The-Leader_1974-03-07

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FREEPORT
BALDWIN
ROOSEVELT
MERR^C^y
I
1
FREEPORT'S
oiiicini
l i t WW i#r r ^ r MIV
38th YEAR No, 45 FREEPORT, NEW YORK. MARCH 7, 1974 PRICE: 15f PER COPY-Rumors
Are Unfounded aumm^^m
FOR THE SCOUTS. Mayor WilHarfl White signs proclamatron desig­nating
week of March 10-16 as Girl Scout Week in Freeport and calls
for female residents to "Join Scouting°be a-Qirl Scout Leader. Con­tinue
to support this fine organization which has done so much for
our youth and for our community." Looking on {L'f\) are Cadette
Scout MaryellenXummiskey, Troop?2i40,* Senior Scout Dorothy
Jomic, Troop 2453; Junior Scout Melissa Washington, Troop 2095;
Community Association-Chairrpan Barbara Pirto and Brownie Scout
Janene Suchan, Troop 2098. ' (Photo by Oscar)
Public Hearing Set
v/fi i^oiiCG \i«Ofiiroci
The ^unofficial "slowilown" of the Freeport Police Department
apparently sparked the better than usual iturnout for Monday
night's open Village Board meeting. Onici'clSu'ed of routine matters,
the first action by the Trustees was to "accept" the State Fact
Finder's report. The Board then directed the Village Cipunsel to set
the legal wheels in motion for an
April 8 Public Hearing on the
Police contract. The dispute now
finds the Village governrtlent
unwilling .to meet the County
force's contract terms, in itself a ^
matter" of i debate. . (See
"Mailbox"-for PBA statement.)
When questioned by—several _________
residents, Mayor William White ""problem,
explained that a public hearing—wants," said he
Winmar-owned plot Is zoned
Besidence A and attempts to
have it rezoned,to allow for
employee parking and surplus^
cars has been turnrf down. The
Mayor, slating he knew that the
business was threatening to leave
the Village because of the
sumething nobody-had
been con-was
required under the Tayl6r_
-"' nsw and-the date~wCs' chosen
because a legal notice must be
published 15 days prior to such a
session and April l, the first
available date, is set by law as
the Village's Organization Night.
Both in his opening statement,
and again in response to a
queistion^ White stated he felt it
was "fortunate" that the avenues
of communication are stUI open
between the two factions and
therefore the doors t o ' a set­tlement
prior to the Public
Hearing were not closed. He;
further pointed out that, "Maybe
mir Police aren't handing out as
many summons as usiial, and we
don't have a breakdown on thatr
but they are giving lOftS
protection to Freepwte
The empty iJlotTaSQacent to
Winmar J. Ford was oh the minds
of several Lexington Avenue area
residents. They stated the f
dealership's policy of parking
cars in iHe area^s streets poses a
threat to their children because
'. of poor visibility and has caused
concern that emergency vehicles
pan not travel through the
streets. ^ They requested
restrictive parking algns to
alleviate the . problem. The,
tacted by both the dealership and
the Southwest-Civic Association
and h^d suggested a joint
meeting which he would attend if
invited to do so.
(Continued on Page 6),
Storm Damaged
To Get Aid
MINEOLA-An emergency
office in Mineola will aid Nassau
residents who wish to apply for
disaster assistance loans from
the Small . Business Ad'
ministration (SBA) for damages
caused by the severe ice sloinLQi
December 16-17. The office
manned by representatives of the
regional SBA unit, is located in
the offices of the Nassau
Department of Commerce and .
Industry. SBA staff will be
available for consultations on a
daily; basis beginning March 4.
The direct assistance loans
available from the SBA are for.
coverage of uninsured portions of
damaged property only. The
long-term loans carry an interest
rate of five per cent yearly and
. are on an up-to-30-year basis.
Homeowners may apply for
loans of up to $55,000 while
businessmen can apply for up to
1500,000 for damages to com­mercial
property.
Residents must apply in person
at the emergency office which is
located In Room 233 at the County
Executive Building in Mineola.
