Goes Down Again;
Petitions Seek Revote
On Sunday, July 26, it was
Bethpage with John Whittemore,
Tom Monaco, Peter Risso and
Fred Guest and Brookyille with
Kurt Hesche, John Gayer, Alan
Corey III and Fred Zeller, with
both teams hot, Bethpage
squeaked by Brookville seven to
six.
Ahead to one in the first half,
(Continued on Page 5)
WESTERN ACTION: Oyster Bay Town Councilman
Philip B. Healey, left, watches as Davey Dixon,
kneeling talks with Michael De Stephane, age 6, of 22
Scherer Street, Bethpage, during recent Cowboy Show
at Bethpage Community Park. The show .featuring
Davey Qixon and his horse Honey Girl is one of the
many recreational programs sponsored by the Town's
Cultural and Performing Arts Division, to provide
summer entertainment for local youngsters.
Bethpage Wins Tight Polo Match
The polo game August 2, at the
Bethpage State Park Polo Field
is bound to be another smash hit,
six chukkers of give and take that
should have the crowd watching
on edge every Sunday afternoon
at the park: Though the teams
will not be lined up until near
gametime it's a guarantee that
whoever plays will put on a great
performance.
Bethpage Nite A Success
As AAets Trounce Giants
Over 350 Bethpagers turned put at big Shea Stadium
Tuesday night to watch the New York Mets crush the
San Francisco Giants, 12 to 2.
The Bethpage group showed up for "Bethpage
Kiwanis Nite at Shea Stadium", joining one of the
50,000-plus crowds that have seen the Mets play some
fine baseball during their latest home-stand at Shea..
Dontf Clendennon powered-in seven runs, including
two homers, to break a Met record for most runs-batted-
in in one game, while pitcher Jim McAndrew
flirted with a no-hitter for the first four innings. While
he quieted the Giant powerhouse, striking out Willie
Mays three times, Clendennon and the other Met
hitters pounced on the shaky San Francisco hurlers for
19 hits..
All in all it was a great night, and one that will fatten
the Bethpage scholarship fund, since proceeds of the
ticket sales go to this Kiwanis project. As the shots
below indicate, it "was worth every bit of the price.
(See pictures on Page 2)
Bethpagers came to the
polls in record numbers
Tuesday to narrowly
defeat the third version of
the budget their Board of
Education had proposed
for the 1970-71 school year.
The vote was 1,583 for
and 1,647 against, an in­crease
of 1,300 total ballots
cast over the last vote,
earlier in the summer.
Board of Education
President Joseph Dawson
blamed the budget defeat
on a group named
F.A.C.T. (For ALL Con­cerned
Taxpayers), which
he charged with spreading
misinformation about
administrative salaries.
"It was very unfortunate
that a small group of
people was able to play
upon the genuine concern
of many people concerning,
inflation and taxes", he
tabulation, Mrs. Cable was
challenged to show where
budget cuts could be
made. Responding that "I
am an outsider looking
in", and claiming many
"cloudy areas" existed in
the budget, she suggested
the Board drop a proposed
public relations ad­ministrator..
It was pointed out that
the public relations man
was provided for in last
year's budget, and so
could be^retfHii^Mviwttofti!
austerity. Board member
Kestutis K. Miklas
clarified this, pointing out
that the position was new,
but that the money for it
was old, having been
allocated for an assistant
elementary principalship
no longer considered
necessary.
Meanwhile, F.A.C.T is
contended. ^collecting signatures
Mrs. Joan Cable, a., petitioning the Board to
spokesman for F.A.C.T
had a different story. She
claimed the' Board had
ignored taxpayer demands
to substantially trim the
budget.
The Board had cut its
original $10.7 million
proposal by $31,370 for a
prospective tax rise from
$10.07 to 11.70.
Dawson specifically
challenged F.A.C.T.'s
allegation that the School
Superintendent's salary
was out of line with other
districts in the County. He
claimed that public
documents show the
Superintendents' salary
consistent with all but one
of nine adjacent school
systems.
"The same people on
F.A.C.T. did not par­ticipate
in the citizens'
advisory budget com­mittees
when invited", he
added. "I'm curious as to
their motives in opposing
the budget now."
At a Board meeting
following the voting
resubmit a reduced budget
rather than proceed on
austerity. Dawson ex­plained
that he did not
know the number of
signatures needed to
legally compel the Board
to resubmit, and stated
that they would have to
evaluate the situation
before deciding whether or
not to resubmit if a lesser
number of signatures was
collected.
Miklas said he would
"swallow his pride" and
press for another vote.
Trustees Sol Fink and
Hugh Coyle expressed
opposition to another vote, ^
with Coyle declaring that
"he would not agree to cut
a cent on. the budget",
even if enough signatures
were amassed to force a
re-vote.
Meanwhile, a taxpayer
at Tuesday's meeting
declared he would
challenge every signature
on the petitions, since an
austerity budget, he
argued, was the expressed
wiB of the people.
that a re-vote "would
probably not be possible
before the Board officially
sets the new tax-rate. The
tax rate must be set in
August.
In a related develop­ment,
members of t
F.A.C.T. disavowed
responsibility for several
anti-budget posters which
recently appeared. The
posters claimed class size
would be increased under
the proposed budget, and
further charged that the
Board has misplaced over
$100,000.
Bye-Bye Bowling
Bethpage lost a bowling alley
yesterday as fire destroyed the
two-story, structure at 4115
Hempstead Turnpike.
The fire was reported at 6:33
a.m. and was fought by four
volunteer companies. Bethpage
Fire Marshal Andrew Stein-muller
said an investigation
would be made to determine the
cause of the fire.
A Bethpage fireman was in­jured
while fighting the blaze and
taken to the local Mid-Island
(Continued on Page 5)
Late Bulletin
Plainedge residents downed a lowered school budget
yesterday by some 250 votes, and their Board president
expressed doubt about trying to pass the $12.1 million
proposal a third time.
The Vote was 1,590 to 1,35* against the budget, with a
1,539 to 1,407 tally in favor of the district's library
budget.
Although the margin of defeat was lower than the
first time, Board President Dominick F. Gagliardo
said he felt the consensus in the community was in
favor of an austerity budget rather than a revote.