Further inTormation is available
by calling 535-2^4,
Set School
^ BticlgeO&ite
FREEPORT — The Freftport
School District will present its
proposed W4-7I budget to the
_registered voters living in .the
District on May 14 from 1?10 p.m.
at the various-eleniettlry school -
buildings which servpas-poHing^^
places for School District elec­tions.
Two seats on the Boafd of
Education, presently held by
(Continued on Page 6)
Police Cars Proven
To Be Auihenfic
FREEPORT - Mayor William White, Suburban-Action Trustee
candidate Carroll Bell and members of his Party, Superintendent
of Public Works Ed Prefer, Police Chief Anthony Elar, Village
Clerk Tom DeVlncenzo, representatives of Rjchard Chevrolet and
members of the local press spent two hours lasl Sunday afternoon
at the Municipal Garage to solve
the mystery -- were the seven
police cars purchased by the
Village in February, 1973 ac­tually
police cars? Answer; Yes,
they are. Two New York state
licensed motor vehicle itj-
-spectors, brought in by the
Suburban-Action groiip, In-spected,
the vehicles and each
took one for a road test. Each
lagged part was checked against
the General Motors catalogue
and was found to t^ of heavy duty
structure. '
Mayor William White, in a
-statement issued Monday, said,
"Now thatjhis fiasco is over.,.."
His thinking was premature, for
two hours later THE LEADER
BE IRISH. Praeport Chamiiar of Commerce Ladies Auxiliary I tt
VP ietty Healy teiii ticket lor upcoming St: Patrick's Day party
to Chan^arSrti VP Mario Blanco. The affair, featuring Iiva music,
buffet and entartainmeifrt^ will be haM^March 10, 4 to 9pm, in the
party room at 100 Brooklyn - Avtnua. Ticketi era $3 per penon
with tfie first drink on the house. Addition^ are 75^ for nien. SO^
"forwomen.;-'•'•;•-.:•/;'"•;••' - ,'" '~
Freeport cars hove $542,5fl more
.optional equipment than the"
County car, made up mostly of
air-conditioning ut $3J5.W and
two snow tires mounted on cxlra
rims for $80. Mayor While points,
out thai the Village was ahead of
the Counly in providing'alr-condltidnlng
- for • Police patrols,
•but that Nassau Is now providing
that feature for 1974 Police units.
He also states that the in­formation
has been sent to Belt
"and I would expect them to
issue.a.public retraction of their
.previous inaccurate and mis­leading
remarks." .
On Sunday the Mayor took
umbrage when Belt who, when
received a release from Bell, addressing the press stated he
asking, "Why does Freeport pay (Bell) had not received proper
$897. per car more than Nassau.
County? Why did we keep those
trade-ins when we were offered
such fantastic prices? And
finally, where are the trade-ins?"
In a memo from Prefer to De
Vincenzo, dated February 28 and
issued to the press Mondiy, the
cost of a 1973 Nassau County
p 0 1 I c e Car (Plymouth) is
compared, item by-item, with
that of a 1973 Freeport Police Car
(Chevrolet). The figures.-in-eluding
additional equipment"
requlred^by both law en-
Jorcement-agencies sliow that.a
County carequlpped to Freeport
"specifications would cost 13876.58
while the Village, going to bids,
purchased the vehicles ToF
$3824.98,-8 saving of ^1.60. The
coojjerdtion when he originally
requMted to Inspect the cars.
While pointed out that Belt's
original request came on a
Sunday, with the press on hand,
and that Belt "insisted he could
not make himself available for
thfi- inspection—during^ regular
•working hours, and If we did not
pin him down on the weekend he
would have left the allegations
hanging until his political pur­poses
were served, at the expense
of-tHrrepjtatlon of the auto
dealer and the Village at large^I
finally .had to force him to go
through with, the Inspection....to
eliminate any further, excuses'he
might mjke.
^Apologizing to Richard
(ContinuedonPage^)
1>tE PRESS'WATCHES. Local newnpapar reprasentativaf and Village
Clerk Thomas DeVincanzo verify ferial numbers taken off parts on
Preeport. police cars against the Gener^ f^otors parts catalogub in­dicating
tfiat tf^a parts are special police equipment This was one of
many procedures that provad false tha rumors tfiat the cars were not
reaiiy,poiice units but standard passenger carl.'^
s ...